After years of comments and deliberations, chlorpyrifos will no longer be available for use after 2021. This means that chlorpyrifos will not be allowed on food crops in 2022 and thereafter.

We have known for a long time that chlorpyrifos, the active ingredient in Lorsban and other products, was under scrutiny by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and on August 18, 2021, the EPA announced that it was banning chlorpyrifos use on all food crops. See the Press release here.

Chlorpyrifos has been used by cranberry growers, particularly in early season, for managing several insect pests, including cranberry fruitworm, sparganothis fruitworm, blackheaded fireworm, and spanworms. There are alternative insecticide options available to growers that can be found in the Cranberry Pest Management in WI guide for managing these pests. In addition, growers should consider alternative management strategies, such as a spring flood, for managing these pests prebloom.

Happy harvest!

This article was posted in Insects and tagged Blackheaded Fireworm, Chlorpyrifos, Christelle Guédot, Cranberries, Cranberry Fruitworm, Insecticides, insects, Lorsban, spanworms, Sparganothis Fruitworm.