Crop Profiles were initiated by USDA’s Office of Pest Management Policy in May 1998. Each crop profile describes how a commodity is produced, with emphasis on critical pest management needs, including the role of pesticides in integrated pest management (IPM) and resistance management programs. Currently there are over 500 Crop Profiles and several Pest Management Strategic Plans available on the web http://www.pmcenters.org/) providing a wealth of information in one place.

Crop Profiles are a visible, accessible public tool used by the USDA, EPA, CDA, growers, and others. Profiles set up a snapshot of the commodity and help the industry make pest management strategies for current issues and make educated predictions of future pest management needs by providing information about acreage, value, Colorado’s rank in U.S. production for a given crop, common production practices, major pests, and pest management strategies.

Crop Profiles provide information based on specific commodities describing regional or state-specific production systems including crop production methods and pest management strategies. This detailed information about crop production is used by EPA for pesticide decisions. The profiles are used to evaluate and review EPA risk assessments, Reregistration Eligibility Documents (REDs), proposed risk mitigation/management measures, and proposed label modifications (i.e., changes in application rates or pre harvest intervals, crop deletions, buffer zones, reentry intervals, etc.). The Profiles are avenues for stakeholders associated with a specific crop to provide experienced information directly to EPA decision makers. The benefits of each document are numerous.

The Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 instructs USDA and EPA to obtain pesticide use data on major and minor crops. Many currently used pesticides are being reviewed as part of reregistration; these same pesticides are vital to the production of many of our crops. Because some of these uses may be modified or canceled it is important to identify where we stand now, where we need to be in the future, and what research efforts are needed as far as pest management practices are concerned. According to EPA, “the Profiles are used on nearly a daily basis throughout the Office of Pesticide Programs in a myriad of ways.”