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Farm groups dispute EPA’s atrazine assessment

The EPA’s ecological risk assessment on atrazine is not sitting well with most farm groups.

The Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA) says if EPA’s atrazine report is finalized as written, it could cause label restrictions so severe, they would effectively ban atrazine from most uses.  ICGA sustainable projects manager Ben Gleason says atrazine is a popular tool in conservation tillage because it allows farmers to maintain weed control while reducing or eliminating tillage.

“No-till would be hard to do without the great control that atrazine provides,” Gleason says. “It would just create more and more glyphosate use and create more glyphosate-resistance problems.”

Gleason says farmers can’t afford to lose any more weed control options. “We need as many tools in the toolbox, so we can rotate modes of action,” he says.

EPA says atrazine is having a negative impact on aquatic life, including fish, frogs and plants. The ag groups says the report is based on faulty science.

AUDIO: Ben Gleason