Special authorization granted to help North Dakota farmers control weeds in sugarbeets

The Special Local Needs registration expires in 2027

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

The North Dakota government is giving sugarbeet farmers more time to use a product to help control weeds.

On May 2, Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring issued a Special Local Needs (SLN) registration to Belchim Crop Protection.

An SLN “means an existing or imminent pest problem within the state for which the state lead agency, based upon satisfactory supporting information, has determined that an appropriate federally registered pesticide product is not sufficiently available,” the Environmental Protection Agency says.

The SLN is not statewide.

It only applies to Pembina, Walsh, Grand Forks, Traill, Cass and Richland counties, as they are among the primary counties for sugarbeet production.

Belchim and North Dakota State University Extension sugarbeet agronomist Tom Peters advocated for the registration.

This registration, which expires in December 2027, will allow farmers to use Belchim’s product Spin-Aid to control weeds like kochia and lambsquarters in post-emerge applications.

“In many areas, kochia has demonstrated resistance and is very difficult to control,” Goehring said in a statement. “In crops such as sugarbeets, growers rely on soil-applied herbicides that require rainfall or tillage to be effective. This SLN gives these growers an alternative product when early treatments are unsuccessful.”

The herbicide “contains 15.9% Phenmedipham as its active ingredient,” the product page says, adding that it’s “extremely effective” for post-emerge control of broadleaf weeds.

Farms.com has reached out to Peters for comment on the registration.