Project:FIFRA
FIFRA Discussion
Pesticide regulations are complicated for our industry. Tim, Charles and Kent share their thoughts toward a resolution.
The Issues:
As you as a beekeeper know, our number of cost effective labeled miticides is strictly limited, you should also be aware that even though many of the organics are available at your local hardware store for fair prices, such use is strictly prohibited.
The Proposed Solution:
As such we pulled together a group of stakeholders and crafted a amendment to FIFRA that would allow them to treat us differently than other groups. There is actually a lot of backstory and logic behind this, and a whole lot of upside that is not quite as obvious.
It was brought to our attention that a potential change in control was being discussed, transferring control of miticides from EPA to FDA. While that has been put on hold, as an industry we would like to codify the standing in regulation instead of being subject to rule interpretations. In this we also learned that EPA is not allowed to make specific rules for our industry. In simplistic terms, they cannot allow us to use simple proven methods for bees, because of potential misuse in other areas. This is a major handicap for our industry, given the extremely short lifecycles of honeybees.
This ask has been endorsed by several state associations, as well as industry suppliers and beekeepers.
In December 2024 the Illinois Farm Bureau voted to support our agenda items, and it also went to the national Farm Bureau in San Antonio in January, presented by Ohio and Mississippi and approved for support all the way up. As we understand it, sometime in the future Farm Bureau will help us find a Congressional sponsor, but as you know there are a lot of Items on their list. As such, we are doing anything we can to get it actually written into a bill and sponsored. (The actual wording and support letters are attached separately.)
While easier access to miticides is not going to solve the problem completely, it will move us closer to where we need to be. This FIFRA request is a straightforward, common-sense fix, with zero cost associated with it. Given the press of the new wave of bee losses, stepping up to make changes will reflect well on all of us. As the largest pollinator in Illinois, I am keenly aware of several things that can help us, and we would ask you to reach out to us or Farm Bureau to help move this ball forward.