Pesticide Immunity Bills Pass in 3 States, Defeated in 12 Others and Blocked from Federal Farm Bill

Pesticide immunity bills became law in Georgia, North Dakota, and Kentucky after industry lobbyists pushed the measures in 15 states over three years. The bills shield companies from failure-to-warn lawsuits if their products carry Environmental Protection Agency labels. 6 million lobbying in Tennessee in 2025 and ranked as the top outside spender in Idaho politics that year.

Over 57,000 pesticide products are registered for use in the United States. Federal lawmakers rejected an effort to add pesticide immunity language to the Farm Bill a few days after the last week of April 2026. Seventy-three Republicans joined Democrats to defeat the provision.

Opening arguments in Monsanto v. Durnell reached the Supreme Court in the last week of April 2026. The case asks whether federal labeling rules override state failure-to-warn claims. California farmer Terri McCall spoke at a Supreme Court rally that week.

Her husband Jack used Roundup for more than three decades on their 20-acre ranch and died of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2016; her dog also died of the disease. In 2012, Iowa organic farmer Rob Faux was sprayed by a crop duster with fungicides and insecticides while working in his poultry yard and was later diagnosed with cancer.

Iowa used 53 million pounds of pesticides in 2025 and has the second-highest cancer rate in the nation.

Bayer has paid over $11 billion in cancer settlements linked to its products. ” Daniel Hinkle, senior counsel for policy and state affairs at the American Association for Justice, said, “The science is pretty clear. ” Max Sano, senior policy and coalitions associate at Beyond Pesticides, said, “It was a pretty astounding defeat.

Beyond Pesticides is monitoring new proposals in 10 states. ” The Rachel Carson Council was founded in 1965.