Top: One topic discussed at the workshop was how to develop scientific solutions to management of municipal biosolids,  Photo courtesy of King County, WA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) announced several key outcomes from a 3-day workshop to develop a research roadmap that would lead to short and long-term science-based solutions to meet the emerging challenges posed by the discovery of Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in agricultural soils and waters. “PFAS have become increasingly found in the environment, posing significant challenges for producers, and farming communities, highlighting the need for agricultural researchers to develop innovative and practical solutions,” states an ARS press release. “The suggested long-term roadmap solutions for improving these circumstances include finding new means of detecting when PFAS contamination is a problem, better understanding of how it moves through the agricultural system, and innovating new ways to interrupt that movement or remove the chemicals before they can do harm.” Other topics of discussion at the workshop included 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. 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.