Regulatory overhaul needed to advance ag technology, lawmakers told
- bryanwitherbee
- Jul 27
- 2 min read
Noah Wicks Published, July 22nd, 2025
Growers and agricultural company executives on Tuesday told lawmakers that updating the nation's regulatory framework for a variety of agricultural tools could allow for new technologies to be developed faster.
In testimony before the House Agriculture Committee, panelists suggested lawmakers should find ways to speed up Environmental Protection Agency approvals of crop protection products amid delays that they say have delayed innovation. Some of these challenges have been caused by staff shortages at the agency, said Don Cameron, vice president and general manager of Terranova Ranch in California's Central Valley.
"EPA staffing issues directly impact the ability to move applications through the registration process in a timely manner," Cameron said. "There simply aren't enough EPA staff to keep up with the workload."
Terry Abbott, chairman of the Council of Producers and Distributors of Agrotechnology, told the committee that over $500 million worth of products developed by members of his organization are stuck in the EPA's regulatory backlog.
He called for full funding of the agency's Office of Pesticide Programs, as well as updates to the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act to "strengthen transparency and predictability in the registration process."
Bryan Witherbee, the current president and CEO of Agragene, said sterile insect techniques deployed by his company don't "fit neatly within categories defined by outdated laws like [the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act] or the Plant Protection Act."
As a result, "innovators face costly delays, inconsistent treatment, and significant barriers to commercialization —even for technologies that outperform conventional methods in every key measure of safety and effectiveness," Witherbee said in written testimony.
Karl Wyant, director of agronomy at Nutrien, said plant biostimulants "face an outdated and inconsistent regulatory framework." He said they currently have no federal definition and are currently regulated individually by states, creating a "patchwork approach" that he said "leads to confusion, inconsistent labeling and barriers to interstate commerce."
Wyant encouraged lawmakers to approve the Biostimulant Act of 2025, which would define biostimulants under FIFRA.
Following the hearing, Cameron told Agri-Pulse that EPA registration "has been slow." In particular, he'd like to see attention focused on products meant to health farmers that grow specialty crops.
"We need to get products labeled for these crops so we're all on the same, level playing field," he said. "We all have issues trying to control pests. I wish we didn't, but God gave us weeds and insects to make our life miserable."
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