On February 28, 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) food tolerances for chlorpyrifos are set to expire. This means growers will not be allowed to apply chlorpyrifos to any food crop after this date. Chlorpyrifos is an organophosphate used to manage insects in a number of fruit and vegetable crops. It has been on the market since the 1960s under trade names such as Lorsban, Dursban, Eraser, Govern, Hatchet, Whirlwind, and numerous others.
Corteva ceased production of chlorpyrifos products in 2020, though it is still available from numerous other manufacturers. Since the EPA is revoking the food tolerances but not actually canceling chlorpyrifos, it will still be available for a limited number of uses, such as Christmas tree and sod production.
A summary of the EPA’s ruling can be found here.
Answers to frequently asked questions about the ruling can be found here.
The South Carolina Grower 