Sustainable Podcast: Terry Kippley of CPDA on the Organization’s Sustainability Efforts
27 August 2026 In this Sustainable Podcast episode by AgriBusiness Global, Terry Kippley, President and CEO of the Council of Producers and Distributors of Agrotechnology (CPDA), discusses the organization’s sustainability efforts, CPDA’s ongoing collaboration with the U.S. EPA, how adjuvants can help with biologicals adoption, and more.
*This is an edited and partial transcript.
AgriBusiness Global: Can you tell us a little bit about CPDA and its growth over the last couple of years?
Terry Kippley: The organization started nearly 40 years ago with a number of post-patent manufacturers gathered together to try to get a level playing field, a seat at the table, in Washington.
From there, the organization expanded to the full end-to-end crop protection supply chain. About a third of our members are global inert manufacturers, U.S. adjuvant manufacturers, helping to improve the ability to get those active ingredients out to the grower.
ABG: Historically, it seemed like CPDA was focused solely on adjuvants and inerts for chemical crop protection, but in the last several years, it’s starting to move toward more sustainable initiatives. The first I’d like to talk about is the Biopesticides Working Group. Can you tell me how that got started, and what the goals of that working group will be?
TK: During our board meeting, a number of our board members talked about this emerging need of biologicals, and in particular, biopesticides, and thought that CPDA would be well suited as a place to help biopesticide formulations that are looking to hitch a ride, so to speak, in the spray tank to get out into the field.
With our end-to-end crop protection supply chain members, these inert manufacturers [and] adjuvant manufacturers, are working to help deliver those biopesticide formulations, so it seemed like a natural place for us to create a platform to provide more focus and attention on those challenges.
ABG: The other initiative I wanted to touch on is CPDA’s work with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and using adjuvants as drift control for Endangered Species Act requirements. Can you tell me a little bit about the history of the work on that initiative and where it stands today?
TK: CPDA has adopted a theme that we’re the business council for agrotechnology. We’re all about protecting the acre and growing the opportunity.
This came from our work starting about four years ago. There was no mention of adjuvants, and so we worked on that with our members, and we’re so grateful that the EPA was willing to sit down with us and work together to give growers credit for things that they already are doing, to help create mitigation options, [and] to comply with the ESA. You can [now] use a drift reduction adjuvant in lieu of a no-spray buffer.
Our members came together, came up with the data, and worked with EPA. This is a great example of collaboration with the EPA. It’s going to help the grower, it helps the environment, and it helps the crop protection companies keep their tools on the market.
ABG: Where do you see U.S. agriculture heading, and how will adjuvants and inerts be part of those changes?
TK: As we go forward, there’s going to be continued pressure and an opportunity to improve the accuracy of our spray solutions.
ABG: Does CPDA have any other sustainability initiatives that it’s working toward in the future?
TK: As we work together with biopesticides and educating the grower, you’re going to be hearing more about how we can work together to create a biopesticide certification program so growers know that if [they] see a CPDA seal of approval, there’s been a standard of performance that’s being met. That will give them confidence that this product is going to work the way it’s supposed to and deliver the results that the farmer’s expecting.
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