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Be prepared with chlorpyrifos alternatives

The EPA banned the use of the insecticide on food last year and the ban will still be in effect in 2023. Ag Retailers Association CEO Daren Coppock says the EPA means business. Product registrants like Corteva were asked to remove food uses from the label, but Coppock says not everyone listened.

“In the case of one who did not, the EPA issued an intent to cancel that registration this last week.”

Coppock tells Brownfield agriculture groups are frustrated about EPA’s cancellation and the way it happened.

“A lot of the data EPA is relying on comes from an epidemiology study. Epidemiology does not determine cause and effect. It will illustrate a correlation of two things related,” says Coppock. “To do that, you need a toxicology studies. The data from a toxicology standpoint does not support what EPA’s done.”

Agriculture’s legal fight against EPA to restore safe ag uses of chlorpyrifos continues. Last week, 20 groups asked the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate chlorpyrifos tolerances. They are hopeful the court will issue a ruling in the next few months. Coppock says farmers should not wait for the tool to be replaced.

“I really think our members will be focused on finding alternatives: whether that’s biological products or rotations.”