NAAA Wisconsin board member Damon Reabe has been appointed to the National Potato Council’s (NPC) Grower Pesticide Advisory Panel. The Grower Pesticide Advisory Panel consists of growers, agronomists and consultants who provide input on the suite of pesticides used in potato production. According to the 2019 NAAA Aerial Application Industry Survey, roots and tubers, which include potatoes, beets, onions and bulbs, are treated by 27% of the U.S. aerial application industry.

As a member of NPC’s Grower Pesticide Advisory Panel Reabe will participate in conference calls or virtual meetings to discuss registered products undergoing some aspect of review with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Pesticide Program (EPA-OPP), provide input on the importance of active ingredients to managing specific pests, and participate in meetings with EPA-OPP arranged by NPC, when possible, among other opportunities.

The Grower Pesticide Advisory Panel is one of four panels NPC created to provide real-world information to the EPA-OPP to ensure potato growers concerns are understood. Information provided by these panels will be used to develop comments on behalf of the industry by NPC, state organizations and growers.

Reabe is the president of Dairyland Aviation in Waupun, Wisconsin, and Reabe Spraying Service in Plainfield and Plover, Wisconsin. He chairs NAAA’s Government Relations Committee and also represents aerial applicators on the EPA’s Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee.

Reabe Spraying Service generates the majority of its revenue spraying potatoes. The Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association (WPVGA), a group with whom Reabe has worked closely since 2009, nominated him for NPC’s Grower Pesticide Advisory Panel. In ’09, Reabe and the WPVGA worked together to develop wind energy siting standards in Wisconsin. Since then they have collaborated on spray drift, pollinator protection and applicator certification and licensing issues.

“I’m glad to be on this panel to aid in their efforts and possibly develop relationships to forward the work of properly accounting for the environmental benefits that result from aerial pesticide applications,” Reabe said.