Emergency Rules Filed To Protect Eastern Oregon Onion Growers

On Friday April 3rd, the Oregon Department of Agriculture filed emergency rules with the Oregon Secretary of State’s office, to protect Malheur County’s onion industry from Onion Maggot infestation.

ODA noted severe storms in July and August caused widespread bacterial rot in the 2025-26 onion crop, resulting in the disposal of between 700-800 million pounds of onions deemed too small or of poor quality.  Under the emergency rules, ODA will allow larger piles of those onion byproducts to be chopped up and worked into the soil.

In a typical year, onion cull piles in Malheur County must be disposed of or buried under at least 12 inches of onion-free soil by March 15th.  The temporary amendments will provide immediate relief to growers by:

• Removing the numerical limit for chopped or shredded onion plant debris returned to fields and worked into the soil, while maintaining the requirement for it to be used at agronomic rates.
• Updating the reference for insecticide use under Section F. Growers may now use insecticides applied in accordance with label instructions at prescribed intervals until proper disposal occurs. This ensures access to the best available chemical treatment options when weather prevents disposal.  

The ODA Pesticides Program has identified the following EPA-labeled insecticides that can be applied legally to onion cull piles for onion maggot control:  

• EPA Reg. No. 70299-17, AzaGuard (BioSafe Systems, a.i. azadirachtin)
• EPA Reg. No. 5481-559, Ecozin Plus 1.2% ME (AMVAC, a.i. azadirachtin)
• EPA Reg. No. 89152-4, Ecoworks EC (Ecostadt Technologies LLC, a.i. neem oil)   

ODA encourages growers in Malheur County producers applying chopped or shredded onion debris on fields to consult their crop advisor or Oregon State University Extension to determine the appropriate agronomic rate. 

For pesticide questions, contact ODA’s Pesticides program at (503) 986-4635.

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