Whether playing sports, writing, reading, mastering a musical instrument or just about any other endeavor, everyone from the elementary spelling champion to a professional athlete at the pinnacle of his sport understands that “practice makes perfect.”

Well, it seems that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) feels a little out of practice these days based on the recent decision to re-register atrazine again in 2010.

After a 15-year study, the EPA just re-registered atrazine in 2006 based on overwhelming evidence of safety from nearly 6,000 studies -- the most stringent, up-to-date safety requirements in the world. Despite the exhaustive regulatory and scientific review process supporting its use, the agency is looking into atrazine again as part of a Scientific Advisory Panel review this year.

“This product has been registered for over 50 years and has gone through a series of re-reviews that are very thorough. The label is the law that is dictated by a very rigorous scientific process,” said Adam Sharp, Ohio Farm Bureau Federation senior director of legislative policy. “When the EPA looks at risks, they do a very thorough job of testing it.

“They look at drinking water, food, farmer risk, and they look at the ecological risk. Atrazine passed that test in 2006. The science actually just proved itself, and I’m confident that the science will prove itself again.”

The EPA is required to do a re-review every 15 years, but recent media events by activist organizations such as the Natural Resources Defense Council, Land Stewardship Project and Pesticide Action Network North America suggest a coordinated campaign to call atrazine’s safety into question and politicize what should be a scientific process. As a result, more tax dollars will go to re-reviewing the safety of atrazine well ahead of the required schedule.

This process is costly, and it backs up the EPA’s work on other efforts.

“This unnecessary new review appears to be driven largely by a political agenda and not science,” Sharp said. “The EPA has to review hundreds of products each year. By pulling this product back in, it will delay their work on other products. It looks like the EPA will take a good part of this year to review atrazine and the science. I don’t know what the timeline is after that.”

The re-review also leaves farmers again wondering if this valuable tool for weed control, particularly in no-till corn, will continue to be available.

“Atrazine is a tool that allows farmers to adopt no-till. No-till allows them to leave their land better than they got it with fewer emissions and less runoff, and atrazine is a critical piece of no-till corn,” said Dwayne Siekman, executive director of the Ohio Corn Growers Association (OCGA). “We have the utmost confidence in its efficiency and safety, and at $28 per acre in cost savings, its loss would result in a huge hit to farmers and Ohio’s economy.”

According to the OCGA, the latest push to re-review atrazine, again, is a part of a larger agenda. Activists continue to target atrazine because it is one of the most tested and most widely used herbicides. If they can set the precedent of getting atrazine banned, they can get just about anything banned. 

It is unsettling how quickly the EPA sided with the urging of activists and jumped on the opportunity to re-review the corn herbicide. Corn growers, and a long list of agricultural advocates, are asking that the EPA once again use sound science (and not political science) to conduct the review process.

With their push for regulating greenhouse gases, dust, ditches and numerous other aspects of agricultural production, does the EPA really need more practice? It seems that the EPA already has plenty of experience. And, considering over-burdened taxpayers in a struggling economy are funding the effort, it would seem that in this case, a little more practice does not make perfect. 

Matt Reese writes for Ohio’s Country Journal and lives in Baltimore, Ohio. For questions or comments, please contact him at mkcreese@yahoo.com. 

We clean with it, we paint with it, we eat with it, we drive with it, and we even shower with it. Our homes are filled with it and our kids play with it. We love petroleum.
Petroleum is used in the production of plastics, cleaners, soaps, lubricants, paint and countless other things we never think about – things we use every day.
When you stop and consider the source of that petroleum and our unbelievable dependence upon it, it is rather unsettling. Combine this with the potential harshness of all of those synthetically produced chemicals in nearly every corner of our lives and you have plenty of incentive for consumers to start looking for some alternatives.
A recent survey conducted for the Ohio Soybean Council showed that nearly 88 percent of Ohio consumers would purchase a bioproduct as long as it performed as well or better than a standard-equivalent product and 60 percent said they would purchase bio-based products even if they cost up to 10 percent more. Fortunately for these consumers, there are more options than ever before in terms of bioproduct alternatives that are safer to work with, kinder to the environment and produced from readily available biomass such as corn and soybeans. Plus, many soy-based products perform as well or better than their petroleum-based counterparts at a comparable price.
To help consumers find and buy the wide array of bioproducts available, the Ohio Soybean Council (OSC) created a new Web site -- Soyinside.org. This is an easy-to-use, interactive online resource that assists consumers in finding out where to purchase these green products and just about everything they need to know about them, from how they are made to what they contain.
"As more types of bioproducts become available and as consumers continue to make the right choices, bio-based solutions have the potential to replace petroleum-based materials with renewable, environmentally friendly products and resources," said Kirk Merritt, OSC executive director. "Thanks to soyinside.org, consumers now have the information they need to purchase environmentally friendly products."
The site features a picture of a house with handy icons located throughout that describe the bioproducts including: soy foam used in La-Z-Boy recliners and furniture, environmentally friendly and biodegradable disposable paper cups and packaging, soy-based paints and stains from Sherwin-Williams, personal-care items, carpets, cleaners and other industrial products. The site also highlights bioproducts that are produced or offered by Ohio companies and a list of federally recommended bioproducts.
To provide another boost to bioproducts, Governor Ted Strickland recently signed Senate Bill 131 (sponsored by State Senator Karen Gillmor), which will establish a bioproducts preferred purchasing program in Ohio. SB 131 requires state agencies and state-supported colleges and universities to give purchasing preference to bio-based products, particularly those made in Ohio. The bill allows for an exemption if the bio-product is not available within a reasonable period of time, fails to meet performance standards, or is too costly.
The goal of SB 131 is to harness the considerable purchasing power of the state to support the growth of existing bioproducts and expand the market for other innovative products made from Ohio crops, helping to stimulate investment and jobs, enhance research opportunities at Ohio universities and support Ohio farmers. 


“Thanks to recent advances in research and technology, acres of soybeans, corn, and other agriculture resources growing across Ohio have the tremendous potential to transform our state into a center for bioproducts development in this country, breathe much-needed life into our economy, and create a market for good-paying jobs in our local communities,” Gillmor said. “This legislation will help further the development of the bioproducts industry in Ohio by directing money the state is already spending to support companies that are manufacturing bio-based materials in our state and promoting the growth of other bioproducts businesses.”
Both at the state level and in our homes, the use of bioproducts offers an environmentally beneficial and user-friendly alternative. So, in the next few days, take some time to think about what you shower, clean, eat, drive and paint with. Think about what your kids are playing with. Then, maybe you will agree that it’s time to think about bioproducts.
For more information and to find bioproducts that meet your needs, visit www.soyinside.org.

Matt Reese writes for Ohio’s Country Journal and lives in Baltimore, Ohio. For questions or comments, please contact him at mkcreese@yahoo.com. For more columns, visit freshcountryair.blogspot.com. This column was brought to you by Ohio’s agricultural organizations.