Over the next few years, farmers in Illinois will face changes in pesticide policy, which will impact how farmers run their operations. These changes come as the Environmental Protection Agency works to comply with the Endangered Species Act. However, pesticide regulation isn’t just coming from the EPA. Neil Anderson, 47th District Illinois State Senator spoke during the WRAM Ag Roundtable discussions saying there have been eight bills in the session specifically focusing on pesticide regulation.
“No farmer is going to put his land at risk. He is the best steward for that land, and he is not going to put that in jeopardy. I think that’s something that a lot of people forget,” says Anderson. “Same goes with any conservation with hunters, of course, there’s always bad actors, but the general rule of thumb is farmers aren’t going to shoot themselves in the foot.”
Some of the proposed fertilizer and pesticide bans include a dicamba ban, 2-4-D ester ban, atrazine and pesticide preemption.
Read more about the EPA regulations here.
