Defying the Trump EPA’s longstanding inaction, California is now in the process of banning chlorpyrifos, a widely used pesticide that has been linked to brain damage in children. California governor Gavin Newsom has also proposed $5.7m in new funding to support the transition from chlorpyrifos to “safer, more sustainable alternatives”. DowDuPont spokesman Gregg Schmidt said… Read more »

A bill that would ban the use of pesticides containing chlorpyrifos was passed by the Senate Health Committee in early April, step one in the process of a total ban becoming law. Read more on the Sun Herald.

Yesterday, the Tick Encounter Research Center launched their Experiment campaign. They are raising $8000 to help fund a more efficient TickSpotters platform that will give them the ability to collect more data and respond faster to tick photo submissions. This new-and-improved platform will help us answer the question: Does personalized tick prevention education work to… Read more »

The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today gave Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler three months to justify why chlorpyrifos should stay on the market. In 2017, Scott Pruitt, the EPA administrator at the time, declined to ban chlorpyrifos from use on food crops. Last August, the 9th District Court of Appeals ruled that… Read more »

The Wisconsin Monarch Collaborative has published two new educational handouts, one on 12 different plant species that can support Monarch butterflies, and one on milkweed specifically. Follow these links to learn about how to turn your yard into a supportive habitat for this threatened species.

Last week, a sub-agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), published the long-anticipated Toxicological Profile for Glyphosate. This report backs up the 2015 cancer assessment of Glyphosate (sold as Roundup) released by another health agency, the International Agency for Research on Cancer… Read more »

On April 11th, the North Central IPM Center released a regenerative agriculture fact sheet. It’s intended to be a resource for Organic and IPM communities, or for anyone who wants to incorporate these principles into their production. You can access it here.

The Maryland state Senate will consider a bill to ban the pesticide chlorpyrifos more than two weeks after a majority in the House of Delegates approved a statewide prohibition on its use. Chlorpyrifos has been linked to developmental harm in children, although the Trump administration’s EPA has refused to uphold a federal ban. Read more… Read more »

The Western IPM Center’s April edition of its monthly newsletter is now online. This issue contains: Their draft list of newly updated IPM and pest management priorities in the region. A introduction to the Western IPM Center’s just-published 2018 annual report. A look at legislators bypassing regulators with proposed pesticide bans. Meetings, trainings, grants and… Read more »

Yesterday, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue signed a national proclamation to declare April “Invasive Plant Pest and Disease Awareness Month.” April is a time when many invasive pests emerge and can be easily spread in the things people pack and move, such as outdoor items like grills, gardening equipment, wading pools and bicycles or patio furniture…. Read more »