By Bob West
California farmers’ reduced use of restricted use pesticides has been a recurring theme through 2021, but the third quarter of 2021 appears to show the first signs of a bottom to this market, according to initial data from Meister Media’s PURE Intel+.
The number of treated acres during July – September 2021 looks to come in slightly greater than 28 million, which still represents a 6% drop from 2020 (see chart), but this is marked improvement from the 20% drop in the first quarter of 2021 and the 12% drop reported in the second quarter.
| Year | Q3 Treated Acres | Change from Previous Year |
| 2017 | 31.7 million | 2% |
| 2018 | 31.5 million | -1% |
| 2019 | 33.0 million | 5% |
| 2020 | 29.7 million | -10% |
| 2021 | 28.1 million* | -6% |
*Estimate based on preliminary October 2021 data
Causes for the year-over-year reduction have been well documented, and this comes on the heels of an even greater decline from 2019 to 2020. Almonds (decrease of 1.3 million treated acres in Q3 2021 vs. Q3 2020), cotton (700,000 treated acres), walnuts (350,000 treated acres), pistachios (200,000 treated acres) and wine grapes (175,000 treated acres) represent for the most significant year-over-year declines in the third quarter from a crop perspective. Meanwhile, treated acreage is up for romaine lettuce, fresh tomatoes, and Brussel sprouts, but those increases are all fairly minimal and don’t come close to offsetting the decreases from the other crops.
Treated acreage dropped for every product type with significant treated acreage for this period, including adjuvants (decrease of 1.2 million treated acres in Q3 2021 vs. Q3 2020), insecticides (1 million treated-acre decrease), herbicides (600,000 treated-acre decrease, and fungicides (500,000 treated-acre decrease).
PURE Intel+ is a comprehensive database of every pesticide application made to all agricultural crops produced throughout California. PURE Intel+ is updated monthly to provide current and actionable market intelligence that will help drive your business forward. For more information about PURE Intel+ or to schedule a demo, contact Meister Media’s Bob West at 440-602-9129 or [email protected].