California Moves to Ban Chlorpyrifos

Last week, the state of California’s Environmental Protection Agency moved to ban chlorpyrifos, a significant crop protection tool and seed treatment. The ban will impact crop production in the largest farm state in the U.S. California has two years to enact the ban. In the meantime, $5.7 million has been requested from the state legislature to assist farmers during the transition, including research for alternatives.

During the 2019 state legislative sessions, 26 bills in 12 states were filed to ban the pesticide, but none have passed thus far. However, the New York legislature is close to passing a bill that would ban chlorpyrifos aerial applications.