It is time to get ready! For the past two years, I’ve been discussing the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and upcoming policy changes. These changes are now here for our farmers, but there’s still time to prepare. After reading this blog, if you’d like to learn more, I encourage you to register for our upcoming Herbicide Strategy Workshops.

Herbicide Strategy Workshops will be held:

1. Dekalb County Farm Bureau Office – Jan. 20
2. Illinois Soybean Association Office – Jan. 21
3. UIUC Crop Science Research Education Center – Jan. 22
4. Madison County Farm Bureau Office – Jan. 27
5. Will County Farm Bureau Office – Jan. 28

The Herbicide Strategy Will Impact Your Farm

In late August 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the final Herbicide Strategy, calling it an “unprecedented step in protecting over 900 federally endangered and threatened (listed) species from the potential impacts of herbicides.” This strategy represents a significant overhaul of established U.S. pesticide policy, requiring Illinois farmers reconsider their pesticide use in the coming years. The changes stem from numerous lawsuits the EPA has faced regarding pesticides and the protection of listed species, including a 2011 lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity that led to a 2023 settlement. The settlement requires the EPA to comply with its Endangered Species Act obligations.

The first thing to know is that the Herbicide Strategy does not create immediate regulations but establishes a framework for how the EPA will evaluate future pesticide labels. It outlines how farmers will need to meet certain requirements to limit runoff and drift from specific fields. As pesticide labels come up for review or registration, we will see how these ESA components are incorporated into label language.

For runoff mitigation, each pesticide will have specific “mitigation point requirements” that must be met to allow applications. Currently, I recommend that farmers plan to have nine runoff mitigation points for each field. In the example scenarios provided by the EPA (Table 1), some points may be met by existing field conditions, such as tile drainage, field locations, or low slope. However, to reach the recommended nine points, farmers will need to adopt additional practices from a mitigation list, which might include conservation practices like cover crops and no-till.

In the scenarios below (Table 1), farmers earn four points just for field characteristics (location and slope) and three points for being non-irrigated. The remaining points are earned through either no-tillage (Example 1) or a combination of tile-drainage and cover cropping (Example 2).

Illinois farmers can learn more about potential mitigation options at the EPA Mitigation Menu Website.  However, it is important to understand that mitigation options will vary by region and product, so farmers will need to pay extra attention to label details. The EPA has also provided a Runoff Points Calculator to help farmers determine how many points they have on each field.

Table 1: Non-irrigated soybean and corn on flat land, non-sandy soil adapted From: https://www.regulations.gov/document/EPA-HQ-OPP-2023-0365-1139

To address drift concerns, Illinois farmers may need to implement drift buffers up to 320 feet. However, they can reduce buffer size by adopting certain practices such as increasing droplet size, lowering boom height, planting hedgerows or windbreaks, or reducing the area sprayed. The EPA provides scenarios (Table 2) where farmers can reduce the buffer size from 320 feet to 225 feet (Option A), 130 feet (Option B), or 50 feet (Option C).

Table 2: Aerial use of pesticides on corn and soybean grown in Illinois adapted from: https://www.regulations.gov/document/EPA-HQ-OPP-2023-0365-1139

Specifics from a Liberty Ultra Example

We have already seen an example of ESA label language with the new Liberty Ultra Label. In this case, the ESA label has a minimal requirement of three mitigation points, meaning many fields in Illinois will meet the requirement without additional steps. However, the ESA label restricts applications to under 15 mph at release height, limits boom height to less than 24 inches above the target or crop canopy for ground applications, and requires downwind buffers of 10 feet for ground applications or 50 feet for aerial applications.

While manageable, these restrictions may catch farmers by surprise if they are not aware of the label changes. It is important to remember this is only the first ESA label we have seen. As each herbicide undergoes a new registration or re registration, label requirements will change based on each product.

If you are using Liberty in 2025, I suggest reading this article in No-Till Farmer that breaks down some of the new label details.

Closing Thoughts

It is important to remember that the Herbicide Strategy is just the first finalized framework by the EPA. Soon, we expect the agency to publish draft and final rodenticide, insecticide, and fungicide strategies. We are at the start of a new era when it comes to pesticide rules and regulations. Farmers should take steps now to stay informed and updated so they can be prepared.