An NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) Earthjustice, is a group currently petitioning the US EPA to revoke all food use tolerances for the organophosphate class of chemistry. For peanuts, this means phorate (Thimet) and acephate (Orthene). If you grow corn, this would be terbufos (Counter). This is not a good situation. By revoking the food use tolerances, the EPA is essentially stopping the use of organophosphates in peanut production as well as other edible crops. The comment period is currently open, and you can visit this EPA site to review other comments and add one of your own at the link below. If you grow peanuts or corn, I highly recommend you submit a comment. Losing Thimet would be a major blow to our efforts to reduce the impact of tomato spotted wilt disease. Regan and I will soon begin collecting TSWV data from several fields across the county. The data we get from this effort is extremely valuable for understanding the impact of the virus on Georgia’s peanut crop and how the Peanut Rx risk index is performing.
If you choose to submit a comment, it does not have to be a dissertation. Key points to include are your name, county/state, peanut acreage, and how important organophosphates are for peanut or corn production. If you need it, I can help type it up.
https://www.regulations.gov/docket/EPA-HQ-OPP-2022-0490/document
Under Notice: Petition to revoke tolerances and cancel registrations for certain organophosphate uses, click the comment button and type away. You can read under browse all comments several of the UGA Specialist letters rejecting this petition. They have already been successful with removing food tolerances for Chlorpyrifos (Lorsban) which renders it useless for edible crops.