National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) President Tom Haag testified today before an Environmental Protection Agency Scientific Advisory Panel about the importance of atrazine to corn farmers.
“NCGA commends the scientific and risk-based analysis and conclusions of the EPA in this reevaluation of the 11 atrazine studies identified by the 2012 Scientific Advisory Panel as calling for further review to assess the effects to aquatic plant communities,” Haag noted in the testimony. “NCGA points to the conclusions in the white paper, which continue to affirm scientific evidence which supports the safe use of atrazine while protecting the vital aquatic plant communities and their related ecosystems.”
The purpose of the SAP is to seek feedback on the draft white paper, Examination of the Microcosm/Mesocosm Studies for Evaluating the Effects of Atrazine on Aquatic Plant Communities, which is being submitted to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act SAP for peer review.
During the hearing, Haag touched on the positive environmental benefits of using atrazine.
“Effective management of weeds and their resistance to herbicides is a constant challenge to corn farmers,” he said. “Access to atrazine puts an important tool in the hands of U.S. corn growers to effectively adopt conservation practices while managing destructive weeds and delivering an abundant and quality crop. NCGA advocated for EPA to hold this SAP because atrazine is critical to thousands of farmers and millions of acres, it is imperative that EPA fully reviews the complete library of science related to atrazine and the aquatic plant community.”
EPA expects to receive the SAP’s report in late November.