Well, this is big news for our grain farmers. The federal court and EPA pulled one of the most effective weed control measures from the industry and this affected soybean producers who have to combat weeds in their crops.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced that EPA is approving new five-year registrations for two dicamba products and extending the registration of an additional dicamba product. All three registrations include new control measures to ensure these products can be used effectively while protecting the environment, including non-target plants, animals, and other crops not tolerant to dicamba.

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said farmers now have the certainty they need to make plans for their 2021 growing season. His agency reviewed substantial amounts of new information, conducting scientific assessments based on the best available science, and carefully considered input from stakeholders and reached a resolution that is good for our farmers and our environment.

Through this action, EPA approved new registrations for two “over-the-top” (OTT) dicamba products—XtendiMax with VaporGrip Technology and Engenia Herbicide—and extended the registration for an additional OTT dicamba product, Tavium Plus VaporGrip Technology. These registrations are only for use on dicamba-tolerant (DT) cotton and soybeans and will expire in 2025, providing certainty to American agriculture for the upcoming growing season and beyond.

This is important to our farmers here and the news just came out last week.

**Meeting

The Middle Tennessee Beef Producers will meet at the Ag Center on Thursday, November 5, at 6:30 pm. There is a program planned and a meal. Call the Extension office for reservations for the meal at 684-5971 or email me at jteague1@utk.edu

**Mushrooms

I got several calls about mushrooms that have popped up in lawns all over the county. These actually are associated usually with rotting wood in the area, such as an old tree stump and its roots.

These mushrooms don’t cause damage to the trees or plants, but they actually benefit from the rotting process of the wood in the soil. They can spread by the spores they produce up under the cap. They’ll go away after a short time. And they’ll not cause any damage. I don’t know them well enough to know if they can be eaten, so I’ll not recommend it.

**Wisdom

You probably know that I’m proud of our family. I write about the little ones enough. Here are some good quotes on family from the Progressive Farmer’s Cornerstones collection.

Maya Angelou said “I sustain myself with the love of family.” (There’s nothing better than love from our kids and grandkids.) Elizabeth Berg said “you are born into your family and your family is born into you. No returns. No exchanges.”

George Santayana said “The family is one of nature’s masterpieces.” Michael J. Fox said “Family is not an important thing. It’s everything.” (He said that as he has dealt with Parkinson’s disease. He should know.)

George Moore said “A man travels the world over in search of what he needs, and returns home to find it.” Alex Haley, the author of the series “Roots”, said “In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future.”

Robin Hobb said “Home is prople. Not a place. If you go back there after the people are gone, then all you can see is what is not there anymore.” Charles Kuralt said “The love of family and the admiration of friends is much more important than wealth and privilege.”

I like these. How well said! Think about it.