States Seeking Transform Exemption for Plant Bugs

EPA has issued a public notice that the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, Arkansas State Plant Board and Mississippi Department of Agriculture have requested emergency exemptions to use sulfoxaflor (Transform) for control of tarnished plant bugs in cotton.

EPA has set May 20 as the deadline for submitting comments on the request. EPA then will review comments, along with supporting information provided by those requesting the exemption, and make a final determination.

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Sulfoxaflor was previously registered by EPA for use on cotton. However, the registration was vacated by the Ninth Circuit Court in the fall of 2015 as a result of a lawsuit against EPA, claiming the registration did not adequately protect honeybees.

For several years, plant bugs have been ranked as the second most damaging cotton pest, with the Mid-South facing particular challenges with controlling the pest. Documentation of plant bugs resistant to multiple insecticides has created extreme concern that, without sulfoxaflor, producers will not have sufficient modes of action to manage damaging plant bug populations.

The National Cotton Council will be providing supporting comments to the EPA docket. The announcement and information about submitting comments can be found online.

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Source – National Cotton Council

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