Potato Grower

36 POTATO GROWER | DECEMBER 2022 U.S. consumers and customers around the globe is an imperative for our industry. It is all of our responsibility to provide regulators with the practical information to help them make the best decisions. Though they may take Sharing The Complexities Of Production With EPA Pesticide Regulators This past summer, the National Potato Council in cooperation with the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee (CPAC), hosted a tour of potato production for staff of the EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) NPC works to educate federal agencies on benefits of ag chemicals National Potato Council By Mike Wenkel, COO, National Potato Council in Colorado's San Luis Valley. The farm tour – hosted annually in various growing areas around the country – allows federal regulators to better understand how their decisions have real-world implications on our farms. This year EPA participants (many of whom were new hires during COVID) were provided information on pest management related to growing seed and in the pre-plant, planting, in-the- field, and post-harvest stages. They had the opportunity to spend time in the fields and in the facilities where their decisions will be implemented with all the potential consequences, both negative and positive, that may result. Presenters included growers, extension educators and researchers from across the country on weeds, pathogens, nematodes and insects. Interacting with EPA staff and sharing the complexities of producing a high-quality, high-cost potato crop for Eliminating certain classes of chemicals would be cheered by environmentalists but come at a cost of sound science. that information and still get a decision wrong, our outreach is still important and improves chances for a reasonable outcome. In that mission, the tour provides the industry an opportunity to educate regulators on the pest challenges faced by potato growers and the value we place on retaining the regulated tools growers need to succeed. This year's tour came at a time when EPA and other federal regulators are under increasingly vocal activist pressure to consider eliminating valuable tools from the grower toolbox to control pets and weeds. Here are just a few examples of how NPC is working to maintain access to important chemistries. Imidacloprid, Clothianidin and Thiamethoxam This summer, EPA released the final Biological Evaluations (BE) for the neonicotinoid insecticides clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam as part of an Endangered Species Act (ESA) evaluation that identifies potential impacts on endangered and threatened species and their critical habitats. During the open comment period, NPC and the state potato organizations submitted comments with examples of product utilization and challenges of alternative products across the nation. Unfortunately, those real-world examples and usage data were not incorporated into EPA's evaluation, which could result in the loss of those tools. The next stage is formal consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service, where we hope the evaluation can be refined to present a more realistic assessment of the impacts of these products on listed species populations. EPA Proposes Cancellation of Blocker (PCNB) In September, EPA proposed the cancellation of Pentachloronitrobenzene (PNCB), the active ingredient in AMVAC's Blocker, which would result in the elimination of all registered uses of PCNB to address human health and ecological risk concerns. PCNB is registered for use in-furrow to control rhizoctonia, white mold, black dot disease and common scab in potato production. In the Proposed Final Decision, EPA has identified multiple alternative products as

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