EPA Announcement on Chlorpyrifos

August 20, 2021 Volume 8 Edition 3

EPA announces the decision not to fight a court ruling on zero tolerance of Chlorpyrifos in food crops.

On Wednesday many of you may have heard the announcement by the EPA on chlorpyrifos. For some, the announcement is very clear - the EPA is banning use of this insecticide on all food crops. If you grow fruits, vegetables, berries, nuts and wheat, it is obvious that you grow a food crop. But what about corn and soybeans? We have received confirmation that feed use is listed on the food list. But what about corn and soybeans used for ethanol or biofuel production? What are the rules when these commodities aren’t sold directly to the end user and how are DDG’s (distillers’ dried grains) classified? With this announcement, corn and soybean producers have more questions than answers.

The following background information was taken from an article in Politico. Please click on the green hyperlinks to get more detailed information:

The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Wednesday that it would prohibit the use of chlorpyrifos, a pesticide that has been linked to neurological damage, on all food crops.

The EPA decision bans nearly all use of the pesticide in the U.S., which had been widely used in the production of fruits, vegetables, berries, nuts and wheat. Feed for livestock is considered a food use.

The move does not affect application of chlorpyrifos for non-food uses such as on golf courses, Christmas trees and for mosquito control.

Background: The EPA first proposed a ban in 2015, but that was never fully implemented by the Obama administration and was ignored by Trump administration officials. Though the Trump administration issued a partial ban in 2020, advocates say it did not change its effects on worker health and the environment and was also never fully implemented.

Some research has linked chlorpyrifos to neurological damage in humans, posing a risk to farmworkers, especially pregnant women, in the fields.

But several farming groups, including potato and soybean interest groups, have argued that not reauthorizing the pesticide would lead to crop losses for farmers who do not have an alternative.

Shortly after President Joe Biden took office, worker advocates and environmental groups called on the EPA and its new administrator, Michael Regan, to revisit the use of the pesticide. In April, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit — where litigation had continued — mandated that the EPA revoke its use or change tolerances for the pesticide.

While waiting for the EPA’s final decision, four lawsuits against Dow Chemical and the company it spun off, Corteva Agriscience, which now manufactures the pesticide, were filed in California in July seeking class-action status.

Corteva announced last year that it would stop selling the chemical, citing declining sales.

There are several states, most recently New York, who have decided to independently ban the use, sale, distribution and possession of chlorpyrifos on any crops.

What does this all mean for us? The timeline of things happening will start with a final draft of the EPA’s intent to reduce the tolerance of chlorpyrifos being published in the federal journal. A draft of the decision can be found by clicking here. Once the final intent of the EPA is published, it will start a six-month waiting period before it goes into effect. Because the court order triggered this action, the normal timeline is disrupted. The EPA has not sent the label through the reregistration process and there are no firm answers to our questions determining what a food crop and food use is and is not. The EPA may or may not have that process completed by the time the six-month window is closed, leaving you and AFS guessing at some legal uses. There also is not an answer to the question of what happens to produce/grain for food use that had a legal application of chlorpyrifos, either before or during the six-month window, but has not yet been moved through the marketing process? Are they held to the standards on the label at time of application, or held to the tolerance change put in place after legal application of the product?

I will work with the EPA and other associations in the industry to try and get answers to these and other questions around this announcement on chlorpyrifos before the six-month finalization period is up. We will continually update you as we know more. If you have any more questions, please feel free to call your AFS agronomist. Click the button below if you would like to sign up to receive updates on chlorpyrifos.

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Amy Asmus, co-owner of Asmus Farm Supply

Crop Update as of August 16, 2021

*Information and graphs obtained from August 16, 2021, USDA, NASS report

Iowa

Isolated showers in the northwest and northcentral region with the help of average temperatures helped the drought conditions. Between the two regions, topsoil levels averaged 27% very short, 46% short, 28% adequate, and 0% surplus. Subsoil moisture in the two regions averaged 44% very short, 37% short, 20% adequate, and 0% surplus.

In general, for the region, corn is progressing along the timeline of the 5-year average. Corn in or beyond the dough stage has reached 83%. Twenty-nine percent of the crop has reached dent stage. Iowa's corn condition is rated at 58% good to excellent.

Soybeans setting pods reached 90% this week, a full week ahead of normal. Soybean conditions for the state of Iowa was rated at 58% good to excellent.

Minnesota

The scattered precipitation that some areas received did little to counteract the dry and hot conditions, leaving most areas across Minnesota in dire need of rain. Topsoil moisture supplies across Minnesota were rated 46% very short, 38% short, 16% adequate, and 0% surplus. Subsoil moisture supplies were rated 43% very short, 41% short, 16% adequate, and 0% surplus.

Corn in or beyond the dough stage reached 65%, five days behind last year. Corn dented reached 13%, slightly ahead of average. Corn condition remained at 35% good to excellent.

Soybean setting pods reached 91%, six days behind last year and one day ahead of the 5-year average. Seven percent of the soybeans are already turning color. This is the highest percentage of turning color by August 15th since 1988. Soybean condition remained unchanged at 29% good to excellent.