An explosion of pesticide complaints led to reforms in Illinois. And now, a reporting collapse.

When Monsanto (now Bayer) launched its dicamba-resistant soybeans in 2017, the move allowed farmers to spray dicamba directly on the state’s dominant crop without killing them — a shift that drove up usage and misuse complaints to record highs across Illinois.

In 2016, Illinois corn growers applied about 65,000 pounds of the herbicide. Two years later, soybean growers applied roughly 34 times that amount — 2.2 million pounds.

By 2019, the number of formal complaints filed with the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) alleging pesticide misuse tripled to a record high of 971 complaints.

Part of the problem is that dicamba — along with other widely used herbicides like 2,4-D and glyphosate — vaporizes after application, and can drift far beyond the targeted fields.

Illinois residents complained of injuries to trees miles away from corn and soybean fields where the chemical was sprayed, according to an Investigate Midwest review of complaints. Neighboring farmers reported chemicals drifted onto their fields and destroyed hundreds of acres of non-resistant crops. Rural neighbors described how pesticides caused distress to their animals, including dogs, horses, yaks and honeybees. Neighbors also complained of contaminated swimming pools and skin irritation experienced by nearby residents and workers.

In response to the alarming amount of misuse complaints, the IDOA instituted an emergency ruling in 2020 that restricted dicamba applications on soybeans when temperatures reach 85 degrees or higher and set a June 20 cutoff date.

That same year, in 2020, complaints decreased 80% — down from 723 dicamba-related complaints in 2019 to 145 in 2020.

But according to a 2024 report from Prairie Rivers Network, the decline doesn’t necessarily mean pesticide misuse is under control. The Champaign-based environmental advocacy group has documented pesticide injury to trees and other vegetation across Illinois for eight years, and argues that the state’s complaint system captures only a fraction of actual drift incidents.

After application, chemicals like dicamba can vaporize and drift on air currents, damaging plants miles away even when applicators follow the label. The problem often starts with the chemistry itself — not with misuse, according to the group’s report.

The group also found that the quality of investigations varies widely. A 30-day deadline for filing complaints prevents many cases from being investigated at all, especially damage to trees and other perennial plants that show symptoms weeks later. Few investigations include laboratory tissue sampling to confirm which chemicals caused the injury, and the consequences for violators are minimal.

According to the report, penalties for confirmed violations are often “tepid” — fines that rarely exceed a few hundred dollars — offering little deterrent for future misuse.

The current system, they said, is also hindered by under-reporting of incidents, “reporting fatigue,” or public frustration with the lack of accountability, strained neighbor relations, and a lack of funding and staff to adequately investigate complaints.

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The PRN report notes that the 2024 decline to 241 complaints may reflect this exhaustion rather than reduced drift incidents. Tree damage reports collected by the group continue to rise each year, even as misuse complaints fall.

Investigate Midwest analyzed hundreds of pesticide misuse complaints from April 2022 to July 2025 and found that only 85 out of nearly 780 complaints resulted in fines. Most of the fines were between $500 and $750, totaling $52,750.

Written warning notices were given to 225 applicators.

The authors write that without meaningful penalties or any process to compensate those harmed, Illinois’s system fails to deter misuse or encourages the public to use the department’s complaint system.

The system is unable to address the threats of “chemical trespass,” and the authors call for a new system that would allow anonymous reporting, more rigorous scientific investigation of contamination, and diversifying farming systems that rely less on pesticides.

Data Harvest (formerly Graphic of the Week) is Investigate Midwest’s way of making complex agricultural data easy to understand. Through engaging graphics, charts, and maps, we break down key trends to help readers quickly grasp the forces shaping farming, food systems, and rural communities. Want us to explore other data trends? Let us know here.