The Environmental Protection Agency is now considering the Endangered Species Act when re-approving active ingredients. As a result, new labels for Enlist and Enlist Duo banned use of the herbicides in counties with a named endangered species.
SDSU Extension Weed Science Coordinator Paul Johnson says it will impact a handful of counties in South Dakota.
He says EPA’s reapproval guidelines have a bigger impact in other states in the corn belt and will cause some producers to switch to another crop or trait platform in the case of soybeans.
Johnson says with EPA considering endangered species when reapproving all active ingredients or AIs that may also put 2,4-D in jeopardy as it is in the same class as Enlist and Enlist Duo.
He says this new EPA policy also sets a precedent for other herbicide approvals. So, farmers should expect to see more widespread, county-level prohibitions and increased run-off and spray drift restrictions on the labels of the pesticides they use in the future.
