(L to R) Heidi Warner of Nufarm, Sam Drahn of OHP, and Dr. JC Chong of SePRO | Photos courtesy of Nufarm, OHP, Inc., and SePRO Corporation
Market forces are shaping how growers manage insects and diseases today. They’re also driving innovation by suppliers to meet growers’ adapting needs. We talked with several folks to get some expert insight on crop protection and what to look for in 2025.
Regulation and Budget Shortfalls Drive Change
Every expert interviewed mentioned the EPA, and not in the way you might think. They all mentioned it is shorthanded. Whether seeking licensing for a new product or just an adjustment to labeling to allow a chemical to be aerially sprayed, for example, it must all go through the EPA. And rightly so. We wouldn’t want chemicals going out on the landscape willy-nilly with no regulation or approval. However, the current shortfall in budget and personnel means the time to get through the process has lengthened, sometimes taking more than three years. It’s tough to bring new chemicals to market, and expensive.
“EPA right now is just so underfunded and understaffed that some of the new products we have introduced or are wanting to introduce are taking longer than anticipated. The pile on their desks takes them a long time to get through. It may take 10 years to research and develop a product and another two years to get EPA stamp of approval back to us so we can offer it to the market,” says Heidi Warner, Ornamental Segment Lead at Nufarm.
“New active ingredients need federal and state scrutiny, deservedly so. They need to be cautiously released into the market,” says Sam Drahn, Technical Manager at OHP. “But when things take that long to get an approval, it makes you evaluate your processes and what’s important. The EPA and registrations have become very bogged down and costly. In terms of getting something labeled, it can be cost-prohibitive. As an organization, you question whether or not to make the investment.”
The supply pipeline of new chemicals available to growers has narrowed. “In the past, we saw several chemicals being introduced every year. Now we’re seeing one or two truly new chemistries being introduced each year, partly because of regulations,” says Dr. JC Chong, Technical Development Manager at SePRO. He agrees that the EPA has been pretty shorthanded for the past few years, so the registration process has been really slow. “It’s part of why we don’t see much new chemistry introduced to the market. I’m not sure that will change down the road unless the incoming administration decides to put a lot of money into the EPA, which I think is unlikely.”
Chong cautions that product stewardship — the careful and judicious use of currently available chemicals — is important to avoid pesticide resistance and the subsequent canceling of products. Replacement chemistries may not be available any time soon due to the slow pace of introduction and approval.
IPM and Chemistry
Is there a market push for softer chemistry? Chong thinks there is. “We’re definitely looking more into softer chemistry. We’re seeing more and more of those coming up. We actually see a lot of products that contain some kind of blend of essential oils, for example, rosemary, peppermint, clove oil, or something like that.” Some of those new, softer chemistries may not have to go through EPA registration if they meet the six conditions for a Section 25(b) exemption, basically bypassing that roadblock.
“One direction from growers and markets is to use predatory mites, insects, and beneficial fungi to control certain pests. Using products or developing products as tools for growers that are less harmful to those released biocontrol agents is a big push,” says Drahn.
Reducing the amount of chemicals that are used benefits other facets of an IPM program and helps with resistance issues. “Identification of an insect or disease is key, and then using the product specified and proven by university and chemical manufacturer research to give the best control for that particular insect will help as far as not having a lot of chemicals used. It’s best to not use the same product that has multiple insects on the label over and over again,” says Warner.
Labor
It wouldn’t be an article about greenhouse operations without mentioning labor, and it’s worth noting how the shift to softer chemistries ties into labor concerns. “With supposedly tightening restrictions on immigration, labor is going to become a huge problem for a lot of growers down the road,” says Chong. “That has a direct impact on pest management because you still need people to scout. You still need people to make the applications. If you need to throw away all the plants that are damaged, you need people to do that. I think labor is probably going to become a driving force for a lot of pest management decisions growers are going to make.”
Not only a shortage of labor but using that labor efficiently is driving changes in pest management and innovation at chemical manufacturers. “I talk to a lot of growers, and using products with minimal restricted-entry intervals (REIs) is often a hot topic. A balance is needed between the chemistry being used to combat the pest and employees having the time to fulfill all the functions needed to produce and deliver the crop,” says Drahn. “There’s a real conscious effort to use chemicals with low REIs. In turn, many of us as producers are really looking at our portfolios and where we move forward. How do we best achieve those new products with the solutions that we’re after, but having those minimal REIs that are attractive?”
Chong also discusses the drive to lower REIs: “One of the most frequently asked questions I receive when I talk about insecticide or fungicide is, ‘What’s the REI?’ They have only so many people for the many tasks they have to complete. How can they get people back in there as quickly as possible? If you have a product with a four-hour REI, you really catch their ear.”
Big Box Store Demands
Not everyone may sell to big box stores, but their impact on the market is undeniable. With great purchasing power comes the ability to dictate price points and methods they want growers to use.
“The big box stores put pressure on how much the grower will produce, how they’ll produce it, and at what price. These stores set a stance on whether they can use or not use certain actives such as neonicotinoids, for example,” says Warner.
Advocacy groups wield great influence as well. The big box stores may have gotten on the bandwagon, Warner explains, but the reason they did was because of gardening groups, advocacy groups, and the general public.
“It narrows down what growers have in their toolbox to control some of these pests. Every grower has pressure as far as managing their pests and how much they can spend on pest control, whether it be biological, beneficial, or chemical. Growers have to take a look at using cultural techniques, scouting, and monitoring the crop on a regular basis, and be able to get on top of using control methods early to limit the amount of pest controls they may have to use to control widespread outbreaks.”
