Florida Farm Bureau submitted comments to the Enviromental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding the review of atrazine. Atrazine is the first herbicide to be reviewed under the scopes of the EPA’s Final Herbicide Strategy.
Atrazine is commonly used for sugarcane and sweet corn, which are both popular crops in South Florida.
Due to the lowered rate on top of the mitigation points required for the impacted counties, changes would make it more difficult for producers to use atrazine. The new proposed label would lower the application rate to 9.8 ug/L.
As part of the atrazine label proposed on the state level, producers in Glades, Hendry, Martin, Okeechobee, and Palm Beach counties may be required to gain additional mitigation points from EPA’s Final Mitigation Menu. The mitigation points for these counties can be calculated based on EPA’s predicted atrazine concentrations in the continental U.S., minus the county mitigation relief points, which were determined by EPA based on a county’s vulnerability for run-off.
Florida Farm Bureau Federation has submitted comments to the proposed changes and how it will impact Florida farmers and ranchers. FFBF staff will continue to monitor the review and keep members updated.
