US approves label extension of Starane Ultra herbicide

The US Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) label for use of Starane Ultra in dry bulb onion fields in Oregon and Idaho had expired at the end of 2013. Starane Ultra contains the active ingredient fluroxypyr and is registered by Dow AgroSciences.

The EPA has revised the expiration date for its use in Oregon to Dec. 31, 2018.

The expiration date for the herbicide’s use in Idaho onion fields is Dec. 31, 2014. A similar request from Washington state to extend the label’s expiration date is pending.

Oregon and Idaho dry bulb onion growers will again be able to use a herbicide that has proven effective in controlling volunteer potatoes and certain broadleaf weeds such as kochia.

The Idaho-Oregon onion growing region is the nation’s largest in terms of total volume and kochia is a problem for many growers here, said Stuart Reitz, an Oregon State University cropping system Extension agent in Malheur County.

Reitz said the herbicide is used in all of the onion producing areas in the Pacific Northwest and has had a special local needs label for use in Idaho, Oregon and Washington.