Given the task definition and input, reply with output. In this task, you are given a text of many news articles seperated by special token "|||||". Your task is to summarize them.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Monsanto Co will give cash back to U.S. farmers who buy a weed killer that has been linked to widespread crop damage, offering an incentive to apply its product even as regulators in several U.S. states weigh restrictions on its use. 
  
 The incentive to use XtendiMax with VaporGrip, a herbicide based on a chemical known as dicamba, could refund farmers over half the sticker price of the product in 2018 if they spray it on soybeans Monsanto engineered to resist the weed killer, according to company data. 
  
 The United States faced an agricultural crisis this year caused by new formulations of dicamba-based herbicides, which farmers and weed experts say harmed crops because they evaporated and drifted away from where they were sprayed. 
  
 Monsanto says XtendiMax is safe when properly applied. The company is banking on the chemical and soybean seeds engineered to resist it, called Xtend, to dominate soybean production in the United States, the world’s second-largest exporter. 
  
 BASF SE and DowDuPont also sell versions of dicamba-based herbicides. 
  
 Monsanto’s cash-back offer comes as federal and state regulators are requiring training for farmers who plan to spray dicamba in 2018 and limiting when it can be used. Weed specialists say the restrictions make the chemical more costly and inconvenient to apply, but Monsanto’s incentive could help convince farmers to use it anyway. 
  
 “We believe cash-back incentives for using XtendiMax with VaporGrip Technology better enable growers to use a management system that represents the next level of weed control,” said Ryan Rubischko, Monsanto product manager. 
  
 XtendiMax costs about $11 per acre to buy, and Monsanto is offering an extra $6 per acre in cash back to farmers when they apply it on Xtend soybeans, rather than using another seed-and-chemical combination to control weeds. 
  
 The rebate means farmers can receive up to $11.50 per acre in cash back next year when they use XtendiMax along with other approved chemicals, such as one called Intact that aims to prevent drift and costs $2.40 per acre, according to Monsanto. 
  
 The company, which launched a program offering incentives to use multiple herbicides in 2010, competes against rivals including Bayer AG to sell genetically modified soybean seeds and chemicals to farmers. 
  
 Bayer is selling its LibertyLink soybean brand, a main rival to Xtend, to BASF as part of a deal to acquire Monsanto for $63.5 billion. 
  
 Monsanto also faces increasing government oversight. 
  
 On Monday, Missouri said it would ban sprayings of XtendiMax and DowDuPont’s product, called FeXapan, in 10 counties after June 1, 2018, and statewide after July 15, 2018. Last month, the state imposed the same restrictions on BASF’s dicamba herbicide, Engenia. 
  
 North Dakota said it planned to prohibit the use of dicamba herbicides after June 30, 2018, and when temperatures top 85 degrees Fahrenheit in a bid to prevent the chemical from drifting away from where it is sprayed. 
  
 Arkansas is close to prohibiting dicamba sprayings after April 15, 2018, the tightest limits yet, while Minnesota is also considering restrictions. 
  
 The states are taking action after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mandated special training for dicamba users for 2018 and required farmers to keep records proving they were complying with label instructions. 
  
 “Utilizing the technology, the cost will go up because of these changes,” said Andrew Thostenson, a pesticide specialist for North Dakota State University. 
  
 FILE PHOTO: Monsanto logo is displayed on a screen where the stock is traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S. on May 9, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo 
  
 U.S. farmers planted 90 million acres of soybeans this year, and about 4 percent showed signs of damage linked to dicamba, according to University of Missouri data. Despite that, Monsanto predicts farmers will double plantings of Xtend soybeans to about 40 million acres next year. 
  
 Farmers said its cash-back offer was designed to increase sales. 
  
 “I think they’re just trying to buy more acres,” Dan Henebry, an Illinois farmer who plans to grow Xtend soybeans next year, said about Monsanto. ||||| This season’s off-target movement of dicamba used in dicamba-tolerant soybeans was due to a number of reasons, but volatility wasn’t one of them, say BASF officials. 
  
 Volatility results when a herbicide converts to a gas. When this happens, the herbicide in a gaseous form can leave the application site and damage plants where it lands. 
  
 “From a number of field investigations last summer, we identified multiple contributing factors, and we don’t believe volatility is one of those driving factors,” says Chad Asmus, BASF technical market manager. Asmus and other BASF officials held a conference call on November 17 with the agricultural media. 
  
 BASF makes and markets Engenia, one of the new dicamba formulations in Monsanto’s dicamba-tolerant Roundup Ready Xtend System. The other two approved dicamba formulations are Monsanto’s Xtendimax with Vapor Grip Technology and Dupont’s FeXapan Plus Vapor Grip Technology. 
  
 Damage Tally 
  
 Recent data tallied by University of Missouri weed scientists indicate 2,708 dicamba-related injury cases are currently under investigation by various state agriculture departments. Approximately 3.6 million acres of soybeans were injured by off-target dicamba movement during 2017. USDA pegged total U.S. soybean plantings last June 30 at 89.5 million acres. 
  
 “While most growers achieved great results stewarding DT crops this season, some non-DT farms experienced symptomology that may have come from the improper use of the new technology,” said Asmus in a news release. “BASF worked with growers to better understand what was occurring.” BASF officials say its field reps investigated 787 soybean symptomology claims during the 2017 season, most of which had no impact on yield. However, in a few isolated cases, BASF officials say yield may have been affected where the terminal growth was inhibited. Main causes include: 
  
 Incorrect nozzle and/or boom height 
  
 Wind speed or direction 
  
 Insufficient buffer 
  
 Spray system contamination 
  
 Use of unregistered product 
  
 Still, the new formulations of dicamba can volatilize. Earlier this year, laboratory tests by University of Arkansas weed scientists found the three new formulations to be less volatile than older formulations like Banvel and Clarity. 
  
 “However, when you look at the new formulations in a field setting where volatility measurements are based on soybean injury, differences in volatility between older dicamba products such as Clarity and newer ones including Engenia and Xtendimax are not as evident,” said Tom Barber, a U of A weed scientist in a U of A news release. “Although the new formulations are reduced in the amount of volatility that you can see, they’re not zero. We don’t know the level of volatility that’s required to injure soybeans. Soybeans are so sensitive, very, very low levels of volatility can cause injury.” 
  
 Arkansas Dicamba Ban 
  
 In other Arkansas developments, the Arkansas State Plant Board members earlier this month voted to ban dicamba use between April 16 and October 31. 
  
 This has prompted Monsanto to amend its complaint in Arkansas’ Pulaski County Circuit Court in response to the Arkansas ban. Monsanto also has released reports of suspected dicamba injury visits. At of October 26 this year, it has had: 
  
 1,467 applicator inquires 
  
 1,418 site visits 
  
 1,222 applicators who supplied sufficient data for review and climatological evaluation. 
  
 Monsanto officials say in 91% of cases, applicators have self-reported errors from one or more label requirements checked that could have contributed to off-target movement. 
  
 Weed Control 
  
 There’s far less disagreement on the weed control performance of the new dicamba formulations. “Farmers are saying they have the cleanest fields in years,” says Scott Kay, BASF vice president for U.S. crop protection. 
  
 BASF released results of a recent survey of 400 U.S. soybean and cotton growers. BASF officials say the surveyed farmers rated weed control from Engenia herbicide an 8.6 out of 10 nationally (on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being best). BASF officials added that 85% of farmers surveyed planned to use Engenia in 2018 and 83% planned to recommend it. 
  
 Still, the potential for off-target movement has prompted federal regulators to amend the dicamba labels for dicamba-tolerant soybeans. 
  
 So have states, although some like Missouri have taken a less restrictive approach than Arkansas. Earlier this week, the Missouri Department of Agriculture issued its rules for 2018. It has mandated training for application of this now Restricted Use Pesticide (RUP). It has tightened the federal label for application time in Missouri from sunrise to sunset to 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. 
  
 The MDA also prohibits use of Engenia in dicamba-tolerant soybeans and dicamba-tolerant cotton after June 1, 2018, in 10 southeastern Missouri counties. The MDA also prohibits use of Engenia in dicamba-tolerant soybeans and dicamba-tolerant cotton after July 15. 
  
 2018 Plans 
  
 In preparation for next year, BASF says there will be an increased emphasis on training and education for dicamba applications. 
  
 BASF plans to expand its On-Target Academy workshops and also promote proper nozzle selection and broadcast spray hoods, says Asmus. 
  
 “We are committed to working collaboratively so everyone can receive the training they need for a successful 2018 season,” says Asmus. |||||

The crop in question is soybeans, but there's now a big carrot involved. Reuters reports Monsanto is offering what can amount to a more than 50% rebate to farmers who agree to use the herbicide XtendiMax with VaporGrip on their 2018 soybean crop. A rep for Monsanto calls use of the product and the complementary soybeans engineered to withstand it part of the "next level of weed control"; US regulators are less bullish. After concerns that dicamba-based herbicides—XtendiMax is one—are drifting to other crops that haven't been modified—the New York Times in September called Monsanto's modified seeds "one of the biggest product releases in the company's history"—more states are restricting the application period and requiring farmers who use the product to undergo training, making the product a bit more cumbersome to use. To address the first, Reuters reports Monsanto will give farmers a $6 per acre rebate on the product, which generally costs $11 per acre to apply. Ohio State University reiterated its position on how to minimize issues of dicamba drift: limit its use to early season, when there is "less emerged vegetation," noting "postemergence use of dicamba accounted for most of the off-target problems in 2017." To that end, Reuters outlines some states' in-the-works restrictions for 2018; Arkansas is considering a ban on its use after April 15. Monsanto says it expects Xtend soybeans to cover 40 million acres in 2018, a doubling of 2017's numbers. Agriculture.com reports 89.5 million acres of soybeans were planted in the US in summer 2017, and 3.6 million acres were thought to be harmed by dicamba drift.