blog-special

Weeding out regulatory challenges for herbicides

by Jay Stone

Posted on March 4, 2025 1:05 AM

Since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed its “herbicide strategy” in July 2023, UGA Extension has worked to find ways to help farmers work within it and still protect their crops. EPA created the strategy to give it a more efficient way to get plant crop protection products approved while complying with the Endangered Species Act. 

“It would have been ‘game over’ for most of us,” UGA Extension Weed Scientist Stanley Culpepper said. “There was no way if the original proposed rule had moved forward that we would've been able to use these tools in practice.”

Culpepper spoke to Georgia cotton growers as part of the program at the 2025 Georgia Cotton Commission (GCC) Annual Meeting on Jan. 29. 

The EPA’s original herbicide strategy included requirements for spray drift and runoff mitigation measures that would have placed an unworkable compliance standard on growers, effectively eliminating farm use of herbicides to control weeds, Culpepper said.

EPA said it received more than 10,000 public comments in response to its initial proposed rule.

In search of ways to make rule compliance feasible for farmers, Culpepper arranged for key EPA and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials to visit numerous Georgia farms and talk to farmers about how herbicides are used to control weeds that threaten crop yields. 

“Every single farmer, no matter who was in the car, they said, ‘Yes, bring them on,’” Culpepper said.  

Meanwhile, Culpepper and Taylor Singleton, then a doctoral candidate, developed an alternate way of viewing the runoff issues. Singleton developed a field-specific mapping technique that offered more detailed looks at where protected species are. 

The county-wide approach to defining habitat for the reticulated flatwoods salamander applied to more than 951,000 acres statewide. By using the advanced mapping techniques, the covered areas for the salamander were reduced to 3,526 acres. EPA has modified this technique for other use nationwide.

The finalized herbicide strategy that the EPA published in August 2024 gives farmers more flexibility but made the guidance labels more complex. Culpepper said efforts are underway to simplify the labels.

The cotton meeting also included presentations from Cotton Inc., and the National Cotton Council representatives.

National Cotton Council Senior Government Relations Director Jeff Kuckuck said getting a new farm bill is a priority for the NCC, but it could take a back seat in Congress to tax measures and border wall funding espoused by President Donald Trump.

Cotton Incorporated President & CEO William Kimbrell explored the organization's efforts to make cotton competitive with synthetic fibers. These include discussions about sustainability and the development of ToughCotton and TransDry Tech cotton fabrics to rival durability and moisture wicking properties associated with synthetic fibers.