The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today it has granted a Section 3 registration approval for use of sulfoxaflor on cotton and sorghum under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). National Sorghum Producers Chairman Dan Atkisson, a sorghum producer from Stockton, Kansas, released the following statement in response:

“Sulfoxaflor receiving a full registration approval by the EPA is welcomed news by the sorghum industry. We are happy to see this crop protection tool move from an annual Section 18 process to a Section 3 registration, which will provide sorghum farmers certainty year-to-year they will have this vital tool necessary to combat invasive sugarcane aphids and be able to avoid their devastating impacts.

“The EPA has repeatedly said Sulfoxaflor is proven to have minimal impacts on beneficial insects and is a safe option for integrated pest management systems, and EPA’s own assessments published in the agency’s October 2016 response to comments found that, ‘sulfoxaflor clearly is a better compound for non-target organisms than nearly all of its alternatives.’ We thank the EPA for following the science and completing the full registration of Sulfoxaflor, and we look forward to working with the agency as they evaluate future products.”