Specialty crop producers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and surrounding states are reminded that the tolerances for chlorpyrifos will expire on Feb. 28.
Any application of chlorpyrifos to a food crop, such as onions or sweet potatoes, after Feb. 28 will make the crop adulterated. The result is that it cannot be harvested and sold.
If a farmer harvests in April and they treated their crop with chlorpyrifos in February, they are okay. If they harvest in April and treat their crop on March 1 or later, it is illegal.
While the ban is applicable to all vegetable crops, chlorpyrifos or Lorsban, is used primarily in vegetable production for soil insects in onion and sweet potato acreage.
The final rule regarding the ban of chlorpyrifos by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) went into effect on Friday, Oct. 29. The revocations of the tolerances for all commodities goes into effect six months after the EPA’s ban.