Grower Groups Welcome EPA Decision on Expanded Use of Enlist
April 4, 2022 Several grower organizations including the National Cotton Council, American Soybean Association, American Farm Bureau Federation, and National Corn Growers Association welcomed and expressed appreciation for a March 29 announcement from EPA that will restore use of Enlist herbicides on tolerant cotton, corn, and soybeans to many U.S. counties.
This label amendment, prompted by new data submitted to EPA, lifts county-level bans on use of Enlist and Enlist Duo in 134 counties across multiple states, including those where the American Burying Beetle is alleged to be present.
EPA’s statement restored applications of Enlist herbicides to all counties in Arkansas, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, and South Dakota. The products can now also be used in Bowie, Cooke, Fannin, Grayson, Lamar, and Red River counties in Texas.
Application restrictions remain in place for several dozen counties in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas (prohibited counties can be found on page 16 of each product label). The groups hope the agency will continue reviewing data that might allow use to be restored in those areas, as well.
Stephen Logan, a cotton producer from Louisiana and chairman of the National Cotton Council’s Environmental Task Force, expressed appreciation that EPA continues to refine the science necessary to comply with ESA and FIFRA mandates.
“Many mitigations are already in place, and others—such as reasonable buffers—provide species protection without banning use for the whole county,” stated Logan. “I hope EPA and the Services continue to refine their decision process and credit farmers for our environmental stewardship actions on our farmlands.”
The grower groups hope the Enlist decision has provided EPA a good learning opportunity to instruct future registration decisions. Growers have been very critical of bans affecting entire counties where protected species may be present in only a fraction of the county or potentially not at all, or where conservative methods have overestimated the impact on some species.
Announcements of new restrictions just weeks ahead of planting after many growers have already received products has also been stressful to producers.
“County-level bans had growers in these areas anxious and frustrated when the announcement came out in January – especially in this market where inputs are scarce and costs are sky high,” said Brad Doyle, Arkansas farmer and president of the American Soybean Association. “We appreciate EPA hearing our concerns and working to quickly restore access in many counties where science and data support doing so.”
In January, EPA issued new seven-year registrations for over-the-top use of Enlist and Enlist Duo on the three herbicide-tolerant crops. Those new registrations fit many growers across the country, but producers in 217 counties disproportionally concentrated in several states were impacted by county-level bans.
“It is essential that EPA continue to work with farmers to understand the impacts of its decisions,” said American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall. “Products like Enlist enable farmers to utilize environmentally beneficial practices that preserve the soil, minimize fuel use, and capture carbon. We hope EPA is cognizant of timing constraints, supply chain challenges, and the implications of various restrictions in future pesticide decisions.”
Based on information provided by the grower groups and EPA.
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