North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring says the Environmental Protection Agency has approved his request for a Section 18 emergency exemption for Provysol, enabling certain North Dakota growers a new tool to combat cercospora leaf spot (CLS) in sugarbeets.

“CLS is resistant to several fungicide modes of action in North Dakota. When environmental conditions favor high CLS pressure it can quickly decimate fields, greatly reducing beet yield and sugar content,” Goehring said. “This exemption gives some growers a new product when trying to control CLS.”

The exemption allows application of Provysol on Minn-Dak Cooperative planted sugarbeet fields in Cass and Richland counties. Provysol is to be applied at 5 fluid ozs. per acre with a maximum of two applications per year. Provysol must be applied with other non-Group 3 fungicides.

Users must follow all applicable directions, restrictions, and precautions on the container label, as well as the Section 18 use directions.

The exemption allows treatment to 28,502 Minn-Dak Farmer’s Cooperative acres in Cass and Richland counties in North Dakota. Provysol is manufactured by BASF.

A Section 18 exemption under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) authorizes EPA to allow an unregistered use of a pesticide for a limited time if EPA determines that an emergency condition exists.