This week EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt decided not to ban the use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos, commonly sold as Lorsban. University of Minnesota Extension Integrated Pest Management Specialist Bruce Potter says the decision is beneficial for farmers, especially soybean growers battling soybean insects like aphids and spider mites.

He says the EPA made a proper science based decision on the use of the pesticide. Potter says Lorsban has been commonly used by farmers in the region with great effectiveness.

Potter says the pesticide is important because with more early planting of soybeans it increases the chances for aphids to move off of buckthorn into the field.

Pruitt’s decision reverses one made by the Obama administration in 2015 to ban chlorpyrifos use on food crops. That was after the Natural Resources Defense Council and other environmental groups petitioned for the ban.