The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) announced on October 16, 2024, several key outcomes from a workshop held to develop a research roadmap leading to short- and long-term science-based solutions to meet the challenges posed by the discovery of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in agricultural soils and waters. ARS, its Center of Excellence for Environmental Monitoring and Mitigation, and the University of Maine collaborated during the workshop to bring together more than 150 interagency researchers, state partners, university partners, and other subject matter experts. ARS notes that many within the agricultural community face new challenges when PFAS are detected within their farm soil, resulting in “a new challenge to farmers’ continued capacity to sustain healthy soil and water on their farms, as well as continued capacity to provide safe and dependable food and fiber supplies.” ARS states that the suggested long-term roadmap solutions include finding new means of detecting when PFAS contamination is a problem, better understanding how it moves through the agricultural system, and innovating new ways to interrupt that movement or remove the PFAS before they can do harm. Workshop participants also discussed a strategy for data standardization and integration, how to develop scientific solutions to management of municipal biosolids, and ways of effectively removing existing PFAS chemicals from the production environment.

According to ARS, federal and stakeholder workshop attendees “plan to move forward with next steps by crafting documents that will communicate solutions to the ag research community — especially in locations where PFAS has critical impacts on agriculture — and to engage in partnerships to realize those research solutions into impactful tools and practices for producers and the agricultural community.” ARS states that it will continue to expand its PFAS research to address its impact on U.S. agriculture.