Apple committee wants to extend AZM deadline

In 2006, EPA decided to phase out the use of azinphos-methyl (AZM), known commercially as Guthion, on apples. The final phase-out date of Sept. 30, 2012, is on the horizon, but the Michigan Apple Committee (MAC), for one, would like to see use of the broad-spectrum insecticide extended.

“Our growers and their scientific advisors continue to see a strong need for AZM beyond” the phase-out date, wrote Denise Donohue, MAC’s executive director. “The product is essential to helping growers address the pest pressures in their orchards.”

Donohue wrote that Feb. 17 in a letter to Richard Keigwin, director of EPA’s special review and re-registration division. Her goal was to schedule a meeting with EPA officials to go over the committee’s concerns, but nothing had been scheduled as of late April.

When it made the decision to phase out AZM in 2006, EPA recognized the impact it would have on the apple industry and scheduled the end date for 2012 to facilitate a transition to safer alternatives. The agency agreed to re-evaluate its decision if, during the phase out, a demonstrated need for AZM remained, Donohue wrote.

According to a survey conducted by MAC and Michigan State University (MSU) in the fall of 2009, the need for AZM in the apple industry remains.

“It is clear that the current reduced use rates are simply causing significant hardship to our growers,” Donohue wrote. “That, coupled with issues associated with alternative products, results in needing the assistance of (EPA) to help address these growers’ hardship.”

According to the survey, from 2004 to 2009 (a period of major reductions in AZM rates), 60 percent of Michigan commercial apple growers saw their pesticide costs go up 50 percent or more. More than half of that subset said their costs went up by 75 percent or more. That is much greater than the 5 percent to 18 percent losses predicted in an EPA analysis, according to Donohue.

Replacement chemicals have a narrower pest spectrum, so more of them are needed. New formulations typically cost more, too. Additional pest scouting has to be paid for, along with more tractor runs. Costs like that can be attributed to the AZM phase out, she said.

Growers still need AZM as an emergency tool. It has qualities no other insecticide in the market has – and it turns out, AZM is one of the most effective insecticides against the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, which was recently confirmed in Michigan, Donohue said.

By Matt Milkovich