Mitigation education Growers attend Endangered Species Act pesticide workshop in Walla Walla

Last month, more than 40 growers attended a workshop at the William A. Grant Water and Environmental Center in Walla Walla, Wash., focused on the Endangered Species Act and pesticide labels. Attendees participated in activities designed to encourage conversation and generate information to inform the national conversation around pesticide labeling. Participants learned more about pesticide mitigations for endangered species and worked through several activities aimed at understanding and implementing mitigation requirements. Attendees also worked through calculation worksheets on pesticide runoff/erosion mitigation and pesticide ecological spray drift buffers. Workshop attendees’ main crops included wheat, alfalfa seed, potatoes, apples, wine grapes, tree fruit, and turfgrass.

Besides myself, the event was organized by Annie Byerley, district manager of the Walla Walla Conservation District; Grace Cooper, conservation scientist at the Walla Walla Conservation District; Abbey Nickelson, natural resource scientist at the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA); and Chris McCoullough, WSDA pesticide usage and stewardship scientist.  

The workshop also featured a panel that included Nick Scrivner, Walla Walla alfalfa seed grower; Jeremy Petty, consulting vineyard manager and winemaker; Justin Casebier of Pratum Co-op; Chris Clemens, agronomy service manager at Syngenta; Perry Beale of Meadow Creek Ranch and former WSDA representative for the Washington State Conservation Commission; and Tim Stein, WSDA pesticide compliance program manager. 

Panel discussions focused on several topics including when participants first heard about the Environmental Protection Agency’s mitigation menu/Bulletins Live Two!/Endangered species lawsuits and the impact of this regulation on growers and customers considering the number of regulations already in place for farmers. Participants also shared how they currently interact with conservation practices, endangered species compliance issues other than pesticides, implementing conservation measures, common problems seen among their constituents, and how they solve them. Attendees were able to earn three pesticide credits. Existing conservation programs offered through conservation districts and the Natural Resources Conservation Service were briefly discussed. The event was sponsored by AgWest Farm Credit.