Bayer Joins Effort to Modernize AGDISP

Earlier this week, NAAA issued a press release to multiple and widely circulated agricultural media sources throughout the U.S., detailing the efforts to modernize the pesticide drift model software AGDISP (Agricultural DISpersion). Bayer Crop Science has joined the effort to modernize AGDISP.  NAAA expressed appreciation to Bayer for supporting the project and hopes additional pesticide industry organizations, grower groups, and stakeholders will join the effort. A modernized AGDISP will help ensure that all pesticide application methods remain viable tools for protecting crops grown in the U.S.

Originally developed by the U.S. Forest Service in the 1980s, AGDISP is used by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and regulators around the world to analyze spray drift conditions and off-site deposition from liquid pesticide applications. The model helps determine application methods and parameters that appear on pesticide labels. The modernization effort is being carried out by the AGDISP Modernization Project (AMP), whose goal is to update and improve AGDISP. 

AMP, established by NAAA two years ago, has committed $600,000 over five years to support the AGDISP modernization project. To date, $520,000 has been raised, including a $50,000 contribution from Bayer Crop Science, $30,000 from the National Corn Growers Association, $35,000 from the Cotton Foundation, a five-year $250,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control through the American Mosquito Control Association, $100,000 from NAAA, and $55,000 from NAAREF.

The modernization effort aims to update AGDISP using current computing technology while incorporating modern environmental stewardship tools and precision agriculture practices into the pesticide regulatory process. An updated model would better account for site- and environment-specific conditions, support drift-reduction techniques, and allow regulators to evaluate more realistic application scenarios. These improvements could lead to more accurate ecological and human health risk assessments while recognizing the drift-reduction benefits of new application technologies and practices used by farmers and applicators.

For more information about the AGDISP Modernization Project or to contribute, visit here.