News

Pollution Control Agency withdraws treated seed rule: Minnesota farmers call it a win

Grower groups in Minnesota are applauding a ruling by the Pollution Control Agency to withdraw a rulemaking process for pesticide treated seed disposal.

Minnesota Corn Growers Association senior public policy director Amanda Bilek says the withdrawal is a positive for corn and soybean farmers.

“And our associations had been opposed to this policy proposal since it was first introduced in the legislature about four to six years ago, and then were pretty active during the rulemaking process once it passed in 2023 to raise some of the arguments that are important to our members.”

She tells Brownfield the associations contended that unused and unsold treated seeds do not meet the definition of solid waste, and disposal is not a big enough problem to warrant regulatory action.

“We had just not seen any data or information from the agency that was really trying to categorize what amount of waste treated seed are we trying to figure out how to manage.”

Bilek says they also argued the Minnesota Department of Agriculture would be a more appropriate agency to regulate the disposal of treated seed.

Minnesota Soybean Growers Association president Darin Johnson says they will continue to point out errors and strenuously defend the use of federally approved crop production products.