September 2005

Pesticide Registrations and Actions

• On August 5, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) registered the miticide spirodiclofen (Envidor®) for control of mites in citrus, grapes, pome fruit, stone fruit, and tree nuts. This is a tetronic acid material which targets mites, psyllid nymphs, and scale crawlers and is “soft” on beneficial predatory mites and insects. The EPA registration number for the Bayer CropScience product is 264-831. (FDACS PREC Agenda, 9/1/05).

• On August 17, the EPA issued a 30-day comment period regarding the registrant’s request to terminate uses of azinphos (Guthion®) on caneberries, cotton, peach/nectarine, potato, and Southern pine seed orchards. The Agency intends to cancel these uses at the end of this period. Existing stocks may be sold until the end of March next year and may be used until the end of September of 2006. (Federal Register, 8/17/05).

• On July 13, the EPA published tolerances for the miticide spirodiclofen (Envidor®). Uses of importance to Florida include stone fruit, citrus and grape, and the compound also has associated meat and milk tolerances. (Federal Register, 7/13/05).

• On August 31, the EPA published tolerances for the herbicide S- metolachlor. Uses of importance to Florida include: sweet/field/pop corn, cotton, onion, peanut, sorghum, soybean, and tomato (paste), as well as head and stem brassicas (subgroup 5A), legume foliage (subgroup 7A), fruiting vegetables (group 8), leaf petiole vegetables (subgroup 4B), edible podded legumes (subgroup 6A), pea and bean (subgroup 6C), root vegetables (subgroup 1B), and tuberous and corm vegetables (group 1C). Associated animal tolerances were also approved. (Federal Register, 8/31/05).

• On August 10, the EPA published tolerances for the herbicide topramezone. Uses of importance to Florida include sweet/field/pop corn. Associated animal tolerances were also approved. Although developed by BASF, this herbicide will be sold by AMVAC. (Federal Register, 8/10/05).

• On August 10, the EPA published tolerances for the herbicide aminopyralid. Uses of importance to Florida include grass hay and forage, as well as wheat forage/bran/grain/hay/ straw. Associated animal tolerances were also approved. (Federal Register, 8/10/05).

• On August 31, the EPA published tolerances for the insecticide flonicamid. Uses of importance to Florida include: cotton, stone fruit (group 12), potato and potato flake, spinach, tomato paste and puree, cucurbit vegetables (group 9), fruiting vegetables (group 8), and leafy brassicas (subgroup 5B). Associated animal tolerances were also approved. (Federal Register, 8/31/05).

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Non-Agricultural
 

• The Florida Agricultural Commissioner has revoked the business license and the pest control operator’s certificate of a Pensacola area company due to failure to perform the duties of a certified operator and using a certificate in violation of the Florida Pest Control Act. The business license for Atlas Termite and Pest Control of Cantonment and the associated PCO certificate for Ms. Joyce Beard were revoked after an investigation demonstrated that Ms. Beard was not performing personal supervision and personally participating in the pest control activities of the company as required by the Act. (FDACS Press Release, 8/4/05).

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Other Actions
 

• The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued a public notice of availability of an environmental assessment for the field trial of two genetically engineered strains of an endophytic fungus of perennial ryegrass. The organism, Neotyphodium sp. isolate LP1, was mutated into two strains (Lp1-4175 and Lp1-981) by researchers in the Plant Pathology Department of the University of Kentucky. The former strain does not produce ergot alkaloids or clavine mycotoxins, while the latter does not produce ergovaline and other amides of lysergic acid. These compounds cause toxicoses to grazing cattle and wildlife. (Federal Register, 8/12/05).

• The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued a public notice of availability of an environmental assessment for the field trial of five genetically engineered strains of Erwinia carotovora. These bacteria have been engineered not to express specific hrp/hrc genes, resulting in the disruption of the disease-causing mechanism. The organism was mutated into these strains by researchers in the Plant Pathology Department of the University of Wisconsin. (Federal Register, 8/12/05).

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