DISCUSS: The buzz about EPA’s pesticide strategy

Whether you apply your own crop protection tools or hire an applicator, big changes are coming to how those products are regulated. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been on the losing side of dozens of lawsuits from environmental activists claiming the agency has not done enough during pesticide registrations and reviews to reduce risks to plants and animals protected under the Endangered Species Act. As a result, EPA developed strategies to better protect those species, which will start becoming part of pesticide labels across the US.

What does this mean for farmers? 

You and your applicators will start seeing labels — as each product undergoes its periodic review process — with instructions to visit the Bulletins Live! Two website for area-specific restrictions for use. These new restrictions, even though they will be posted on a website instead of printed on a product label, will still be federally required just like any direction on the label itself. That means it will be vital for you or your applicator to check the website for restrictions in your area.

Why not just print restrictions on the label? 

Believe it or not, this is EPA’s attempt to keep pest control products in the hands of growers and not cancel those registrations or make them unavailable across wide swaths of the country. The additional instructions take a closer look at where endangered plants and animals are found, how risky pest control products are to those species, and what kind of “mitigation” practices can reduce that exposure risk so that the product can still be used. 

Listing these instructions on EPA’s website allows those instructions to be site-specific so they don’t apply to farmers outside an endangered species’ range. It also allows EPA to list practices farmers and applicators can use to reduce exposure risk where those species are found to keep the products they need in their hands.

What kind of practices will EPA require? 

This is where Michigan has a big advantage: many of the practices (listed here), designed to reduce runoff, erosion and wind drift, are the same as practices recommended in farm bill conservation programs and the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP). This means your local technicians at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Service Centers and Conservation Districts can help! Whether you need to install vegetated buffers or wind breaks, or seek equipment like spray hoods or drain control structures to help you meet those mitigation requirements, help is available.

What does Farm Bureau Policy say about pesticides?

Our policy calls on Michigan State University (MSU) and the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) to monitor and provide up-to-date information and training on pesticide products. MSU provides excellent tutorials and information about the strategies and the Bulletins Live! Two website here and MDARD provides information about pesticide training, labels, and compliance assistance here. Our American Farm Bureau Policy supports clear guidelines, reducing burdens on farmers in areas where endangered species are found, and using peer-reviewed science to review risk of crop protection tools, to ensure EPA enacts requirements that are feasible for farmers to follow. It’s fair to say EPA’s review and regulatory process is a work in progress, but farmers and applicators can find many resources here. 

As you discuss this topic in your county, think about what policy direction can help guide state and national level to guide discussions with EPA. What can your county Farm Bureau think of to protect both endangered species and our access to the crop protection tools you need to produce your farm products?

What can a Farm Bureau member do?

This strategy is still under development, and your voice as a Farm Bureau member is crucial to the conversation. The agency wants to hear from farmers: 

• What practices to reduce runoff or spray drift are not on the list but need to be?
• With the diversity of Michigan agriculture, are there additional mitigation practices that should be considered?
• How can access to these new regulations be made easier, especially for regions where internet access is slow or spotty?
• What training, information, or instruction can EPA provide to make requirements clear?
• Do you think there are benefits to having site-specific requirements for pesticide use, and are they worth the trade-off of having to go to a website for instructions?

Michigan Farm Bureau can help you and your county Farm Bureau members share those thoughts and information with EPA to develop requirements that are feasible and work within your farming systems. So think about what could help a farmer or applicator make this program work, and what can we as farmers do to keep our access to the tools we need to produce a safe, abundant, and affordable food supply for our own communities and for the rest of the nation and the world. Your voice matters!

Questions:

1. What practices to reduce runoff or spray drift are not on the list but need to be?
2. With the diversity of Michigan agriculture, are there additional mitigation practices that should be considered?
3. How can access to these new regulations be made easier, especially for regions where internet access is slow or spotty?
4. What training, information or instruction can EPA provide to make requirements clear?
5. Do you think there are benefits to having site-specific requirements for pesticide use, and are they worth the trade-off of having to go to a website for instructions?

Include your name & CAG affiliation with your responses:

• EMAIL: WU-CAGLOOP@FBINSMI.COM
• MAIL: MFB CAG Responses, ATTN: Ashley Frazee, 7373 W. Saginaw Hwy, Lansing, MI 48917