KEEPING OUR NEEDED & SAFE PESTICIDES 

 'DOWN ON THE FARM'! 



James S. Bowrrun^ 



EPA IS required by law to reregister 

 existing pesticides that were originally 

 registered before current scientific and 

 regulatory standards were formally estab- 

 lished. Specifically, those pesticides con- 

 taining active ingredients registered be- 

 fore November 1, 1984. The reregistra- 

 tion process ensures that: 



( 1 ) Up-to-date data bases are developed 

 for each of these chemicals (or their re- 

 gistrations will be suspended or canceled) 



(2) Modifications are made to registra- 

 tions, labels, and tolerances as necessary to 

 protect human health and the environ- 

 ment 



(3) Special Review or other regulator^' 

 actions are initiated to deal with any 

 unreasonable risks. 



New data on registered products some- 

 times reveal the existence of a problem or 

 a potential for hazard that was not known 

 at the time of registration. Congress and 

 EPA have developed various mechanisms 

 to reach sound scientific decisions in these 

 situations. One of these mec hanisms is 

 called the "Special Review Process". 



Under the law, if a pesticide comes 

 under suspicion by the EPA as possibly 

 presenting unreasonable risks to humans or 

 the environment, it must first announce its 

 reasons and offer the registrant a formal 

 hearing to present opposing evidence. At 

 the same time it must run a Risk/Benefits 

 Analysis. To help with the Benefits side of 

 the analysis, the EPA, under the law, must 

 give the Secretary of Agriculture a chance 

 to respond with regard to the effectiveness 

 and economic value of a pesticide com- 

 pared to alternative chemical and non- 

 chemical controls. A benetit assessment is 

 specific for each registered use site (e.g., 

 com, apples, tomatoes, etc.). A benefit 

 assessment is essentially an analysis of 

 likely economic consequences resulting 

 from the restriction or cancellation of a 

 pesticide. 



To respond to the EPA, the USDA 

 Extension Service conducts a program 

 called the National Agricultural Pesticide 

 Impact Assessment Program (NAPIAP). 

 Each state has a designated NAPIAP State 

 Liaison Representative who gathers in- 

 fomianon on pesticide usage and responds 

 to Assessment Teams assigned to develop 

 information on the Biological and Eco- 

 nomic Analysis of pesticides undergoing 

 "Special Review". The assessment teams, 

 made up of extension and research spe- 

 cialists from throughout the US, compile a 

 document on the Biologic and Economic 

 Assessment of whateverpesticide they 

 hiive been assigned. This document is 

 submitted to the EPA for consideration in 

 their Risk/Benefits Analvsis of the 

 pesticide. 



Here in New Hampshire we have 

 responded to many of these requests for 

 information and some of our Universir\ 

 specialists have ser\'ed on Assessment 

 Teams. Our pesticide usage data is derived 

 through two sources: 



( 1 ) The NHDA Division of Pesticide 

 Control pesticide usage database which 

 gives us total pounds of active ingredient 

 and acres treated on certain crops; 



(2) Grower survey data on more specific 

 information on how the pesticide was 

 used and alternative controls that are 

 available. 



With regard to the surveys, for the past 

 two years we have conducted surveys on 

 pesticides used in New Hampshire on 

 apples, blueberries, raspberries, straw- 

 berries, sweet com, silage com, squash, 

 pumpkin and tomatoes. With the much 

 appreciated response from over 200 frui: 

 and vegetable growers we have been able 

 to develop an excellent pesticide usage 

 profile for our state for the years 1 989 and 

 1990 that incorporates both the surve\ 

 and state data on pesticide usage. This 

 information has enabled us to respond r : 

 assessment team requests on recently 

 "Special Reviewed" pesticides such as 

 phorate, terbufos, carbofuran, aldicarb . 

 diazinon, propargite. ethyl parathion, 

 methyl bromide, metasvstox-R, phosdnr. 

 dichlorvos, and trichlorfon. 



This fall we will be conducting a 

 survey on several non-food crops such 

 as Christmas trees, turf, orna-mentals. 

 nursery, and floral crops (including 

 greenhouse production) and golf course 

 management. We will be seeking pes- 

 ticide usage information from an esti- 

 mated 200 growers in these categories 

 which we will use in connection with 

 the NHDA data. With this information 

 we should have good information on the 

 pesticide usage on all the major crops 

 grown in New Hampshire. We are 

 totally indebted to the willing response 

 on the part of vour growers to make this 

 special project possible. 



As long as we kive pesticides and 

 pesticide laws, there will be this constar:: 

 threat of losing some of our most needed 

 pesticide tools. At the present time the 

 US Deparrment of Intenor is urging th-. 

 EPA to conduct risk 'benefit assessment- 

 on 27 pesticides linked to bird kills. Th, 

 pesticides are aldicarb. aiinphosmethv! 

 bendiocarb, carboturan, chlorpyntos, co,- 

 maphos, diazinon, dicrotophos, dimeth - 

 ate, disulfoton, ethoprop, fenamiphos. 

 enthion, fensulfonthion, isophenphos 

 methamidophos, parathion (ethyl), 

 phorate, phosphamidon, sodium 

 fluoracetate, str\chnine and terbuto- 



One 



Call 



Gets 



It All! 



.As a major grower, distnbulor. 

 and broker. Imperial Nurseries 

 can satisfS vour need for a wide 

 selection of quality plant mate- 

 rial and a full range of hard- 

 goods. ,Ajid as your primarv 

 source, we can do it with a sin- 

 gle phone call from voii. V'ou'll 

 save time . . . and save monev 

 on special promotions . . . while 

 offering vour customers the 

 ver\ best. 



The quality and depth of inven- 

 tOPi' we provide, from both our 

 Connecticut and Florida farms 

 and the many quality growers 

 we represent through our bro- 

 kerage operations, give lawn 

 and garden centers, landscap- 

 ers and nursenmen what they 

 need . . . when they need it. 



Make Imperial Nurseries the 

 primarv source for all vour 

 horticultural needs. Call 1-800- 

 343-3132 today to discuss how 

 we can meet your requirements. 



Brokerage Offices 



[casghn 



If you currently depend on any of this 

 pesticides, or for that matter any pesti- 

 cides for growing your crops, you will 

 certamlv want to respond to our surveys 

 on non-tood crops that will be conduct- 

 ed next fall. This is the way you can 

 help us keep these production tools 

 "down on the farm". 



[>. James Boutnan, Extension Speciaiisi/ 

 Eniomolo!:^. isaiNesmiih Hall, IJNU. 

 Ourham . NH 02824 . Hi.s p/icnu- number 

 IS (603) 862- N 59, « 



J LINE /July 1992 25 



