Until recently, once the EPA issued a registration for various crop protection products, growers and product manufacturers seemed to be on solid ground when they read and followed application rules and regulations published on the official label.
But things appear to be changing. The EPA has developed a new online system called Bulletins Live! Two that determines if additional pesticide use limitations are needed to protect listed endangered species or habitat based on the application site, specific product, and application month.
The changes represent a major shift in how agricultural and non-agricultural pesticide applications meet regulatory compliance across the U.S. for the 2025 growing season and beyond.
Pesticides requiring the use of the Bulletins Live! Two system will so state on the label under “Environmental Hazards” section, according to Michigan State University grower information. If a crop protection product label directs users to Bulletins Live! Two, they are required to follow the pesticide use limitations found on both the label and the bulletin generated by Bulletins Live! Two.
Published reports use BASF’s Liberty ULTRA label for 2025 as one of the first examples growers might encounter under the new system.
The active ingredient in the newly-registered herbicide, promoted as being more “herbicidally active” is still glufosinate, but it is a different isomer. Liberty ULTRA contains glufosinate-P-ammonium, also referred to as L-glufosinate ammonium, or flufosinate-P.
EPA’s New Strategy
Bill Johnson, weed control specialist at Purdue University, likens the situation to the difference between metolachlor and S-metalochlor.
“Syngenta replaced metalchlor in Dual Magnum with S-metalochlor, a more active isomer, in 1997,” he explains. “BASF’s change to Liberty ULTRA makes it more concentrated, taking up less storage space.”
Since glufosinate-P is technically different from glufosinate, the EPA required a new registration and label, which it granted Oct. 18, but it didn’t release the label immediately. It was the first herbicide released under the agency’s new Herbicide Strategy, adopted earlier during the summer. The strategy added restrictions and requirements not included in the draft label.
Specifically, the label requires farmers to adhere to runoff points related to the Endangered Species Act and requires a mandatory 10-foot ground spray drift buffer not needed before. The American Soybean Association was one of the groups reacting to the unexpected label shifts, claiming they set a “troubling precedent” for farmers.
Alan Meadows, an ASA director from Tennessee, fears the Herbicide Strategy format could turn into a base layer the EPA may use to add additional restrictions when pressured by environmental groups.
Meanwhile, MSU has developed materials to explain the Bulletins Live! Two program, and to determine what, if any products locally to individual producers may fall under its purview.
