Pesticides

House Ag Committee Chairman says farm bill pesticide provisions could cause concern in the Senate

Fri, 08 May 2026 18:55:32 GMT

After a flurry of debate, votes and finally movement, the Farm Food and National Security Act of 2026 passed the U.S. House with a 224-200 vote. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson calls the legislation “transformational,” adding that 96% of GOP members in the House, the most in history, and 14 Democrats supported the bill.

“That’s the most members of the minority party who voted for a House farm bill since 2008. So, [that’s] a strong endorsement in a bipartisan way as this bill winds up in the Senate for consideration,” he says.

Despite his optimism, Thompson expressed concern over a key amendment introduced by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna. The addition stripped the farm bill of pesticide liability provisions. Before the amendment, the bill’s original language reaffirmed EPA as the sole agency capable of determining the information listed on a pesticide label. Critics, including Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) advocates, worry the language would shield pesticide manufacturers from liability claims.

“I have some concerns with the pesticide provision that was added,” Thompson says. “I think it may put farmers’ health at risk and certainly drive up affordability and open the door for foreign-manufactured pesticides to flood into our country.

“I have significant concerns that the amendment that was put forward is going to create chaos [in the Senate],” he later added.

Thompson says he’s supportive of year-round E15, but because it falls under the jurisdiction of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, it will likely be taken up for a vote mid-May.

Moving Forward

Thompson says, overall, he thinks farm bill conversations in the Senate are positive. The chairman says he’s kept Sen. John Boozman, chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, well informed about the bill over the last year.

“I kind of pictured my good friend, John Boozma, with a catcher’s mitt, ready to receive the Farm Food and National Security Act,” Thompson says. “He’ll have to make some modifications, and I think he’s hoping to do that mid- to late May. He knows how ... our farmers need this bill today, not tomorrow or not next year.”

New Legislation Impacting H-2A Reform

Thompson says in three to four weeks, he will likely release draft language for public discussion that would make reforms to the H-2A program. After the draft, he’ll be introducing a bill with bipartisan support, he says.

“We’ve already had some very positive discussions with our [House] Judiciary [Committee] Chairman Jim Jordan — so, [I’m] looking forward to breaking that 45-, almost 50-year gridlock of really not doing anything in this space. I think we have a great opportunity to provide certainty to agriculture workforce, which quite frankly is necessary for both food security and ultimately national security.”

AgZen, Corteva Team up on AI-Powered, Retrofit Sprayer Tech

Fri, 24 Oct 2025 16:10:42 GMT

AgZen announces an agreement with Corteva to further “explore the commercial potential” of AgZen’s AI-powered crop spraying optimization technology, RealCoverage.

The news comes on the heels of Corteva’s big announcement on Oct. 1 , detailing the crop protection multinational’s plan to split its crop protection and seeds businesses.

AgZen, a tech startup spun out of MIT, is making a name for itself by pioneering feedback optimization for spray applications — a new approach the company thinks has potential to improve farmer outcomes and reduce crop input costs.

(AgZen)

AgZen’s first product, RealCoverage, is a retrofit kit that can be bolted onto any sprayer to measure and optimize the number of drops of agrochemicals applied to crops. The system features a boom-mounted sensor that analyzes the coverage and quality of spray applications in real-time, displaying actionable data to a tablet mounted in the cab. Farmers can use the data to optimize the physical settings on spray rigs, both self-propelled and pull-behind, to increase coverage.

The startup says its system works by leveraging AI and cutting-edge computer vision, and customers have used RealCoverage to save 30% to 50% on input costs.

Farmer Feedback

(AgZen)

Northwest Indiana farmer Bryan Brost slapped a RealCoverage system onto his Hagie STS 16 high-clearance sprayer to use on his waxy corn and soybean crops. He says it has helped boost his spray program efficiency overall by reducing application rates while maintaining optimal coverage throughout his 12,000-acre operation.

“The payback came in the first year,” he tells Farm Journal via text message. “We have increased our acres [covered] per day with less hours on the machine, the operator and the nurse tanks supplying product [to the sprayer].”

Corey McIntosh set the technology loose across his 4,000 acre spread in Missouri Valley, Iowa. He is looking forward to using the data to improve his application efficiency across the board. He’s also letting his neighbors and local retailer in on the secret.

“I was getting a chem shuttle refilled at [the] co-op, these guys have always been complimentary of our weed control, I asked them: ‘What percentage of leaf surface area do you think you are covering with your sprayers?’ One of their best operators said he thought 50% coverage. The salesman next to him said it would definitely be more than 60%,” McIntosh says.

“They were shocked when I told them we were at 9% to 10%, but nobody has had ever had a way to quantify this before,” he adds. “We are really looking forward to making improvements.”

Since launching on the market in 2024, AgZen says it covered more than 970,000 commercial acres of application across the U.S. on row crops and specialty crops.

Your Next Read: Breakthrough Fungicide Delivers White Mold Disease Control in Key Crops

Corteva's Bold Move: What Splitting Crop Protection and Seed Businesses Means for the Future

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 18:27:19 GMT

Global agriculture technology company Corteva announced plans on Wednesday to separate into two independent, publicly traded entities: “new” Corteva, which will continue to sell crop protection products – herbicides, fungicides, insecticides and biologicals – and SpinCo, which will focus on the seed genetics business.

SpinCo will include Pioneer, the company’s legacy seed brand established in 1926, as well as Brevant and regional seed brands, including Dairyland Seed.

Upon separation of the companies, Greg Page, current Corteva chairman, will lead new Corteva, while Chuck Magro, current Corteva CEO, will become CEO of SpinCo.

In announcing the decision by Corteva, Magro said the farmer-centric organization appreciates that its customers want and need choice across their input decisions.

“The best way, maybe I can even say, the only way for this company to preserve and expand that choice and keep putting innovative, effective, sustainable solutions into the hands of farmers around the world is to give both businesses the freedom to operate without having to look out for the other,” said Magro, during an online presentation primarily focused on company investors.

He added that the separation of the company into two entities will allow both businesses to maximize long-term value for farmers, customers, employees and shareholders.

Magro described SpinCo – with expected net sales of $9.9 billion in 2025 (56% of current Corteva sales) – as “a classic growth compounder” that will pursue opportunities in out-licensing, hybrid wheat, biofuels and gene editing.

“The continued success of our SpinCo business will be predicated upon sustained investment in advanced genetics and further capitalizing on our unique route to market,” Magro said.

As a pure-play crop genetics company, Magro predicts SpinCo could go beyond its corn and soybean core into other row crops, even expanding into other areas like fruits and vegetables.

“Spinco will also look to expand on new opportunities in wheat, cotton, rice and other products, where genetics can play a transformative role,” he said. “In other words, we could see SpinCo playing in a vastly expanded addressable market.”

Corteva Crop Protection Business Is Future-Focused

For new Corteva, Magro characterized the crop protection industry as competitive and tough, but that company leaders anticipate the market will return to growth in the near future.

“At new Corteva, success will be built upon an optimized supply chain, a new level of operational excellence and the ability to invest in the next generation of sustainable, differentiated innovation, including biologicals and other nature-based products,” he said.

Magro said as company leaders weighed the pros and cons of separating the two companies, they made the decision with the future in mind.

“This is not about today, and it’s not certainly about the last six years. This is about what we see coming,” he said. “We’re in a market that we need to look out 10-years plus. That’s just the research and development and the timeline it takes to bring technology into the marketplace. So this is a long-term decision that we are making.”

Corteva’s 2025 net sales for its crop protection business are estimated to be $7.8 billion (44% of the current company’s total).

During Magro’s remarks, he gave no indication of where the two companies will be based. Corteva’s global headquarters is currently based in Indianapolis, Ind., while Johnston, Iowa, is home to its seed business.

The transaction separating Corteva and SpinCo is expected to be completed in the second half of 2026.

Corteva was formed in 2018 as the agriculture-focused subsidiary of DowDuPont, following the merger of the two companies. Corteva was spun-off as its own entity in 2019.

Your next read: Fertilizer Decisions: Balance Costs, Yields and Sustainability

Artificial Intelligence Joins The Fight Against Weeds, Insects And Disease

Fri, 08 Aug 2025 13:53:42 GMT

The crop protection industry needs a reboot, according to Tony Klemm.

As CEO of Enko, a crop-protection startup, he says the company is taking a different approach to solving one of agriculture’s biggest problems – developing safe, effective and sustainable crop protection products that can be brought to the marketplace faster and more economically.

Traditional discovery pipelines for herbicides, fungicides, insecticides are not keeping pace with real challenges farmers face, such as resistance issues, he told Chip Flory, host of AgriTalk on Thursday.

A 2024 study funded by Crop Life International reports the costs associated with bringing a new active ingredient to major U.S. and European markets now top $300 million. In addition, the survey says the average lead time between the first synthesis of a new crop protection molecule and its subsequent commercial introduction is now over 12 years.

Part of the long development time required is related to regulatory hurdles. “There’s just increasing demand for meeting environmental safety needs, rightfully so,” Klemm says.

A Paradigm Shift
Enko, based in Mystic, Conn., is using artificial intelligence (AI) and a machine learning discovery platform to guide the company’s research and development efforts. Klemm describes the strategy as a paradigm shift from the current industry practices for how small molecule crop protection discovery has been done.

“We use DNA-encoded libraries, and these libraries allow our scientists to explore this massive, diverse chemical space in a very targeted, automated and expansive way,” he says.

The technology allows Enko scientists to look at billions of molecules and screen them for safety and efficacy and, in the process, develop them faster and more economically.

“We still have to take the regulatory journey that, right now, no one’s figured out a way to expedite,” he notes. “But getting to that regulatory queue faster and better on the front side is really what’s bringing us that cost savings, that efficacy and is going to allow for more products to be put into the regulatory queue in a faster manner.”

Progress To Date
So far, Klemm says Enko has delivered about 50 active programs that cover all facets of weeds, insects and disease. Many use novel or new modes of action that Klemm believes will help farmers fight resistance issues, such as herbicide resistance in Palmer amaranth and pigweed.

“We’re really working on how we can bring new modes of action to farmers, give them fresh tools to win that fight. And our chemistries work using fewer active ingredients, from perspective of the load on the acre, so we’re designing safer chemistry for the future,” he says.

Specifically, Klemm says Enko recently announced a new grass herbicide is in the pipeline for the European cereals market for control of black grass. The company also has conducted field trials for corn and soybean products in the U.S. that he anticipates are five to 10 years away from market launch, depending on how long they take to move through regulatory channels.

Your next read: Bayer Affirms Support of Glyphosate, Optimistic for a Future with Over the Top Dicamba Labels

Comment Period Nears Close on EPA's Proposed Residue Levels

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 22:48:14 GMT

On May 22, the Environmental Protection Agency submitted a proposed rule that would, among other things, increase the residue tolerance levels for several pesticides used in various fresh produce crops. Public comments can be submitted on this proposed rule by 11:59 p.m. Eastern on July 21.

The EPA says in its proposed rule that the changes may affect those involved with crop production and/or pesticide manufacturing.

Along with some housekeeping-style changes, the proposed rule would increase residue tolerance levels for certain pesticide/crop combinations, including:

Diflubenzuron (an insecticide) in mushrooms from 0.2 parts per million to 8 ppm, as well as shifting crop categories related to brassica leafy greens and setting a 10 ppm tolerance for the group (up from 9 ppm in most cases).
Flutolanil (a fungicide) in turnip greens and other brassica leafy greens from 0.1 ppm to 0.2 ppm.

Other changes in the proposed rule include shifting category definitions for certain crops and changing language related to crops and crop products for clarity and ease of use. For example, the proposed rule would replace older language “Apple from preharvest or postharvest use, including use of impregnated wraps” to simply “apple” in relevant regulatory language .

Interested members of the public can submit comments on this proposed rule online at Regulations.gov or at the Federal Register .

Modern Ag Alliance celebrates signing of GA pesticide liability bill

Mon, 12 May 2025 21:36:33 GMT

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp recently signed Senate Bill 144 into law , which changes the way liability is treated on pesticide use in the state. This move was celebrated by the Modern Ag Alliance, which called it a pivotal victory for Georgia farmers. The group pointed out the bill had bipartisan support in the Georgia Senate (42-12) and House (101-58) and made Georgia the second state after North Dakota to have similar legislation dealing with pesticide liability.

“This is a momentous win for Georgia’s farmers and the agricultural economy,” Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, executive director of the Modern Ag Alliance, said in a news release.

“Thanks to Governor Kemp and the Georgia Legislature, farmers now have greater clarity that the tools they need to maintain our food supply will remain available, and agriculture can continue to thrive as Georgia’s leading industry. This new law adds to the growing momentum for other states to adopt similar legislation and reassert a fundamental principle: science-based crop protection labels are the law.”

Modern Ag Alliance said the signing of the bill into law was made possible by the strong support of Georgia’s agricultural community. According to the group’s Ag Insights Survey, 72% of Georgians, including 94% of farmers, favor science-based policies for crop protection tools.

“This is a major victory for Georgia’s top industry: agriculture,” said Will Bentley, president of the Georgia Agribusiness Council. “By reinforcing science-based regulations for crop protection products, this law provides Georgia’s farmers and agribusiness with the certainty they need to remain competitive and contribute to a strong food and fiber supply chain. We appreciate Governor Kemp and the Georgia Legislature for prioritizing policies that benefit Georgia farmers, agribusinesses and consumers alike.”

Georgia Farm Bureau President Tom McCall added, “Georgia farmers now have greater confidence that crop protection regulations will remain consistent and rooted in sound science. This law safeguards growers’ access to essential inputs for food production and helps sustain Georgia’s agricultural economy. We appreciate the Georgia General Assembly’s leadership and Governor Kemp’s commitment to supporting our state’s farmers.”

Agricultural leaders also highlighted the consumer benefits of the legislation.

“This law allows farmers to sustain their operations with low input costs, keeping fresh, locally grown produce available without further food price increases,” said Chris Butts, executive director of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association. “Georgia growers work hard to meet demand despite unpredictable challenges, and we applaud Governor Kemp and the Georgia Legislature for supporting policies that allow growers to continue delivering high-quality food to consumers.”

Could Government Efficiency Efforts Break the Dam in EPA’s Pesticide Approval Backlog?

Mon, 12 May 2025 16:09:44 GMT

Earlier this month, EPA administrator Lee Zeldin announced the next phase of organizational improvements for the agency. For agriculture, the focus went to 130 science positions that were being reallocated.

With EPA’s authority over reviewing the science of pesticides, and a current backlog of 504 new chemicals in review plus 12,000 pesticide reviews that are overdue compared to their expected timelines, the industry has been watching a ballooning backlog.

“We’ve been trying to get more resources to help to reduce the backlog, and we’ve been advocating for Administrator Zeldin to provide additional resources,” says Terry Kippley, president and CEO of the Council of Producers and Distributors of Agrotechnology. “And so we’re still waiting on some details, but they have announced that there’s 130 scientists that could be moving over into the chemicals division and the chemicals division is the division that growers care about and agribusiness cares about because it includes the Office of Pesticide Programs [OPP], and they’re responsible for getting the tools out into the field.”

Two core causes of the backlog:

There have been two key factors adding up to the slowdown and now backlog of pesticide processing, regulations and approval.

1. Underfunding and interagency performance.

Specific to the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP), Congress has underfunded its activities. Registrants agreed to a fee structure helping pay for the services provided by EPA, known as PRIA 5, which increased industry fees by 30%.

Congress has continually funded the EPA at low levels, and the OPP significantly below the $166 million asked for in appropriation.

“For many reasons every year they’ve only been giving approximately 80% of that number,” Kippley says. “From the farmer perspective, if you have a deal with a local co-op, and you say I’m going to give you 30% more money. But then you find out that you’re only getting about 80% of that agreed upon number. That’s a problem.”

Kippley says right now, for OPP, it adds up to being short about $32 million.

“We’d like to have them allocate that additional $32 million dollars, so that in the end OPP has the resources to consistently deliver and execute these timelines, so that everybody has certainty.”

2. The COVID-19 pandemic brought an unexpected workload

During the COVID-19 pandemic, disruptions added up in addition to EPA being responsible for testing and approving hand sanitizer products.

“I’ve had nearly a 30-year career dealing with regulated products, and I can say we’ve had certainty out of EPA in the past,” Kippley says. “Maybe wasn’t always perfect, but until COVID it was really operating in a way that we could do business, and they have just received so much more work with so many fewer resources. It’s really a difficult situation to manage.”

Will DOGE be the answer to the two issues that have amassed this backlog?

It has yet to be seen. One retiree from EPA is skeptical that even with an influx of 130 scientists transferred into the OPP, any benefits in terms of approvals won’t be seen for 18 months.

“If they allocate all of the transfers to new registrations — and ignore the FIFRA renewals — and if they are creative, by the time the Trump administration is over, things could be caught up,” they say.

One reason is the recent wave of early retirements, which currently employs 550 total scientists and 100 of those taking the early out package, which went into effect on May 5.

GreenLight Bio closes Series C with $25M from Just Climate

Wed, 16 Apr 2025 15:42:25 GMT

GreenLight Biosciences Inc. a Boston-based agtech company, announced the successful close of its Series C funding round at the end of March. This included a $25 million investment from new investor, Just Climate, a mission-driven investor in high impact climate solutions. The investment validates GreenLight Bio’s efforts to develop sustainable solutions that enhance agricultural productivity while preserving biodiversity, according to the company.

“This strategic investment from Just Climate and others represents a powerful endorsement of our RNA platform’s potential to revolutionize agriculture while addressing environmental challenges including pollinator health,” Andrey Zarur, CEO of GreenLight Bio, said in a news release. “With this funding, we are well-positioned to scale our commercial operations, advance our product pipeline, expand our international footprint and further our mission of building a safer, more equitable food system using nature.”

The new capital supports GreenLight Bio’s commercial momentum following the launch of Calantha, which is registered in the U.S. and Ukraine. It is the first-ever-registered RNA-based crop protection spray. Calantha offers potato growers an alternative to conventional chemical pesticides.

The funding will also help drive several other strategic developments, according to the company.

Once registered in the U.S., GreenLight Bio will quickly move to commercialize Norroa, a new tool for beekeepers to protect their colonies from varroa mites. Beekeepers reported catastrophic honeybee colony losses averaging 62% between June 2024 and February 2025, according to recent Honey Bee Health Coalition data.

GreenLight Bio says it will also further internationalize Fortivance, an adjuvant that enhances the efficiency of existing agricultural treatments and can reduce their environmental impact.

According to the company, the investment from Just Climate enables GreenLight Bio to continue its expansion across key international markets, including Brazil and other Latin American countries. Recent expansion efforts include the establishment of a state-of-the-art agricultural research station in Seville, Spain, which now serves as the company’s European hub for innovation and collaborative research in sustainable agriculture practices.

“GreenLight Biosciences exemplifies the type of innovative enterprise that can deliver transformative environmental impact while building sustainable commercial success,” said Eduardo Mufarej, head of the natural climate solutions strategy and co-chief investment officer at Just Climate. “Their platform addresses some of the most pressing challenges facing global agriculture and biodiversity conservation. We are pleased to support GreenLight Bio’s mission and solutions that help protect crops, pollinators and our planet’s ecosystems.”

New insect management brands from Syngenta

Wed, 16 Apr 2025 15:37:51 GMT

Syngenta announced the names of three foliar-applied insecticide brands for its in-season insect management portfolio in the U.S. on April 16. Upon approval by the Environmental Protection Agency, the company anticipates the products will manage insect pests in cotton, vegetables, tree fruit crops and more.

“We’re committed to creating solutions that meet the evolving needs of growers,” Elijah Meck, Syngenta technical product lead, said in a news release. “With pests becoming more difficult to control, this active ingredient will provide growers with a new option.”

Isocycloseram, which has been approved for use in other countries, will act by contact and ingestion, providing rapid feeding cessation. Leveraging this novel active ingredient in IRAC Group 30 will also provide growers with a new resistance management option.

Upon EPA registration, foliar-applied products using Plinazolin technology will be sold under the following brand names:

Incipio: A foliar-applied insecticide intended for use in brassica, cucurbit, leafy and fruiting vegetable crops that will provide control of a broad spectrum of pests. In vegetables, this includes diamondback moth, melonworm, pepper weevil, pickleworm, thrips and other lepidopterous pests.
Vertento: A foliar-applied insecticide intended for use in cotton, peanuts and onions that will deliver control of various insect pests including: (in cotton) plant bugs, stink bugs and thrips; (in onions) thrips; and (in peanuts) mites and thrips.
Zivalgo: A foliar-applied insecticide intended for use in pome and stone fruit, citrus, tree nuts and potatoes that will offer broad-spectrum insect pest control. These include: (in potatoes) Colorado potato beetle and potato leafhopper; (in tree fruit) Asian citrus psyllid, codling moth, mites, oriental fruit moth, pear psylla, plum curculio and thrips; and (in tree nuts) mites.

While the above-listed pests are proposed key targets, the proposed labels will be for a range of pests beyond those mentioned, according to the company.

Syngenta previously announced the brand names for its corn and seed treatment insecticide brands, Opello and Equento, designed to manage corn rootworm and other soil-dwelling insect pests. All five insecticide brands will contain isocycloseram, which will be marketed under the trademarked name Plinazolin technology.

Agragene and Associates Insectary partner on gene editing approach to SWD control

Wed, 09 Apr 2025 14:22:35 GMT

Agragene and Associates Insectary have announced a partnership to advance Agragene’s Knockout SWD technology targeting spotted wing drosophila (SWD), a top pest of fresh berries. Agragene’s technology, still in development, uses gene editing to create sterile male SWD. Associates Insectary, which specializes in high-volume insect production, will rear the sterile males at their Santa Paula, Calif., facility.

Matt Helms, Agragene’s chief commercial officer, says the company reached out to Associates Insectary for a partnership for several reasons, including its respected reputation and extensive expertise. But a shared entrepreneurial spirit is at the heart of the partnership, he said.

“They are looking ahead from a vision perspective and trying to invest their time and partnerships into new technologies that can be game changing. That attracted us to each other,” Helms told The Packer.

A new twist on an old strategy

Both companies see strong potential for future pest control in Knockout SWD. The technology applies the tried-and-true sterile insect technique (SIT) to SWD, but with a twist: gene editing.

“Knockout is basically a gene edited process,” explained Bryan Witherbee, Agragene CEO. “We’re targeting two genes in particular; one that is responsible for female development and one that is responsible for spermatogenesis, or development of sperm.”

The result of this approach is an efficient process to produce only sterile male SWD eggs, Witherbee said. This contrasts with the traditional SIT process. That involves rearing the target pest to adulthood, sorting males from females, then irradiating the males.

While this process has been used effectively for decades, Witherbee called it time-consuming, labor-intensive and expensive. Irradiating the adult males comes with potential issues as well, starting with the impact of irradiation on the insects.

“It’s the same as for humans; it’s hard on you physically,” explained Chris Adams, assistant professor of tree fruit entomology at Oregon State University. Adams led a USDA-permitted experimental release of Knockout SWD in partnership with Agragene last summer.

“[Irradiation] kills and breaks down lots of cells, so there is a fitness cost,” Adams said.

Some of that fitness cost is dead, instead of just sterile, males. But it can also mean the sterile males that survive the irradiation process might not be able to compete against wild males to mate, Adams said.

The materials needed for the irradiation process also come with their own drawbacks. Adams explained most SIT programs use radioactive cobalt, a regulated substance.

“We know this is a very needed product. This is something that growers are anticipating.”

Bryan Witherbee, Agragene CEO

Witherbee sees a lot of advantages to Knockout SWD’s gene editing spin on SIT.

“Once we get the egg made, in terms of the sterile male, we don’t touch them,” he said, so the process sidesteps the drawbacks of irradiation-based SIT. He explained eggs will be packaged together with a food source in a convenient box. This can be placed in orchards or berry farms. The sterile males will develop inside the box until they reach adulthood and fly out to do their work.

Better together to battle SWD

Helms explained that in the planned partnership with Associates Insectary, Agragene will provide the breeding lines, one edited for non-viability in females and one edited for sterility in males, to Associates Insectary, who will then rear, pack and distribute them, something it is well equipped to do.

“Associates Insectary has the processes, controls and expertise to consistently rear our Knockout insect technology solution and is also strategically located in a key market geography,” Helms said in the companies’ joint news release.

Zach Slaughter of Associates Insectary also highlighted his company’s important location in Ventura County, near so many berry farms in California. With so many growers so close, he told The Packer the company has been able to hand-deliver beneficial insects to its customers. Slaughter said Associates Insectary long ago realized the industry needs transparent, reliable suppliers of beneficials.

“So, we quickly knew that we were going to focus on being a reliable producer that is not out to compete against our peer insectaries, but instead collaborate and support. In six months, we have partnered in some fashion with four other beneficial insectaries and providers to contract rear, assisting in stabilizing supply in key beneficials they identified needing production support in,” Slaughter said.

The invasive spotted wing drosophila is studied in the entomology lab at Oregon State University’s Mid-Columbia Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Hood River. The fly is a major new fruit pest.

(Oregon State University Extension photo by Lynn Ketchum. Used under the CC BY-SA 2.0/Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.)

He added that at Associates Insectary, “We truly believe ‘a rising tide lifts all boats,’” a mindset he said Agragene also embodies.

He called the partnership with Agragene on Knockout SWD something of a passion project for Associates Insectary given the compatibility of the two companies’ goals.

“Our mission is to advance the use of beneficials and other biocontrols over the use of harmful chemicals,” Slaughter said. “Outside of the obvious that [Agragene is] producing a beneficial insect and we are a commercial insectary, their focus in providing an accessible and scalable solution for growers as a way to execute their mission compliments ours.”

“The partnership with Associates Insectary enables us to scale our groundbreaking technology and bring it to growers who are desperately seeking insect control solutions,” Helms said in the release.

Tiny flies mean huge problems for berry growers

According to Adams, berry growers are indeed in need of solutions to the SWD problem because it is a massive one. A 2021 report in Entomology Today estimated the damage caused to U.S. fruit growers by SWD at $500 million annually.

“I think they are the biggest threat to soft fruit and berries,” Adams said.

He explained the basics of the SWD. They are relatively new invasive pests. Unlike native or more established berry pests, SWD can attack undamaged or unripe fruit. Worse, they reproduce stunningly fast.

Under the proper conditions, such as the warm months of summer, a SWD can go from egg to adult in seven to 10 days. Females can lay up to 600 eggs during their lifetime. Adults usually live for two to nine weeks but can overwinter under the right conditions.

“They’re survivors, and they do a really good job of making more flies,” Adams said.

The prolific nature of SWD means growers must be rigorous about pesticide application. “If you skip a week and you don’t spray, you end up with infested fruit,” Adams said.

SWD feed on any soft-skinned fruit such as blackberries, raspberries, cherries, strawberries and more. Females pierce the skin of even unripe fruit to lay their eggs.

(Oregon State University Extension photo by Amy Dreves. Used under the CC BY-SA 2.0/Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.)

This causes problems for organic and smaller growers, especially the small “mom and pop” U-pick farms, he said. But it also poses issues for conventional growers on labor, Helms added.

“This is all hand harvested, so the reentry or preharvest intervals — it varies a little bit on these products — really impacts the timing that the farmer can have his harvest crews rotate around to the different fields and maximize the yield opportunity.”

Adams also pointed out the damage SWD do to fruit, and their larva, look like that of the Western cherry fruit fly, a quarantine pest. This causes problems at the packing level.

Hatching spotted wing drosophila larvae feed on fruit before breaching the skin to escape.

(Oregon State University Extension photo by Amy Dreves. Used under the CC BY-SA 2.0/Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.)

“If it ends up in the packing house on the line, and they catch maggots inside of fruit, they have to stop the production line and ID what you have,” Adams said. “And because Western chair fruit fly restricts export of the fruit, you have to reject the whole load. You can’t take the chance.

“So growers hands are kind of tied right now to a very expensive and frequent pesticide application,” he continued. “So that’s why we’re really excited about this new sterile insect release technique from Agragene. It’s another tool; we don’t currently have a sterile insect release technique for spotted wing drosophila.”

A path forward for future pest projects

Helms described growers as throwing the kitchen sink at the SWD problem right now. Witherbee added growers are hungry for tools. They, like Adams, hope their Knockout SWD could be another tool in berry growers’ arsenal.

Though the technology is still in the research phase, Agragene envisions a 12-week program beginning when berries start flowering. This is roughly three or four weeks before wild SWD begin emerging, according to Helms. Growers would receive shipments of the boxed Knockout SWD every two weeks during the program. The boxes would be hung in trees, or on trellises or vines to get the gene-edited flies out into the fields ahead of the wild type.

“Our goal is that this is a foundational program. Kind of like with the COVID curve, instead of letting [SWD numbers] spike, we want to keep it down and push it out,” Adams said. “We believe we can have an opportunity to increase yields, increase quality and likely reduce the need for reliance on insecticides.”

“This is a much more environmentally friendly way to control insects and I just think it’s going to be — once they figure out how to get this to scale — a really exciting technique. And I think it’s going to be a great new tool for growers everywhere.”

Chris Adams, assistant professor of tree fruit entomology at Oregon State University

Witherbee said they project Knockout SWD will be available to growers sometime in 2027. The next step to getting there, however, is an experimental use permit from EPA. He said they expect to submit the experimental use permit (EUP) package within the month. The company is already looking for growers interested in participating in anticipation of the permit.

“Once we do get the approval from the EPA to do the experimental use permit, that opens up the amount of acreage that we can do. We are already kind of reaching out to some early adopters in terms of growers that are interested in trying this out with us.”

While Witherbee and Helms were excited about the potential for specifically the Knockout SWD technology, they both were also very hopeful about what it could mean for the future of the beneficials industry.

“Hopefully, as we work our way through, this truly becomes a template for the next generation,” Helms said.

Though SIT is a decades-old strategy, thus far genetic editing for sterility has only been used on mosquitoes. Using gene editing to produce SIT for agricultural pests is new regulatory terrain. Helms said he was excited to “start paving the regulatory path forward in the U.S. and new countries” with what Agragene is doing.

He added that the company is already thinking about next potential targets for the technology, including olive fruit fly, Mediterranean fruit fly and naval orange worm.

“At least two of those will be moving forward in parallel, but that is going to be a little bit of an evolution for the company,” he said.

Witherbee noted partnerships with insectaries like Associates Insectary will be key to those efforts.

“Hopefully the relationship and the learnings they got from this first one will carry over to the next and second and third insect, as we move these through,” Witherbee said.

Want to curb climate change? Buy less-than-perfect produce and go easy on pesticides, researchers say

Wed, 08 Mar 2023 23:04:51 GMT

Year after year, a steady rise of extreme weather events causes farmers, distributors and food retailers to scramble to deliver food from farm to grocery aisle. Meanwhile, growers and produce industry leaders grapple with how to sustainably grow food in the face of a changing climate.

The drum beat of climate change is becoming harder to ignore.

Global food systems account for about one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions. While many climate-smart agriculture methods focus on conservation tillage and regenerative soil health practices, the Pesticide Action Network believes that no-till solutions alone do not solve agriculture’s emissions problem.

“The overwhelming majority of pesticides are derived from petroleum, meaning they’re ultimately derived from fossil fuels, and we refer to them as petrochemicals,” Asha Sharma, PAN North America’s organizing co-director and report co-author, told The Packer.

Related news: California’s sustainable pesticide road map: What it is and why it matters

In a recent report, “Pesticides and Climate Change: A Vicious Cycle,” the international coalition makes the case that reducing use of fossil fuel-derived, synthetic pesticides is a critical piece to the puzzle to mitigate climate change with agricultural practices.

The case to include pesticide reduction in climate solutions

In the analysis, PAN lays out its case that reliance on synthetic pesticides contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and, compounding the issue, also makes existing farming and ranching systems more vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

It’s a negative feedback loop, or “vicious cycle,” that will only worsen unless farmers and ranchers make changes to how they grow food, according to the recent PAN report.

What can the fresh produce industry do in the face of this problem? PAN suggests the solution is twofold. First, the produce industry needs to embrace less-than-perfect fruits and vegetables from growers. Second, growers need to embrace agroecological farming methods and lessen dependence on synthetic pesticides.

Shifting beauty standards in fruits and vegetables

“The power of procurement is huge,” Sharma said.

If produce buyers rewarded farmers for quality products, while shifting expectations around what is and is not a quality marker when it comes to judging fruits and vegetables, it would completely change the game, according to the PAN report’s co-authors.

This shift in what’s acceptable would empower growers to ease up on applying synthetic pesticides that promise blemish-free fruits and vegetables.

“One of the driving factors behind the continued use of pesticide is the perception that that the use of pesticides will guarantee that you’ve got beautiful fruits and vegetables,” Margaret Reeves, Ph.D., and senior scientist and report co-author at PAN North America, told The Packer.

There’s intense pressure from the market to have beautiful, perfect products, even though appearance doesn’t say much about quality of the product, she added.

“The market could have a powerful message and influence in shifting the consumers mentality about what’s acceptable,” Reeves continued. “The produce industry could go a long way in shifting that consumer mentality about what’s acceptable.”

Allowing blemishes and tolerating a small amount of visible pest pressure on sought-after fruits and vegetables would dramatically lessen agricultural dependence on synthetic pesticides.

“There are rigorous standards that farmers have to abide by when it comes to quality, appearance and quantity, usually under contracts,” Sharma said. “Being able to work with farmers who are farming organically or with agroecological practices, [buyers must] make sure standards aren’t leaving folks out.”

Reducing pests through ecological farming practices

On the other side of the coin, breaking out of the pesticide dependence cycle for growers looks like embracing new farming practices that focus on preventing pests instead of eradicating them, according to PAN’s recent report.

“Solutions like agroecology focus on changing our whole philosophy and system of farming, working with nature rather than against it and minimizing the use of synthetic inputs that include pesticides and fertilizers,” Sharma said.

The agroecological approach is an ecosystem-based approach where the emphasis is on crop and system health and preventing conditions conducive to pest problems, Reeves said.

What’s more, these farming techniques rely on integrated pest management strategies, systems-based approaches and ecological principles that minimize the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.

“That’s why diversity is so important in crop rotations,” Reeves said. “It’s not completely outside of what many producers consider, but this approach makes the agricultural system one that is healthy, vigorous, abundant. It prevents pest problems rather than waiting until the pests are there and then asking, ‘How do you kill them with pesticides or other technologies?’”

Finding natural solutions through trial and error

Rob Faux, an Iowa farmer and PAN’s communications manager, has had success farming using agroecological growing methods firsthand.

“We keep learning, and we keep adjusting year after year. We just keep getting better at it,” Faux told The Packer. “There are two principles in agroecology that we very much adhere to, and that’s embracing complexity and encouraging diversity.”

For Faux, complexity means not just farming with a systems-based approach, but also incorporating more types of plants in his crop rotation. For instance, to combat the Colorado potato beetle on his farm, Faux added diversity into his potato fields, alternating green beans and bush beans next to the potato fields.

“That, of course, means that you’re managing a system that is a little more complex,” he said. “With lots of trial and error and a few studies, we figured out what works on our farm. Now, we don’t worry about the Colorado potato beetle most of the time.”

How the produce industry can support agroecological farming

To support farmers who are using agroecological growing practices, Faux urges produce buyers to seek out more small, diversified farms.

“To make this work we must have the buyers willing to accept a little bit of the burden of the complexity. Not all of it, but some of it,” he said.

While not as simple as purchasing from one big supplier that grows or sources vast quantities of one product, Faux believes supporting smaller growers who can rotate fields and grow several types of crops is part of solving the larger issue of mitigating climate change in agriculture.

Not only does agroecology lessen farmers’ need to apply synthetic pesticides, according to PAN’s report authors, it also centers decision-making with the farmer, who can tackle pest problems directly with boots on the ground.

“Importantly, the aspect of agroecology that doesn’t exist in solutions like precision agriculture is centering the decision-making power of the people most impacted by conventional or industrial agriculture,” Sharma said. “The farmers, farmworkers, indigenous people, rural communities, and really trying to build their decision-making power in forming the types of agricultural systems that we really want to see.”

Read the full report, “Pesticides and Climate Change: A Vicious Cycle.”

California’s sustainable pesticide road map: What it is and why it matters

Thu, 23 Feb 2023 16:21:58 GMT

This year the state of California has set its sights on ambitious pest management goals in the name of improving human health and promoting ecosystem resilience, sustainable agriculture and thriving urban and agricultural communities.

To achieve this, the state’s Department of Pesticide Regulation, Department of Food and Agriculture, and the California Environmental Protection Agency are working together to tackle two chief objectives by 2025: eliminating use of the worst pesticides and encouraging sustainable pest management across the state. State officials are embarking on this bold plan with what they’ve coined as the Sustainable Pest Management Roadmap , which is one part visionary north star and one part task force.

But what does this mean for produce growers across the U.S.?

If pesticide use is significantly reduced in the Golden State — which produces about half of U.S.-grown fruits, nuts and vegetables, according to the USDA — it would not only have a lasting effect on overall pesticide use; if successful, California’s pesticide road map could lead the way for other states to adopt similar sustainable pest management goals and pesticide regulations. As California goes, so does the nation.

California’s pesticide road map, explained

“For decades, California has used pesticides to protect our crops, our cities, our homes, and our businesses from pests,” Yana Garcia, California’s secretary for environmental protection, said in a news release. “Exposure to harmful pesticides carries risks — to our health and to our environment — and these risks are disproportionately borne by communities already overburdened by pollution. If we truly want to build a healthy and safe California for all, we must phase out and replace the highest-risk pesticides, and the Sustainable Pest Management Roadmap is a bold, new plan to get us there.”

According to the recently released Sustainable Pest Management Roadmap for California, the 2050 milestones set forth for pest management across the state include:

The state of California will have eliminated the use of what it has dubbed “priority pesticides.” This is achieved by transitioning to sustainable pest management practices.
Sustainable pest management practices will have been adopted as the main, de facto pest management systems in the state of California.

“The Sustainable Pest Management Roadmap recognizes how the management of pest pressures is strongly interconnected with resilient farms and ecosystems, and the health of farmworkers and communities,” CDFA Secretary Karen Ross said in the release. “We have a lot of work ahead to implement the approaches outlined in the road map. However, the implementation of these recommendations will ensure an abundant and healthful food supply, protect our natural resources, and create healthy, resilient communities.”

Related news: Rains hinder early season picking for Southern California strawberries

Not only does has the road map set its sights on an ambitious goal — to ultimately reduce pesticide inputs in the state of California by 2050 — but the gathered working group setting the course of this road map is itself an achievement.

Diverse perspectives on the Sustainable Pest Management Work Group

Gathering a cross-sector array of perspectives for policy committees is a feat in and of itself, much less on a thorny topic like pesticides. California policy makers, however, have made strides in gathering together a diverse stakeholder group. Representatives of commodity associations and businesses — like almond, citrus and berries — from both conventional and organic production have taken a seat at the table alongside farmworker labor representatives, an indigenous tribal group, environmental advocates and academic researchers to tackle the road map’s goals.

The work group comprises 25 members representing diverse interests to address sustainable pest management in agricultural settings, and an additional eight members formed an urban subgroup to address urban pest pressures specifically. The Sustainable Pest Management Work Group was formed in response to both a recommendation from the state’s Chlorpyrifos Alternatives Work Group, and the governor’s, CalEPA’s and DPR’s recognition of the need to accelerate a holistic, systemwide approach to safer, more sustainable pest management.

“Successfully transitioning to sustainable pest management requires collective action,” DPR Director Julie Henderson said in the release. “The critical actions outlined in the road map include prioritizing prevention, coordinating state-level leadership, investing in building knowledge about sustainable pest management, improving the state’s registration and evaluation process to bring more sustainable alternatives to market and enhancing monitoring and statewide data collection to better inform actions.”

Despite the bold goals and diverse voices at the table to shepherd paradigm-shifting policies for the state, some grower groups believe more should be done before restricting certain pesticides.

“The California Department of Pesticide Regulation must move quickly to register effective and efficient alternatives prior to imposing new use restrictions on existing pesticides,” Western Grower’s Vice President of State Government Affairs Matthew Allen said in a statement. “The department must continue to use the best available scientific data and methods in evaluating pesticides and they, frankly, have a duty to remind the public that California already has the most comprehensive regulatory system in place that protects the health and safety of applicators, bystanders and surrounding communities.”

Weigh in and learn more about California’s pesticide road map

Public comment regarding the prioritization and implementation of the Sustainable Pest Management Roadmap’s next steps is open until March 13, 2023.

Comments can be sent to alternatives@cdpr.ca.gov or by mail to 1001 I Street, P.O. Box 4015, Sacramento, CA 95812. Comments received will be considered as part of the state-level coordination on implementing the recommendations in the Sustainable Pest Management Roadmap.

More information about the road map will be available from the California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation through informational webinars:

Two webinars on Feb. 28, 2023, will address the road map’s recommendations for urban pest management. Sessions are at 10 a.m. PST and 5:30 p.m. PST on Zoom.
Two webinars on Mar. 2, 2023, will address the road map’s recommendations for agricultural pest management. Sessions are at 10 a.m. PST and 5:30 p.m. PST on Zoom.

Alliance for Food and Farming educates dieticians through webpage

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 07:40:14 GMT

The Alliance for Food and Farming has long advocated for the produce industry in spreading the word about the healthy attributes of fresh fruit and vegetables.

Now it’s taking more steps to enlist the front-line in conveying science-based information directly to consumers: dietitians and nutritionists. The AFF has a new webpage on its website, safefruitsandveggies.com designed for those professionals.

The new page includes the AFF’s pesticide residue calculator, nutrition and toxicology studies, downloadable infographics for consumers and clients and videos with dietitians, scientists and farmers, according to a news release.

“We have a significant amount of science-based content and produce safety information on safefruitsandveggies.com so we wanted to make it easier for dietitians to find what is most relevant to them,” Teresa Thorne, executive director, said in the release. “What we really created is a website within a website for dietitians.”

Consumers believe dietitians to be among the most credible sources of information about produce safety, according to surveys. The webpage was created by requests from nutritionists and dietitians and used their input on what to include.

“Among the most requested content by dietitians was shareable and downloadable infographics which communicate the AFF’s science-based information in a simplified manner,” Thorne says. “We will be continually creating and adding new infographics for dietitians’ use in newsletters, websites and social platforms.”

The alliance started the Safe Fruits and Veggies campaign in 2010 to counter and correct misinformation about the safety of fresh produce, according to the release. That includes the annual Dirty Dozen list from the Environmental Working Group.

Related stories:

AFF, Markon wrap up “Facts, Not Fear” Produce Safety Media Tour

Alliance for Food and Farming sponsors online contest

Alliance updates website to educate about Dirty Dozen

Endangered Species Act proposals present challenge for specialty crops, MCFA says

Fri, 17 Feb 2023 13:56:50 GMT

Specialty crop producers will be hard-pressed to comply with new proposals from Environmental Protection Agency overhauling how it implements the Endangered Species Act, warns Minor Crop Farmer Alliance in new comments to the agency.

“Of course growers are in favor of protecting endangered and threatened species and their habitats. But the average specialty crop grower is going to find it challenging to comply with EPA’s ESA plans,” MCFA Chair Jim Cranney, president of California Citrus Quality Council, said in a release.

In comments to EPA submitted Feb. 14, MCFA outlined concerns about a proposed update to EPA’s workplan for implementing the ESA.

The new workplan is a 180-degree change in the agency’s ESA policy, replacing a methodical, slow approach with an “act now, ask questions later” policy, said Cranney, adding that “MCFA is sympathetic to EPA’s dilemma, but the proposed policy presents potential difficulties that growers may have to address if they want to use pesticides.”

Related: ESA poses a serious and expensive complication for specialty crop production, says MCFA

MCFA says the EPA is changing its ESA policy “after years of lawsuits from environmental activist groups that have effectively paralyzed the agency’s pesticide safety-review program.”

Elements of EPA’s updated ESA workplan will prove challenging to specialty crop producers, says MCFA, which points to a new workplan that proposes “extensive mitigation measures to reduce potential for spray drift and pesticide runoff to soil and water, such as no-spray buffer zones, water retention ponds and vegetative ditches.”

Since the triggers for these mitigations will be low, MCFA says many specialty-crop growers likely will be required to include some mitigation option as part of their pesticide application programs.

As currently constructed, EPA’s mitigation measures are suited more for major crop production rather than specialty crop production, MCFA told the agency.

“MCFA believes that many of these mitigation measures … may be more suitable for farmers producing major crops,” MCFA wrote in its comments. For specialty crops, “the average farm is far less than 100 acres. Consequently, many specialty crop producers do not have as much flexibility or economic wherewithal as major commodity producers in terms of reducing planting acreage or installing new systems for producing their crop. Some of [EPA’s] proposed mitigation measures would require wholesale changes to established cropping systems, with substantial adverse economic impacts to the impacted [specialty crop] growers.”

MCFA also cited the potential for EPA’s proposal to negatively impact specialty crop food-safety efforts.

“Producers growing specialty crops for human consumption must meet food safety requirements, including taking steps to ensure that produce does not become contaminated with, among other things, microbial pathogens from animals, amphibians and reptiles,” Cranney said. “Some of EPA’s proposed mitigations could create an environment that attracts animals, amphibians and reptiles into fields, a cause for concern for growers and the public alike.”

In addition, MCFA says it seeks to educate EPA about existing specialty-crop industry practices that would negate the need for additional mitigation measures. In its comments to the EPA, MCFA said off-field pesticide runoff is less of an issue for the industry because specialty crops are typically grown on lands that are essentially flat or with minimal slope — mitigating the potential for pesticide runoff by default.

MCFA says it also informed EPA that specialty crop growers already follow established conservation best practices to protect bodies of water and referred EPA to the USDA for extensive data about those existing conservation efforts.

MCFA’s full comments are posted on its webpage .

“MCFA believes that working cooperatively with [EPA] represents the best opportunity to achieve the goals of the agency while minimizing the potential disruption to agricultural operations regarding the continued availability of important crop protection chemicals,” MCFA said in comments to the EPA.

Informing EPA and other federal agencies charged with implementing ESA about the specialty crop industry, its practices and ESA’s impacts has been a long-standing MCFA priority, Cranney said.

MCFA is currently planning a workshop for the agencies to explore how to use more refined modeling and/or grower use data to improve their ESA evaluations and to help inform them about the potential feasibility of mitigation measures, according to a release.

Founded in 1991, MCFA is funded and led by fruit, vegetable, nut, ornamental plant and other specialty crop producer organizations from across the U.S. MCFA says it advocates for sound science in government minor-use pesticide policies, so that growers have access to safe, effective crop protection tools.

MCFA will host its annual meeting for members on Feb. 21.