Steve Pitstick is counting down the days until he pulls into fields to start planting this year’s crops. “We’ve probably got another two weeks to go. There’s still some work in the shop to do, we’re getting seed in position and crop protection products ready to go,” he says.
Regarding the latter, that includes Liberty Ultra herbicide which Pitstick uses for post weed control on soybean ground. Liberty Ultra was the first herbicide registered under the EPA’s new Herbicide Strategy, a key part of the agency’s efforts to adhere to Endangered Species Act (ESA) requirements.
The Herbicide Strategy, which targets land in cultivation, includes spray drift and runoff mitigation measures, with specific requirements for each field.
“I’ve been to some seminars and read various information about it, so I’m not worried about the changes, but I want to be informed,” says Pitstick, who farms about 5,700 acres of corn and soybeans with his son, Dale, in northern Illinois, less than 50 miles west of the Chicago suburbs.
Being informed is the goal Corey Lacey has for farmers he’s talked with over the past few months about the Herbicide Strategy. As the environmental policy manager for the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA), Lacey has crisscrossed the state with Illinois Farm Bureau and Illinois Corn to host workshops for row-crop growers and retailers on the subject.
“Farmers have already seen some examples of changes to the labels around Endangered Species Act obligations, and it’s going to change how they farm,” he predicts.
Aaron Hager, University of Illinois Extension weed scientist, says virtually every county in the United State either has a threatened or endangered species or has the habitat that would support one.
“There’s roughly 1,700 threatened endangered species in the United States, and more than half of those are plant species,” Hager shared during a recent webinar, in conjunction with Lacey and the ISA.
Mitigation Points Must Add Up For Herbicide Use
As EPA implements the Herbicide Strategy, the agency will assign each product a mitigation point requirement, a number between zero to nine that farmers must attain.
“The idea is…on every field that you operate on, you’re going to have to look at that field and then decide, ‘How do I get to these points?’” Lacey says. “We’re expecting most herbicide products to require six points. Nine is the most mitigation points that you would need, and that would be for a product especially concerning to the EPA,” he adds.
Three is the required number of mitigation points, in most scenarios, for Liberty Ultra.
“I think that will be fairly easy to achieve just by doing the normal things we do here in northern Illinois,” Pitstick says. “We have to consider spray drift control measures, nozzle sizes, field slope, and tillage practices, all of which gives us enough points to use the product.”
The one concern Pitstick and Lacey have is related to the mandatory 10-foot ground spray drift buffer (downwind) required now for applications of Liberty Ultra. The buffer wasn’t a labeled requirement previously.
“That’s a bit of a challenge for our guys because if we’re doing ground applications, there’s not a really effective way for us to make that buffer strip smaller,” Lacey says. “We can either put in wind breaks, hedgerows or use a hooded applicator, and none of those are commonly used here.”
Pitstick is evaluating his fields to identify sensitive areas that would require the buffer and will then adjust accordingly. “I might use a different product in those fields, or lay the 10-foot buffer and then come back another day when there’s less wind to make the application,” he says.
Both of those are strategies Lacey would encourage other farmers to consider. “That broader thinking pattern is what we want guys to think about, to look at each field and say, ‘Is this something I need to address in this field or not?’”
How the EPA will evaluate farmer compliance with the herbicide use requirements for Liberty Ultra and subsequent products to come is still unknown and one of Hager’s primary questions at this point.
Among other questions he says EPA still needs to answer are: Who is legally responsible for implementing herbicide mitigation practices?What happens if the farmer doesn’t own the ground? How is EPA going to measure success?
Hager says he is hopeful such unanswered questions will get resolved with guidance from state lead agencies moving forward as more product labels come into compliance with ESA requirements.
Looking Ahead, Know that 2,4-D, Glyphosate And Dicamba Are On The List
Lacey says other herbicide active ingredients are not far behind Liberty Ultra on EPA’s list to address with its Herbicide Strategy.
“EPA has indicated that as part of their court settlement, they’re going to push things through rapidly,” Lacey says. “I know 2,4-D is on the list, as is glyphosate and dicamba. All these things we use on a regular basis in Illinois and other states are eventually going to come under the Herbicide Strategy label.”
“The Herbicide Strategy was developed first due to the large volume of herbicides used in agriculture,” Hager says. He explains that EPA had only three options for achieving compliance: it could remove pesticides from the market, restrict their use or add mitigations to protect endangered or at-risk species.
Along with herbicide active ingredients, insecticides and fungicides will also go through the ESA assessment process. Next up, the EPA is scheduled to introduce its Insecticide Strategy, due March 31. However, Lacey says the agency has already asked for an extension from the court overseeing the process.
“What may happen is the new administration may soften the blow, slow down things a little bit, which I think we would be supportive of. We want science-based, logical decisions, so let’s take a minute and make sure we’re doing this right,” Lacey says.
With the Trump administration back in the White House, Lacey says one of the most common questions farmers are asking him is whether the ESA requirements for compliance will go away.
“I would remind farmers that some of the courts would look at this and just tell EPA, ‘you’re not in compliance,’ and they would pull the pesticide label. Courts have the authority to do that. So, we want to help EPA come into compliance in a way where the mitigations have minimal impacts on our farmers, so we keep our products available for use.”
Adds Pitstick, “There’s a lot of changes in EPA right now, but we know we’ve got a course change here.”
Farmers Have Time To Prepare And Make Plans For Fields One big positive Lacey says is that the herbicide strategy will be implemented over time, instead of on a specific date.
“It’s not coming at (farmers) all at once, so as long as they’re learning about it now and starting to think about how to prepare themselves, there’s still plenty of time to get ready,” Lacey says
He wants farmers to start the process of evaluating fields and determining mitigation requirements now, even for products like Liberty Ultra that have already gone through the new registration process.
“We can do this,” he says. “We can find ways to comply, but we have to plan for it.”
Hager encourages farmers to talk with their agronomic advisers and retailers as part of the planning process and to tap into the expertise of their state Extension specialists.
“You need to find any problem fields now, so you can put things in place ahead of time,” Lacey adds. “You know, 2025 is probably not going to be a big issue for a lot of guys. But in 2026, 27, we’re going to see this become more complicated, so why not get started now?”
That’s Pitstick’s plan and what he encourages other farmers to do. “Just figure out where your sensitive areas in fields are now. That can help you be ready to course change.”
For additional information on the Herbicide Strategy and how to plan for adoption, check out the webinar Hager and Lacey hosted recently. You can watch it at Implementing the Herbicide Strategy for Midwest Farmers
