Weed control happens in the field but access to tools that farmers use in the fight against yield robbing pests is largely controlled by regulators who struggle to evaluate and approve new pesticides in a timely manner.
That’s a challenge in the U.S. where crop protection companies face U.S. Environmental Protection Agency backlogs that prevent new products from getting to market in a timely manner, says CropLife America president Alex Dunn.
In this interview with RealAgriculture’s Shaun Haney, Dunn says when it comes to evaluating and processing new herbicide registration applications, the EPA is “underfunded and short handed. They’re missing the deadlines about 70 per cent of the time for conventional pesticides.”
Industry groups had feared that the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative would pose a further threat to product reviews, but Dunn reports that DOGE actions have not impacted the EPA’s pesticide office. She notes that the government is focused on creating a vibrant economy and to do that product licensing and authorizations are essential.
“The DOGE group has been pretty careful to discern which offices are kind of green light type offices, and they figured out early on that the pesticide office is a green light office, and they do want to resource it,” says Dunn.
Moving forward, Dunn is hopeful that EPA efficiency will improve as the organization and employees work through a post-COVID return to office. There will also be more boots on the ground after the EPA announced it would redeploy 130 scientists from its research office to the pesticide office. Leveraging artificial intelligence is another opportunity that could see the technology being used to expedite reviews and improve efficiency.
Trade and tariff issues, however, remain a significant concern for crop protection companies and their ability to make products available to farmers. The U.S. manufactures and formulates many pesticides, but relies on ingredients from other countries due to limited natural resources. Dunn acknowledges these concerns, noting that tariffs could disrupt the global supply chain and increase costs.
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