Missouri ranks fourth in the nation in rice production, according to the USA Rice Federation. And that production, in the state’s Bootheel region, is threatened this year due to an army of – armyworms.
According to the federation, 187,000 acres of rice were planted on 327 farms in 2019. And the Missouri Rice Council says the total 2022 value of Missouri rice production was $191,678,000.
Thousands of acres of Missouri rice will be impacted by armyworms this fall, believed to be carried in on winds associated with Hurricane Beryl. Because of that, the Missouri Department of Agriculture has declared a crisis exemption, which went into effect on July 18, to allow the use of Intrepid 2F Insecticide to mitigate the effects of the insects. The department hopes to get permission from the Environmental Protection Agency to be able to extend the exemption through September 30.
The crisis exemption comes through Section 18 of the EPA’s Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Actor FIFRA. That’s the federal statute that governs the registration, distribution, sale and use of pesticides in the U.S. Section 18 states the EPA may exempt any federal or state agency from any provision of FIFRA if the EPA administrator determines emergency conditions require such an exemption.
