Council of Producers & Distributors of Agrotechnology

Terry Kippley, CPDA

November 16, 2023

Government Shutdown & Farm Bill Extension

The bipartisan short-term funding bill that was passed in September to avoid a government shutdown is set to expire on Friday.  Congress is in session this week scrambling to pass a spending bill to keeps the government open.

The 2018 Farm Bill expired on September 30, but was temporarily extended by the September funding bill. To address future actions, the four leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees released the following statement on a Farm Bill extension on November 12:

“As negotiations on funding the government progress, we were able to come together to avoid a lapse in funding for critical agricultural programs and provide certainty to producers. This extension is in no way a substitute for passing a 5-year Farm Bill and we remain committed to working together to get it done next year.”



While CPDA hoped for quick passage of a new Farm Bill to give certainty to farmers and ranchers making plans for the 2024 growing season, we are grateful that the Agricultural Committees have come to an agreement to extend the current bill.

ASTM Meeting/Non-PRIA EPA Actions Highlighted

Last week, I attended the American Society of Test Methods (ASTM), 43rd Symposium on Pesticide Formulation and Delivery Systems. One of the session keynote speakers was Charles "Billy" Smith, who is the Director of the Registration Division (RD) at EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs. Billy’s remarks focused on what his team is doing to address the Non-PRIA backlog, an issue of great importance to CPDA members. He recognized and mentioned the collaborative effort between RD and CPDA to reduce the backlog. This includes process improvements and the voluntary cancellation and combination of PRIA submissions by CPDA member companies, which has reduced the backlog by more than 10%.

Terry Kippley, CPDA; Billy Smith, EPA Director of Registration Division.

Glyphosate News

California’s Proposition 65

On November 7, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that California could not enforce a rule that would require Proposition 65 cancer warning labels on glyphosate. The decision upheld a previous ruling from a lower court which concluded that requiring a cancer warning label for glyphosate was a violation of the First Amendment.

At issue was California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment's (OEHHA) requirement that glyphosate products carry a Proposition 65 warning on its label stating that glyphosate is a possible carcinogen. OEHHA’s decision was based on a 2015 International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) report which identified glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic" to humans. However, that view is not shared by regulatory agencies worldwide nor by a majority of scientists. OEHHA disagreed, which is why they mandated Proposition 65 labeling to inform consumers of the potential cancer risk.

The Ninth Circuit ruled that the label warning was “compelled commercial speech” that would have required Monsanto – the primary registrant – to “convey a controversial, fiercely contested message” that the company disagreed with. In addition, the court ruled the government may only compel commercial speech that is "purely factual and uncontroversial."

Glyphosate Lawsuits

In recent weeks, three jury verdicts have been decided, which awards substantial amounts to plaintiffs who claimed that exposure to glyphosate caused their cancer. In the first case, a Philadelphia plaintiff was awarded $175 million. In Missouri, another plaintiff was awarded $1.25 million. Finally, a California plaintiff was awarded $332 million, the bulk as punitive damages. Bayer has stated its intention to appeal each verdict.

Per- & Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)

EPA has announced $8 million in research funding to study the impact of PFAS or "forever chemicals" on agriculture, rural, and tribal communities. EPA is providing five grants of $1.6 million each to support research aimed at furthering the understanding and mitigation of PFAS exposure. EPA hopes these funds will increase the understanding of how PFAS moves through ecosystems, and impacts soil, water, plants, animals, and the food supply.

CPDA State Affairs Meeting

On Monday, over 35 people attended the quarterly meeting of the CPDA State Affairs Committee. It was a full agenda, with updates and action items focusing on California, Washington, Maine, Maryland, and Minnesota as well as a PRIA update from Dr. Ray McAllister.

If you would like a copy of the State Affairs slide deck, please contact Cara Strazzo at cstrazzo@cpda.com. The next State Affairs Committee virtual meeting is on February 21. Please contact Scott Rawlins at srawlins@cpda.com if you’d like to participate.

SCPA Annual Meeting

Last week, Scott Rawlins attended the Southern Crop Production Association’s (SCPA) annual meeting in Orlando. SCPA is a key ally for CPDA, and we appreciate the invitation extended to us by SCPA Executive Vice President Bucky Kennedy and his team for including us.

In addition to the annual meeting, Scott was able to attend the SCPA State Issues Summit, which gathered state Farm Bureau, southeast commodity association and State Agribusiness leaders and staff for a roundtable discussion of emerging agricultural issues in the southeast. Hot topics include foreign ownership of land, PFAS, and Endangered Species Act restrictions.

ARA Adjuvant Advantage for the Sales Agronomist

On November 2, we resumed our successful collaboration with the American Retailer Association (ARA). Over 500 signed up for the Adjuvant Advantage for the Sales Agronomist Series – Correcting Compatibility Problems with Adjuvants. The webinar was generously sponsored by Growmark and Precision Labs.

Mark your calendars for December 7 for Adjuvant Application for Pre-Emergent Herbicides sponsored by Helena and Rovensa.

Registration to come.

Launching the Future of Ag Retail

Building on more than 30 years of bringing the ag retail industry together to learn and share ideas, the 2023 ARA Conference & Expo will convene Nov. 28-30 in Orlando. This year's theme of Launching the Future of Ag Retail reflects the need to adapt to take on our current challenges while positioning ourselves to meet the challenges of the future head on.

Until next time...