Agricultural Retailers Association President Daren Coppock is disappointed the EPA banned the use of chlorpyrifos for food crops. “Chlorpyrifos is an essential tool. There aren’t a lot of good alternatives for the control it offers,” says Coppock. “The other issue is more precedential in regulating products. EPA revoked food tolerances. They didn’t revoke the federal registration.” This will take more time. Coppock thinks it’s a run around from how pesticides are supposed to be regulated. “Moving forward, EPA will take comments on food use tolerance, but they’re unlikely to reconsider their decision. What we see unfolding is the registration under FIFRA will take six months after they publish this in the Federal Register. There will be a period of uncertainty. Retailers and farmers that stocked up on the products are stuck with inventory they cannot use.”
