Farm News

Atrazine – Commentary & Call to Action

~SEE Action Link at the end of this commentary~
After multiple attempts to ban Atrazine, years of testing and scrutiny from environmental groups…EPA “finalized” a decision regarding the use of Atrazine on farm land in 20-20. But the Biden EPA is now proposing new limitations on its use – by applying a new prediction model…note the use of the word ‘Prediction’… and that’s one of the key frustrations about EPA’s move against Atrazine – it’s not based on credible science.
In fact, if you look back at the history of EPA’s work on Atrazine – you’ll find studies they’re using to justify the current proposal are some they used in the past, but were discredited and thrown out by EPA’s own Scientific Advisory Panel.
Greg Krissek is the CEO of the Kansas Corn Growers Association, he was recently quoted in an article saying – “It’s bad enough EPA is playing politics by reopening the finalized reregistration for atrazine with proposed levels not supported by credible science. Now we learn the agency would enforce restrictions using a modeling system that would put 72 percent of all U.S. corn acres out of compliance”. And it’s not just slashing the parts per billion levels down to 20-percent of previous levels. Application rates drop by 20 percent. Application is banned within 48 hours of a predicted rain event that “could” produce runoff. (A subjective call impossible to prove with the difference between a weather ‘forecast’ and weather reality) on either side)
The inferred point of this recent rule proposal is to protect against run-off, but I would rhetorically suggest that it’s close to impossible to find a farmer who doesn’t care how much expensive inputs just run off the field. Truth is – farmers are doing everything they can to find the right time to apply inputs to insure the best chance they’ll stay put and get taken up by their crops. So run-off and spray drift are things farmers are acutely aware of to begin with and work diligently to prevent from happening.
In practice – The proposed rule would require lower application rates – which would lower the effectiveness and require the use of additional methods of weed control, which would obviously increase the cost of production. Krissek says “EPA’s proposal would render atrazine unusable for many farmers and force them to abandon carbon-smart no-till practices.
And for the final punch to the gut… “EPA says it’ll task a formal Scientific Advisory Panel to review the data with full transparency. But… Ag reporters investigating the story report that no such indication exists in EPA’s official record.
National Corn Growers Association President and Iowa farmer Chris Edgington says, corn growers know the value of Atrazuine, and it’s time again that we tell EPA the value of this product to our operations. In 2016 we came together to submit 10,000 comments to the EPA and we need that same momentum again”. The comment period closes on September 6th. Make a comment online at NCGA.com or click the link below.
https://ncga.com/take-action/become-an-advocate/take-action

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