Growers Urged to Contact EPA on Pyrethroids

The EPA is undergoing its review of pyrethroids and is looking for feedback from producers on how they use the insecticide, what crops they use it on, and their frequency of use.

Heather Hanson with Washington Friends of Farms and Forests is helping coordinate with commissions and growers to get accurate information submitted because she said the EPA is not starting out that way.

“They’ll take the maximum label rate, the maximum number of times it is allowed to be used and every single crop it’s allowed to be used on and assume that every grower is using the maximum amount, the maximum number of times on every single crop all the time and that’s just not reality.”

Not only do the pyrethroids keep insects off the crops, it can be critical for international trade.

Hanson said not all insecticides are universally accepted.

“We have to use products that are accepted by the recipient country, the country that’s purchasing from us, and pyrethroids are widely accepted internationally so that makes them a good tool for us to use.”

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