You are undoubtedly aware of the issues with dicamba off-target deposition across the country last year. Because of those issues, the EPA recently revised labels for dicamba products registered for application to Xtend soybean and XtendFlex cotton. One of many new requirements is mandatory training for all applicators prior to use in 2018 (even if trained in 2017). The Federal labels for 2,4-D products registered for Enlist crops (Enlist One, Enlist Duo) do not have a training requirement. However, NC 24(c) SLN labels for Enlist One and Enlist Duo will specify mandatory training.
Another change this year is that every person on the farm that will be applying the herbicide(s) must attend the training.
Below is the schedule for 2018 training. There are over 30 locations spread across the state so it should be relatively easy to find one that fits your schedule.
| No | Date | Time | Day | County | Location | Presenter |
| 1 | 25-Jan | 9:30 AM | Thur. | Beaufort | Granny Branch Farms, 27880 NC Hwy 33 East, Aurora | Gurganus |
| 2 | 31-Jan | 12:30 PM | Wed. | Wake | Southern Farm Show, HolshouserBuilding, State Fairgrounds, Raleigh | York |
| 3 | 1-Feb | 10:30 AM | Thurs. | Hyde | Ponzer Community Bldg., 39111 US 264, Belhaven | York |
| 4 | 2-Feb | 10:00 AM | Fri. | Pasquotank | Ext. Ctr., 1209 Mcpherson Street, Elizabeth City | York |
| 5 | 2-Feb | 1:00 PM | Fri. | Bertie | Bertie Co. Senior Center, 103 W. School St., Windsor | York |
| 6 | 5-Feb | 10:00 AM | Mon. | Northampton | Northampton Cultural Center, 9536 NC 305, Jackson | York |
| 7 | 5-Feb | 2:00 PM | Mon. | Halifax | Ext. Ctr., 359 Ferrell Lane, Halifax | York |
| 8 | 6-Feb | 9:00 AM | Tues. | Martin | Farmers Market, 4001 W. Main St. Ext., Williamston | York |
| 9 | 6-Feb | 2:00 PM | Tues. | Wilson | Ext. Ctr., 1806 SW Goldsboro Street, Wilson | York |
| 10 | 7-Feb | 10:00 AM | Wed. | Edgecombe | East Carolina Ag & Educ. Ctr., 1175 Kingsboro Road, Rocky Mount | Jordan |
| 11 | 7-Feb | 4:00 PM | Wed. | Chowan | Leon Nixon’s Restaurant, 749 Virginia Road, Edenton | York |
| 12 | 8-Feb | 9:00 AM | Thurs. | Pitt | Ext. Ctr., 403 Government Circle, Greenville | York |
| 13 | 9-Feb | 10:00 AM | Fri. | Randolph | Extension office; 1003 S. Fayetteville St., Asheboro | York |
| 14 | 12-Feb | 8:00 AM | Mon. | Sampson | Sampson County Agri-Expo Center, 414 Warsaw Road, Clinton | York |
| 15 | 15-Feb | 1:30 PM | Thurs. | Stanly | Ext. Ctr., 26032 East Newt Road, Albemarle | York |
| 16 | 19-Feb | 2:00 PM | Mon. | Yadkin | Ext. Ctr., 2051 Agricultural Way, Yadkinville | York |
| 17 | 20-Feb | 10:00 AM | Tues. | Cleveland | Ext. Ctr., 130 S. Post Road, Shelby | York |
| 18 | 20-Feb | 2:30 PM | Tues. | Richmond | Ext Ctr., 123 Caroline Street, Rockingham | York |
| 19 | 21-Feb | 9:00 AM | Wed. | Union | Ext. Ctr., 3230-D Presson Road, Monroe | York |
| 20 | 22-Feb | 10:00 AM | Thurs. | Caswell | Caswell County Civic Center, 536 Main Street East, Yanceyville | York |
| 21 | 22-Feb | 2:00 PM | Thurs. | Granville | Granville County Expo Center, 4185 US Hwy 15 South, Oxford | York |
| 22 | 2-Mar | 9:00 AM | Fri | Rowan | Ext. Ctr., 2727 Old Concord Road, Salisbury | York |
| 23 | 2-Mar | 2:00 PM | Fri | Iredell | Ext. Ctr., 444 Bristol Drive, Statesville | York |
| 24 | 6-Mar | 10:00 AM | Tues. | Wayne | Maxwell Reg. Agric. & Conv. Ctr, 3114 Wayne Memorial Drive, Goldsboro | York |
| 25 | 6-Mar | 2:00 PM | Tues. | Harnett | Commons Bldg, 309 W. CorneilusHarnett Blvd. Lillington | York |
| 26 | 6-Mar | 6:00 PM | Tues. | Johnston | Ext. Ctr., 2736 NC Hwy 210, Smithfield | York |
| 27 | 7-Mar | 10:00 AM | Wed. | Bladen | Ext. Ctr., 450 Smith Circle, Elizabethtown | York |
| 28 | 7-Mar | 2:00 PM | Wed. | Robeson | Southeastern NC Ag Events Ctr, 1027 US Highway 74 East, Lumberton | York |
| 29 | 8-Mar | 10:00 AM | Thurs. | Jones | Jones County Civic Ctr, 418 Hwy 58 N, Trenton | Jordan |
| 30 | 12-Mar | 10:00 AM | Mon. | Columbus | tentative date and time; location to be determined | Jordan |
NCDA will have personnel at each meeting to swipe pesticide licenses. There will be recertification credit in categories N, O, D, and X. NCDA is handling all of this so you do not need to request credit or do any paperwork.
Several states are offering online training only. Surveys were conducted at the 2017 trainings, and one question was preference for online vs face-to-face training. There was an overwhelming preference (95%) to have a real person present the training. So, NC will not offer online training.
The last training date is March 12 and there will be no exceptions made after that so make sure you plan to attend one of the sessions below!
Compared to the rest of the country, NC farmers did an excellent job last year following the label and keeping off-target issues to a minimum. We are very proud of all of you for that! Let’s keep up the good work this year and continue to use this product responsibly so we can keep it for many years to come.
