How to digitize a pesticide´s application time? (part 1: USA)

In recent years, efforts have been made to digitize pesticide´s labels. In January 2008 the U.S. agency EPA published the Specifications for Text PDF Product Labels whose core rule is «the label must be a text .PDF (not an image .PDF)».

Since then, EPA has been making progress with the project ‘smartlabels’ which later became OPPEL ( Office of Pesticide Program Electronic Label)

Some companies like Bayer, Syngenta or Dow have joined OPPEL project. EPA has created a spreadsheet document that intends to help manufacturers to submit electronic labels. One of the sections is dedicated to the time of application (a.k.a. App. Timing ‘Site Status’)

At the time of publication of this post, EPA has described 58 entries within the App Timing vocabulary section. I just copied that table and pasted here.

Label	Parent	Definition
All crop/site stages possible (e.g., timing determined solely by pest pressure)		No restriction to timing in relation to use site status or crop stage. Must select from Timing of Pest data element. If pest only occurs during certain crop stages, individually select those from above list.
Budwood		Stage when a portion of a stem or branch with a vegetative bud(s) is used in propagation for budding or grafting.
Pre-plant		Before the crop is planted or seeded
Before transplant		Time before crop is transplanted to the field
At plant or seeding		When the crop is planted or seeded
At transplant		Time when crop is transplanted to the field
After transplant		Time after crop is transplanted into the field
Post planting		Any time after planting before harvest
Pre-emergence		Between planting and when the crop emerges
At crop emergence		When crop leaves first emerge from the soil
Post-emergence		When the crop is above the soil anytime between emergence and harvest
Booting	Post-emergence	Wheat (Flag leaf sheath extending to Boot swollen (Feekes Scale 9-10))
Dough Development	Post-emergence	Wheat (Early dough to Hard dough (Feekes Scale 11.2))
Head (Inflorescence) Emergence	Post-emergence	Wheat (First spikelet of head visible to Head completely emerged (Feekes Scale 10.1 – 10.5))
Milk Development	Post-emergence	Wheat (Kernel (caryopsis) watery ripe to Late milk (Feekes Scale 10.54 -11.1))
Pollination (Anthesis)	Post-emergence	Wheat (Beginning of flowering to Flowering completed (Feekes Scale 10.51 – 10.53))
R1	Post-emergence	Corn (Silking)
R2	Post-emergence	Corn (Blister)
R3	Post-emergence	Corn (Milk)
R4	Post-emergence	Corn (Dough)
R5	Post-emergence	Corn (Dent)
R6	Post-emergence	Corn (Physiological Maturity)
Ripening	Post-emergence	Wheat (Kernel hard (hard to split by thumbnail) to Kernel hard (cannot split by thumbnail) (Feekes Scale 11.3 – 11.4))
Seedling Growth	Post-emergence	Wheat (First leaf through coleoptile to 9 or more leaves unfolded (Feekes Scale 1))
Stem Elongation	Post-emergence	Wheat (Pseudostem erection to Flag leaf ligule and collar visible (Feekes Scale 4-9))
Tillering	Post-emergence	Wheat (Main shoot only to Main shoot and 9 tillers (Feekes Scale 2-3))
V1	Post-emergence	Corn (First Leaf / Plant Height (3 in))
V10	Post-emergence	Corn (Plant Height (47 in))
V12	Post-emergence	Corn (Plant Height (53 in))
V14	Post-emergence	Corn (Plant Height (73 in))
V16	Post-emergence	Corn (Plant Height (87 in))
V18	Post-emergence	Corn (Plant Height (100 in))
V2	Post-emergence	Corn (Second Leaf / Plant Height (4 in))
V20	Post-emergence	Corn (Twentieth leaf / Plant Height (105 in))
V3	Post-emergence	Corn (third Leaf / Plant Height (7 in))
V4	Post-emergence	Corn (Fourth Leaf / Plant Height (10 in))
V6	Post-emergence	Corn (Sixth Leaf / Plant Height (19 in))
V8	Post-emergence	Corn (Eighth Leaf/Plant Height (31 in))
VE	Post-emergence	Corn (Emergence)
Vn	Post-emergence	Corn (nth Leaf)
VT	Post-emergence	Corn (Tasseling)
After mowing		After cutting forage or grass crops
Immediately prior to harvest		Applications made just before harvest (including harvest aids)
Post-harvest		Applied after harvest, includes application during storage
Dormant		Season where crop has no growth in the winter or when any fruit/nuts are not produced for food.
Delayed dormant		Begins as buds begin to swell, and continues until the beginning of the green tip bud development stage.
Before bud break		Stage in crop before the opening of a dormant bud, when the shoot begins to grow
Before bloom		Stage from bud break until the crop begins to flower
During bloom		Applied at flowering stage
Post bloom		Applied after flowering and before maturity
Post Petal Fall		When flower petals are mature and fall at fruit set.
Bud break to fruit/nut set		Stage after the opening of a dormant bud, when the shoot begins to grow and continues until the fruit/nut crop sets fruit
Pre flood		Period prior to when crop is flooded.
Post flood		Period after crop is flooded.
Fallow		Applied to land that won’t be planted with a crop intended for harvest or grazing for at least a growing season
During Manufacture		Pesticide treatment of material during its production or manufacture.
Post-construction		Pesticide treatment of the materials used in construction or of the area where construction has occurred.
Pre-construction		Pesticide treatment of the materials used in construction or of the area in which construction will occur

From my point of view EPA´s approach for dealing with time of application is practical and easy to understand. However, for the time being it is focused in two crops: wheat and corn.

For instance, it does not cover yet times of applications important in vineyards like ‘fruit coloring’.

In Europe the situation is different and more complex. Regulators are more specific with the time of application and that´s why BBCH scale is gaining popularity among governments.

In a next post we will be talking about EU´s time of application scope.