Fund the state's work in support of the pesticide data program (PDP)

The Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service awarded a Cooperative Agreement to the Ohio Department of Agriculture on January 1, 2026, obligating $633,380 to support the state's participation in the Pesticide Data Program (CFDA 10.163).

Under this award, Ohio will collect food samples—focusing on those most frequently consumed by infants and children, as specified in the current PDP Project Plan—and ship them to assigned laboratories on an established schedule. The Ohio Department of Agriculture's state laboratory will perform chemical analyses on the samples for pesticide residues, including parent compounds and metabolites. The state's Quality Assurance Officer will review the residue analysis results before they are sent to PDP as an electronic dataset. All work will follow standard operating procedures posted on the PDP website. The deliverables are food samples provided to laboratories and pesticide residue data delivered to PDP.

The program serves the Environmental Protection Agency, which uses the data for dietary risk assessments; the Food and Drug Administration, which uses the monitoring data to inform regulatory enforcement of pesticide residue limits in food; the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, which may use the data in trade negotiations; and American consumers seeking confidence in food safety.

The period of performance runs from January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026, with work performed in Ohio.

The state will collect food samples in their state and ship the samples to the assigned laboratories per the established schedule. The foods, which focus on those most frequently consumed by infants and children, are specified in the current PDP project plan that is posted on the PDP website. The state laboratory will perform chemical analyses on the assigned samples for pesticide residues, including parent compounds and metabolites. The results of the residue analysis will be reviewed by the state quality assurance officer and sent to PDP as an electronic dataset. All work will be conducted according to standard operating procedures that are available on the PDP website. The deliverable of the sampling operation is to provide the requested samples to the laboratories, and the deliverable of the laboratory is to provide the pesticide residue data to PDP. The intended beneficiaries include the environmental protection agency, who uses the data to prepare dietary risk assessments for pesticides; the food and drug administration who uses the routine monitoring data from PDP to inform their regulatory enforcement of established limits of pesticide residues in food; the USDA foreign agricultural service who may use the data in trade negotiations; and american consumers who use the data to help ensure their confidence in the food they purchase for their families.