Against the drift
Weed scientist Stanley Culpepper seeks to harmonize the needs of crops, sensitive species and farmers
Stanley Culpepper has dedicated his career to supporting farmers in their mission to feed and clothe the world.
As a weed science specialist for University of Georgia Cooperative Extension and a professor in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Culpepper’s efforts over the past 25 years have focused on helping growers provide the safe, affordable and accessible food, feed and fiber the world depends upon.
In the past three years, his job has become more complex as legal challenges to pesticides — primarily herbicides — have taken center stage, and restrictions on their use have ramped up.
Aggressive weeds like Palmer amaranth vex farmers. (Photo by Howard F. Schwartz/Bugwood.org)
Aggressive weeds like Palmer amaranth vex farmers. (Photo by Howard F. Schwartz/Bugwood.org)
Staying on target
Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must carefully consider the potential impact any given pesticide may have on endangered and threatened species within the state where the chemical is registered for use. After years of failing to meet those requirements, the agency has suffered repeated legal challenges and significant losses in court. In response, regulators are now making swift, often drastic changes to the rules dictating pesticide use, which if ignored could lead to the removal of many pesticides through court decisions, said Culpepper.
In 2023, proposed regulations threatened to remove the practical use of many of the most effective herbicides commonly used in commercial agriculture, which Culpepper said would be disastrous for farmers throughout the U.S. The real challenge isn’t due to a lack of effort from the EPA or growers, he explained. Navigating the laws outlined by the Endangered Species Act is particularly complex alongside evolving restrictions on pesticide use.
First and foremost, ensuring pesticides are applied on target and stay there is critical in protecting both farms and endangered and threatened species, Culpepper said. Through a collaborative program called Using Pesticides Wisely, the Georgia Department of Agriculture and UGA Extension faculty members provide annual training events to update farmers on the latest research-based production practices helping them continue improving on-target pesticide applications. More than 17,000 individuals have taken the training since 2014 and, as a result, Georgia has seen a 90% reduction in off-target pesticide drift complaints made to Cooperative Extension — among the lowest in the country.
“Weed scientists across the country are working hard to find alternative management tactics to control weeds across a plethora of cropping systems, but in large-scale agriculture in the Southeast, they’re simply not yet good enough to replace chemical inputs completely. We have to keep herbicides in the toolbox while we work hard building alternative systems.”
Staying on target
Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must carefully consider the potential impact any given pesticide may have on endangered and threatened species within the state where the chemical is registered for use. After years of failing to meet those requirements, the agency has suffered repeated legal challenges and significant losses in court. In response, regulators are now making swift, often drastic changes to the rules dictating pesticide use, which if ignored could lead to the removal of many pesticides through court decisions, said Culpepper.
In 2023, proposed regulations threatened to remove the practical use of many of the most effective herbicides commonly used in commercial agriculture, which Culpepper said would be disastrous for farmers throughout the U.S. The real challenge isn’t due to a lack of effort from the EPA or growers, he explained. Navigating the laws outlined by the Endangered Species Act is particularly complex alongside evolving restrictions on pesticide use.
First and foremost, ensuring pesticides are applied on target and stay there is critical in protecting both farms and endangered and threatened species, Culpepper said. Through a collaborative program called Using Pesticides Wisely, the Georgia Department of Agriculture and UGA Extension faculty members provide annual training events to update farmers on the latest research-based production practices helping them continue improving on-target pesticide applications. More than 17,000 individuals have taken the training since 2014 and, as a result, Georgia has seen a 90% reduction in off-target pesticide drift complaints made to Cooperative Extension — among the lowest in the country.
“Weed scientists across the country are working hard to find alternative management tactics to control weeds across a plethora of cropping systems, but in large-scale agriculture in the Southeast, they’re simply not yet good enough to replace chemical inputs completely. We have to keep herbicides in the toolbox while we work hard building alternative systems.”
Mapping farmland and critical habitat
Moving forward, it is imperative to understand the overlap of farm fields treated with pesticides and where these sensitive species and their habitats are located.
“Knowing the locations of species relative to farm fields treated with pesticides allows us to develop effective mitigation and management plans to minimize pesticide movement beyond fields,” Culpepper explained. “These mitigation measures are important but must be dynamic, scientifically supported and adaptable to individual farm situations. It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach.”
In November 2023, Culpepper and fellow Weed Science Society of America members spoke to lawmakers in Washington, D.C., about their work documenting the importance of herbicides in protecting family farms.
“If we don’t get involved, the tools that many of us have spent our careers developing and helping implement are either going to be gone or altered to the point that they are no longer practically useful,” Culpepper said. “Weed scientists across the country are working hard to find alternative management tactics to control weeds across a plethora of cropping systems, but in large-scale agriculture in the Southeast, they’re simply not yet good enough to replace chemical inputs completely. We have to keep herbicides in the toolbox while we work hard building alternative systems. We can’t just drop and replace, and we can’t do it alone; we need to do it collaboratively.”
Culpepper said the concept is straightforward — if we don’t protect endangered and threatened species from pesticides, there will be no pesticides to speak of. Conversely, if there aren’t economically effective pesticides in the toolbox, there won’t be farmers, at least in the Southeast.
“The relationships being built, the science being generated, and the outreach to share improved methods for stewarding pesticides has the potential to make us all better in the long run,” said Culpepper. “I truly believe that, by working together with our regulators, we can strengthen our scientific methods and forge a solid path forward where everyone wins.”
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