Tag Archives: pesticide regulations

Georgia Bill Aims to Protect Farmers’ Access to Crop Tools | Senate Bill 144 Explained

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Atlanta, GA |

Each and every day, farmers and producers across the country work to produce the food and fiber we all need and depend on – with tools they need and depend on, and thanks to lawmakers in Atlanta, those tools are one step closer to being protected by state law as Senate Bill 144 has passed through the General Assembly and is now headed to the Governor’s desk.

“It’s a labeling bill and we’re basically, we’ve got a failure to warn clause in there, and we’re just saying that the manufacturers of products could not put anything on the label other than what EPA allows them to put on the label. At the end of the day, the EPA is the final say so. They’re the ones that do the research on top of what the manufacturers are doing to make sure products are safe. So, it’s truly a labeling bill – the label is the law. The EPA is in control of that and the federal government. So we’re just stating that in the bill and it’s just a failure to warn clause and that the EPA is the final say so in that,” says Senator Sam Watson from Georgia’s 11th District.

Though the bill only addresses labels, it assures farmers they’ll continue to have vital access to technologies they depend on.

“Currently, there is only one manufacturer of glyphosate in the United States. So they’ve obviously had difficulties with this failure to warn claim, so when you start talking about food security, food safety, and farmers livelihoods; trait technology is an important tool that we have in our toolbox as farmers and we couldn’t farm without all of the trait technologies and the use of herbicides, insecticides, and pesticides in general,” says Watson.

Watson, who is a producer himself, says these tools are essential to their operations now more than ever, as rising costs require them to be as efficient as possible – something that wouldn’t be the case without those trait technologies.

“I’m more on the vegetable side, and we have to use a lot of hand labor. H-2A just went up another two dollars an hour and so we use herbicides to help control weeds in our crops. So it became an issue of, is this product going to be around for the future generations to use? And are we going to have this tool in the toolbox? If you go to your local hardware store or your local Home Depot or Lowe’s, I don’t think you’re going to find glyphosate on the shelf because it’s been removed from the shelf. That active ingredient has already been removed. So, that’s where the fear from agriculture came, that what else is going to come off the shelf?,” says Watson.

Beyond protecting American agriculture, Watson believes the bill also safeguards American manufacturing and ultimately national security.

“The Chinese manufacture a lot of these products and if we have to buy it from the Chinese to feed Americans and to stay in business, then we’re probably going to get it from the Chinese. When there’s a problem, how do you go after someone in another country? We want to make sure that we protect American manufacturing and especially American manufacturing of these products,” says Watson.

By: John Holcomb

Southeast Farmers Tackle Herbicide Compliance & Sustainability at Regional Conference

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Savannah, GA |

Fruit and vegetable growers from all over the Southeast made their way to the annual Southeast Regional Fruit and Vegetable conference – an event that’s meant to equip producers within the industry with all the tools and knowledge that they need to see success back on their operations and remain sustainable for years to come.

“There is an intrinsic value in coming together and visiting with old friends and strengthening those existing relationships; those matter, because in these tough times, those are the people that you can count on. So, it’s great just to bring everybody together in the same room. It’s also great to bring everybody together and get them up to date on rules for compliance, on things like the H-2A labor program, pesticide regulations and other regulations. They face a whole host of agencies that are worried about what’s going on, and we need to make sure that we’re providing them with the correct information to stay on the right side of compliance,” says Chris Butts, Executive Vice President for the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association.

Compliance of course a huge topic of concern for growers as they adapt to changing herbicide requirements as the EPA works to develop a framework to ensure growers and producers are applying herbicides in a way that is on target and adheres to the Endangered Species Act: one of which has to do with mitigating surface runoff.

“We will have specific mitigation requirements to prevent the pesticide from leaving the field through runoff, and we will be given certain points on a herbicide label that we must meet. For example, there’s a product out now called Liberty Ultra, it’s the first real example. It has three points for runoff. So, me as a grower, to apply that product I have to achieve three points in mitigation measures on my field to be able to use that product. So we have this new restriction, but we also are providing the mitigation measures, right? It’s not just one or two measures; there’s a bunch of measures to help ensure the product stays on target,” says Stanley Culpepper, Extension Weed Scientist.

Culpepper says they also have specific requirements when it pertains to mitigating particle drift, which again is meant to ensure producers are remaining on-target when using.

“There’s certain measures that we can do as applicators to make sure what goes on target. Just to give you an example, if we’re twenty-four inches above the target versus forty-eight inches above the target, we cut off target or drift movement by fifty percent just from that one measure, and they have developed a credit system where we can reduce buffer. Again, each time we implement one of these measures, that I promise our science based, you’re doing a better job,” says Culpepper.

Culpepper says that growers shouldn’t be worried about this right now as this is the time to become educated, however, he believes growers need to be engaged with this process as much as possible.

“We’ve been working on this for three to five years. We have a lot of growers in the state of Georgia that have monumentally changed where we’re at on the Endangered Species Act today versus two years ago. I am not kidding when I tell you what was proposed two years ago, we wouldn’t have a farm left. We would not have a farm left if it was not for the engagement from our agricultural community, including our farmers. Working together with a little time, we will not only overcome these challenges, we will be better for putting the product on target, keeping it there. Keep in mind, long term, everybody knows what’s happening in our country, but long term, if we cannot make sure these products go exactly where they need to go and they stay there, you’re not going to have them,” says Culpepper.

By: John Holcomb