Farm Groups Pressure EPA to Clear 80+ Pesticide Applications Stuck in Review

Agricultural industry leaders are escalating pressure on the Environmental Protection Agency to move faster on approving new pesticide products, warning that delays could leave American farmers without critical tools for the 2027 growing season while competitors abroad gain access to advanced pest control technologies.

The concern centers on more than 80 pesticide applications—including new active ingredients and new uses for existing products—that have cleared scientific review but await final EPA approval. According to Alex Dunn, president and CEO of CropLife America, which represents pesticide manufacturers, these applications are "ready, they're done. There's no further work to be done on them, and they are well past their PRIA dates."

The Backlog vs. The Bottleneck

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has repeatedly highlighted progress in reducing the agency's overall pesticide action backlog from roughly 14,500 items to about 8,000. But industry leaders distinguish between routine administrative updates—changing addresses, updating contact points, correcting prior submission errors—and the high-stakes decisions on new pest control tools.

"I absolutely want to give full credit to the EPA Office of Pesticide Programs for bringing down that backlog," Dunn acknowledges. "That is a significant accomplishment." However, he emphasizes that the remaining backlog consists largely of low-priority items, not the time-sensitive applications farmers need.

Six Chemicals in the Spotlight

CropLife America is highlighting six specific products that have already won approval in other countries but remain unavailable to U.S. growers:

• Epyrifenacil — a new herbicide active ingredient
• Trifludimoxazin — a new herbicide active ingredient
• Diflufenican — a new herbicide active ingredient (already approved in the European Union)
• Pyraziflumid — a new fungicide
• Isoxaflutole — new uses for this existing herbicide
• Florpyrauxifenbenzyl — new uses for this existing herbicide

"These are products to fight weeds, pests and disease in a variety of row crops, and also specialty crops like grapes and stone fruit and nuts that our farmers in the U.S. are not getting access to," Dunn explains. The chemicals are already approved in Brazil, Argentina, and—in the case of diflufenican—the EU, which maintains stricter pesticide standards than the United States.

The Growing Season Clock

The timing pressure is real and unforgiving. For products to be available for the 2027 growing season, manufacturers need approvals soon enough to secure state-level clearances and ramp up production capacity.

"Right now, [EPA] career scientists have signed off on more than 80 pesticide actions, including new active ingredients," Dunn notes. "These are ready."

Duane Simpson, president and CEO of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, frames the stakes in practical terms. "Our members are going to be making plans as to what they're going to fill their tanks with and what they're going to fill their warehouses with, and in order to do that, you have to know what's approved and what's not approved."

The consequences of delay extend beyond individual growing seasons. "This isn't something that, if we delay it for two months, it may only be a two-month delay," Simpson warns. "Sometimes a two-month delay ends up being a one-year delay."

The MAHA Factor

The delays come amid heightened scrutiny of pesticide regulation from the "Make America Healthy Again" movement, which has influenced policy discussions at EPA. Administrator Zeldin has met with MAHA activists and pledged to follow "gold standard science" in decision-making.

But Kelly Ryerson, a MAHA activist known as "Glyphosate Girl," says Zeldin has "unfortunately made no commitments regarding pesticides." She notes she has been waiting since January for the promised MAHA agenda report.

Andrew Walmsley of the Council of Producers and Distributors of Agrotechnology acknowledges the political complexity. "We recognize and appreciate the leadership of Administrator Zeldin. He is in a tough spot, but at the end of the day, policy and science should guide any decisions of the agency."

Environmental Pushback

Not all stakeholders agree with industry's urgency. The Center for Food Safety, a frequent EPA litigant, argues that some chemicals shouldn't be approved at all—or only with stronger health and environmental protections than industry prefers.

"We don't agree with industry that every pesticide they develop should be automatically approved, with 'delay' being the only issue," says Bill Freese, the group's science director.

Freese points to specific health concerns with several highlighted chemicals. Epyrifenacil, he notes, "suppresses red blood cell production and causes liver tumors in rodent studies." Trifludimoxazin hasn't been assessed for volatility, he adds, while isoxaflutole is "likely to be carcinogenic to humans" according to EPA's own 2024 cancer assessment.

What Comes Next

For now, the 80-plus applications remain in limbo. Zeldin, appearing on Agri-Pulse Newsmakers last week, emphasized that "we've been pumping through a lot of approvals very actively every single day" while remaining mindful of growing season timelines.

He also touted EPA's recent approval of a new citrus rootstock that helps trees defend against citrus greening—a decision industry groups praised. But for row crop and specialty crop producers facing mounting pest pressures, the waiting continues.

With the 2027 growing season planning cycle approaching, farmers and their representatives warn that further delays won't just mean postponed access to new tools—they'll mean another year of fighting tomorrow's pests with yesterday's technology.