California farmers’ use of higher-risk pesticides, which protect crops against damage from pest populations and disease outbreaks, is on the decline, a new study shows.
The state’s agricultural pesticide use dropped in both pounds applied and acres treated between 2021 and 2022, with the 5% overall decline reflecting a decade-long trend, according to the California Department of Pesticide Regulation’s annual pesticide use report this month.
In addition, for pesticides applied that contain active ingredients, or more toxicity, farmers applied 181 million pounds, which is a 10.4-million-pound decrease from the previous year. Cumulative acres treated fell by 3.2% year over year. During the same period, the use of lower-risk biopesticides increased by 56%.
Data for the report are collected by county agricultural commissioners, who receive reports from growers, applicators and others through the department’s pesticide-use reporting program, which began in 1990.
As pesticide use has dropped over a decade, the report noted, California has seen a 77% decrease in groundwater contaminants and a 21% drop in toxic air contaminants.
“DPR’s report just confirms what we already know, which is California agriculture continues to improve its use of materials by using softer materials and more targeted applications,” said Christopher Reardon, government affairs director for the California Farm Bureau. “Pesticides cost money, so farmers don’t want to spend money for these materials if they don’t have to.”
Reardon added, “Use of these materials by farmers happens only when necessary and in certain circumstances, and especially when growers want to control a pest that is threatening the industry.”
Madera County pistachio grower Rich Kreps, a certified crop advisor and sustainability specialist, said farmers have reduced their use of the most toxic pesticides for several reasons. He said they include improved crop protection technology with softer materials, fewer applications to control costs and limits on types of pesticides used to sell commodities to some international markets.
“California farmers are the best in the world, especially at being efficient with the products that we are using,” said Kreps, board chairman for the American Pistachio Growers. “In the past, guys that might have had the luxury of saying, ‘I’ll do that second or third spray,’ are just doing one or two and not putting on the third unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
As a sustainability specialist, Kreps helps farmers adopt more sustainable crop production practices.
“The impetus of the sustainability specialist is to help farmers that want to use more organic and biological inputs and water management better to make our soils healthier,” Kreps said. “There’s not a farmer out there that I know who doesn’t want to be sustainable.”
He added, “The farmer is creating something that is generational, so the whole point behind that is to sustain it for the future.”
The right mix of nutrition leads to healthier plants and to “a significant decrease in pest pressure,” Kreps said.
“Pests are going to orchards or vineyards that are more stressed than the one next door, so the healthier you make your field, the less likely you are to get an infestation,” he said.
Water stress to plants, including from water allocation cutbacks, directly affect pest pressure on the farm, Kreps said. Pest risks add to the need for increased water storage in California, he added.
“If the state keeps imposing harder water restrictions, and as a consequence, your orchard or vineyard is stressed, you’re going to have more pest issues, so it’s a double-edged sword,” he said.
California citrus growers have worked for years to protect the sector from huanglongbing, or HLB, a fatal bacterial disease of citrus spread by the Asian citrus psyllid.
Casey Creamer, president and CEO of Exeter-based California Citrus Mutual, said pesticides are important to protect the food supply. “There are bugs out there that would like to eat the fruit before we do,” he said.
“Citrus growers take great care in making sure that chemicals are used as a last resort,” Creamer said. “In our citrus pest disease program that we have in partnership with CDFA (California Department of Food and Agriculture), we use a lot of biologicals and beneficials to deal with the Asian citrus psyllid.”
With the psyllid being “an invasive species that could kill the entire industry,” Creamer said, growers often rotate materials to prevent resistance.
The number of effective pesticides available for use in agriculture is shrinking, he said.
In the past, there were more broad-spectrum materials to control more than one pest. Today’s biopesticides and new chemistries are much more targeted and might address only a single pest, he said.
Government approval of new pest management materials for use by agriculture has been a challenge due to regulatory and legal challenges that block or delay registration of new materials, Reardon said.
“Registering new materials has always been a challenge in California because interests such as the environmental community are effectively suing the department over registrations, so that has slowed down the process,” Reardon said. “If we don’t address the challenges of pest prevention in this state, we’re going to be in trouble.”
California agricultural groups say the regulatory process to register new pest control materials should be streamlined. “It is very expensive to bring a product to market,” Creamer said.
Creamer weighed in on behalf of citrus growers as a member of a stakeholder work group formed to adopt safer, sustainable pest control practices by 2050.
Released last year, the state’s sustainable pest management roadmap for California includes goals of eliminating use of priority or higher-risk pesticides, by transitioning to sustainable pest management practices.
“To make sure that we’re thinking about this in a more holistic manner, we need the tools available for growers and for the state and federal governments to deal more effectively with invasive species,” Creamer said. “We have to keep bringing the issues that we’re experiencing out in the field to these conversations so that better decisions are made moving forward.”
In related news, DPR is seeking public comment on proposed modifications to its pesticide application notification regulation, a first-of-its-kind system to provide advance information on applications of restricted material pesticides used in agriculture. A public hearing is set for July 23.
To learn more, visit www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/pesticide_notification_network/
(Christine Souza is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at csouza@cfbf.com.)