Getting out of a pesticide pickle Updated database provides farmer with Washington, Oregon label information

For farmers in a pickle about pesticide labels, there’s online help available through Washington State University’s (WSU) Pesticide Information Center OnLine (PICOL).

While PICOL has been around for more than 40 years, it has just recently been rebuilt and upgraded and is the only database in the country that can be searched for specific crops or pests. The database contains approximately 19,000 entries for pesticides in Washington and Oregon. Besides WSU, the database is supported by Oregon State University and the Washington and Oregon state departments of agriculture.

“We have (the database) on a new server, new system,” said Kristi Boone, PICOL manager. “We have made it more user friendly by making the filters easier to understand and explore. We are also allowing the results to come in multiple formats. In the card format, users can just view information, or they can use the table format to download data into an Excel document so they can manipulate it as they need.”

Besides the extensive filtering capabilities, the PICOL home page also includes quick links to special local need labels, restricted use pesticides, and organic pesticides. To start a search, users enter information in the search bar, use one of the quick links, or simply hit enter from the home page. Results can be viewed as a card or table (the export option is accessible from the table view). Clicking on an entry brings up the pesticide information, including a link to view the Oregon and/or Washington label. Boone said feedback on the updated database has been very positive.

“It’s really beneficial in finding particular crops that farmers are trying to cross reference for certain fields,” Boone added. “Say a farmer is spraying for wheat and there’s a canola crop nearby. They can put wheat and canola in as a crop and know that if it drifts into the next field, it wouldn’t harm the canola. Just the cross-referencing aspect has been really good. You can also pull this up on your phone. If farmers are out in the field and maybe the label is kind of worn off on the bottle, they have the means to be able to search on-site and find the label.”

When information is being added to the database, it is updated every 10 minutes. Boone explained that when they get a local special need label from the state, the goal is to get it processed and in the database within 24 hours.

PICOL is also designed to work with the Environmental Protection Agency’s new bulletin system. If a pesticide has a related pesticide use limitation area, it will be marked in the search results. Boone said they are working on getting a pop up to alert the user and hope to have an easily accessible link to EPA’s Bulletins Live! Two website soon.

Future upgrades to PICOL include adding a mode of action on each label and finding ways to decrease the amount of time it takes to enter label information. 

PICOL isn’t just for farmers. The database also contains information pertinent to homeowners. Products are marked for commercial vs. home use. Homeowners who are looking for organic pesticide options can take advantage of the organic quick search.

“We have all sorts of products (in the database). Any product that is approved as a pesticide in Washington or Oregon, we have in the system. That could be your Lysol hand wipes to flea/tick collars to agricultural pesticides,” Boone said. She shared that a certain online retailer uses PICOL to determine which products they can or can’t sell on their site (commercial products are prohibited).

To access PICOL, go to picol.cahnrs.wsu.edu. The website includes a help section and frequently asked questions. To share feedback with staff, send an email to PICOL.info@wsu.edu.