New EPA compliance with Endangered Species Act to impact herbicide labels, farm decisions

In August, the EPA released the final Herbicide Strategy to identify and mitigate potential herbicide runoff/erosion/drift to avoid harming ESA-listed species. Updates to herbicide labels will require applicators to reference the EPA's Bulletins Live! Two website to determine whether the fields are within listed species' Pesticide Use Limitation Areas. 

Weed scientists and herbicide experts Aaron Hager and Bill Chism recently collaborated on a white paper for farmdoc explaining the changes and how they could impact farmers and herbicide applicators. Chism chairs the ESA committee for the Weed Science Society of America. Hager is a professor and faculty Extension specialist in the Department of Crop Sciences, part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Contact [email protected] to arrange an interview with Hager.