Insecticide Lorsban Banned?

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has "directed" the Environmental Protection Agency to ban Lorsban or chlorpyrifos within 60 days! Lorsban is used on over 50 crops. For many farmers it is the only insecticide they have to control certain insect pests. For example here in Minnesota Lorsban is used to control soybean aphids. In the past we also had the pyrethroids class if insecticides. However, this year there were more cases of pyrethroid failures. It appears there are soybean aphids that have developed resistance to the pyrethroids!

This is a big issue if we lose Lorsdan. No other tools are available to control soybean aphids! We are having a difficult time controlling waterhemp. If needed we can go back to walking beans and pull each weed or hire workers to do it. You cannot remove hundreds of aphids from each soybean plant! I do not understand how one court or Judge has that much power that they can override the Environmental Protection Agency? However, the ban is not "a done deal."

The United States Department of Justice has "asked for a panel rehearing and rehearing en banc. USDA Secretary of Agriculture Perdue said the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling "appears to be based on a misunderstanding of both the available scientific information and EPA's pesticide regulatory system.' "The scientific evidence does not indicate the need for a total ban on the use of chlorpyrifos."