Topic: Hormone Weedkiller in Manure

[amphibian]

This is awful. I'm sticking to homemade compost from now on.

[ceres]

Hi GL, good to see you over here.  Read your site's blog and comments on the Observer blog.  A4A members here have been ferreting and lobbying away too - you're right, we need everyone shouting very loud to get this stopped.  There is another thread here on the same subject you may want to read:

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=42629

[glallotments]

Hi Ceres,
Visited it thanks - interesting isn't it that we all seem to have been given the same run around.
Can't remember whether you mentioned in your forum writing to MEPs and as much of the media as possible.

I have but so far not much of a response maybe things will liven up now and we can get some action.

[ceres]

I've got a growing list of people/organisations I'm writing to.  I'll be posting updates here assuming we get any of course.  I'll keep an eye on your website and let me know if there is anything you think any of us can contribute to.

[glallotments]

I've popped links to all the forums that have useful threads about this subject on the web page so we can know what is going on elsewhere.
Mainly forums that are trying to be objective and not sensational.
I have emailed the Pesticide Awareness Network and they have responded to say they are looking in to the problem.

[slugcatcher]

I am an allotment holder at the Serpentine 2 allotments Blackpool Road Preston.
Myself and several others have been affected with the fern like growth on potato's, tomato's, runner and broad beans .
Strangely though it hasn't affected every plant, potato's especially the odd plant looks healthy while others around them are curled up, second earlies have all gone and the main crop is hit and miss.
We have been talking about this for a few weeks now and was wondering if it was the manure or the recent increase in the flights from Blackpool airport as the take off flight path is over the allotments.
As others all over the country have had plants affected in this way I feel that we have been sold dodgy manure.
I used manure delivered last year and it looked well rotted.
I will be asking some questions and adding my name to the various authorities.
Ron

[ceres]

Hi Ron and welcome.  Sorry to hear of your problem.  We looked hard at other possibilities too but the common factor was all affected plots used manure from the same source.  We had confirmation that hormone weedkiller is the cause based on our photographs by the RHS at Wisley and by the Pesticides Safety Directorate and we took plants to Wisley.  Trevor_D here had a visit from DEFRA last year which also confirmed hormone wedkiller as the culprit.  So there is no doubt in my mind as to the cause.  Because the herbicide is so persistent, even well-rotted manure may still be contaminated.  The weedkiller apparently binds to the lignin in the straw and is not fully broken down by soil organisms until the straw has completely broken down.

It would be helpful to the cause if you and your fellow plotholders can all make your problem known to all the relevant organisations and maybe we can stop this happening.

[slugcatcher]

Thanks Ceres I will be contacting all those affected by this and probably getting a name list and send notification to all who need to know.
Thanks
Ron

[Trevor_D]

It certainly is persistent!

We have a stables on-site, so all of the manure we use comes from their heap. They rent several nearby fields for grazing. They spray annually and then harvest the grass to keep the horses fed during the winter. (They are just finishing off now.) We had a long discussion with them yesterday and they confirmed that the spray they use is not Forefront or Milestone, the suspect ones containing aminopyralid. They also buy in feed, and they have been assured by their supplier that they don't use these sprays either.

But the stuff's getting in there somewhere! How far back in the chain do we have to go? It's virtually impossible to find out.

This year's outbreak has been quite mild and very sporadic. But last year's was widespread and - to some plot-holders, at least - devastating.

[glallotments]

Ron,
On our plot we have potatoes right next to one another where some show signs and others don't - this isn't unusual.


[/quote]

[glallotments]

Trevor,
What about the bedding used for horses as that can be a source too? We were told that our manure could have been used in 2006. When stored in a heap it can take several years for the herbicide to break down. Manure at the bottom of a heap can also have more concntration of residue.

A disturbing feature in emails that I have recieved today is the suspicion that bagged products are causing the same symptoms. see http://www.glallotments.btik.com/p_Victims_of_Contaminated_Manure.ikml

[Eristic]

Sorry to be a latecomer to the party but I have been following these topics with great interest. As one of the heaviest users of horse manure here it concerns me a great deal and my tomatoes under cover are badly effected.

The contamination appears sporadic but I have come to the conclusion that it is widespread not only in this country but worldwide. Everyone connected with the chemicals production, sale or use are lieing through their teeth and I think we have to start with boycotting our suppliers of manure as well as naming and shaming them.

The stables may be ignorant of the contamination but ignorance is no defence and only by naming and shaming them and attempting to force them to dispose of their toxic waste legally at their expense can we force the problem up the chain.

Without access to laboratory testing facilities it is not possible to field test each delivery but anyone here with any political clout ought to press for the immediate setup of a testing facility funded by defra that we can send samples to for rapid analysis. They would then have no excuse not to deal with any contamination at source.

I will be setting up a page on my website as soon as time permits, outlining my theories and will be listing any known supplier of contaminated manure. If anyone wants their stables listed pm me with the stables name and address.

[glallotments]

I've just rung our local trading standards who were unaware that we had this national problem so maybe others need to do the same.

[glallotments]

Eristic, Trevor, Ron
May I add you to my list of victims. here http://www.glallotments.btik.com/p_Victims_of_Contaminated_Manure.ikml

If anyone else posting here will also give permission it will a show how widespread the problem is and b show the effect it is having and  c maybe show suspected routes of contamination.

I have had one message from the US saying the problem is affecting them as well.

[redimp]

My Maris Peer have been affected but I think my other potatoes have escaped - don't knwo whether the thick layer of grass on top of the manure helped.  Others on our site have been more affected than me though.  My location is Lincoln - my sig and profile are more precise.

[slugcatcher]

Eristic, Trevor, Ron
May I add you to my list of victims. here http://www.glallotments.btik.com/p_Victims_of_Contaminated_Manure.ikml

If anyone else posting here will also give permission it will a show how widespread the problem is and b show the effect it is having and  c maybe show suspected routes of contamination.

I have had one message from the US saying the problem is affecting them as well.

Yes add me
Ron (Preston Lancs)

[slugcatcher]

Just an update
My potato's are looking worse than ever all of the main crop seem to be affected now. Although the second earlies seem to be making a recovery, but are they safe to eat?
I have spoken to someone who asked the supplier of the manure and they were told " its not the manure its how you garden" with comments like that we are not going to get any where.
There are other plotters that are not convinced that it is the manure that's is the cause.
I don't know what to do, should I destroy all my produce that is affected and get rid of the manure, which is going to add more cost and loss.
Nobody seems to take this seriously or as seriously as they should.
I give my mother a lot of the stuff I grow and at the age of 81 I feel she my be more susceptible to any adverse affects to this chemical.
What a mess we are in, we try to grow so we know what we grow is good and free from chemicals and the farmers go behind our backs, is this chemical affecting milk or the meat we consume.

Just another thing we are suffering from on our allotments are thieves, alot of the plotters and myself have had all there blackcurrents, gooseberries and strawberries taken, and NO its not birds, there isn't a one left and none on the ground, the bushes are empty. They have been professionally picked in my opinion, quickly and without damage.

If it wasn't for the social aspect of the allotments I think I would just give it up as a bad job, I feel I just cant win.

Ron

[betula]

Keep your pecker up slugcatcher.Gardening is a constant battle against the elements ,disease and predators,even the Human kind .the worse in my opinion.
Just remember the thrill of your own crops when all goes well. :)

[ceres]

Slugcatcher, I'm so sorry.  I've been through the stage of feeeling hopeless about it too.  Please don't give up.  The good things far outweigh the bad things in the long run.  Help to get the word out about this weedkiller, that way we're getting something positive out of the whole sorry mess.

It seems to me that it takes some time for the damage to show and the longer things have been in the ground, the worse the damage is.  My ultra earlies were very sick, short, stunted and not a single potato.  The first and second earlies were next to show damage and it was pretty bad - not stunted but apart from the bottom rings of leaves, all were curled up and deformed.  They are producing a small quantity of potatoes.  I thought intially that the maincrops were escaping but they are now showing signs of deformed growth, not as bad as the earlies but still there.  However, I've been doing the intensive foliar feeding and blight spraying with them so it may have helped limit the damage.

My broad bean plants are no taller than 6".  My runner beans are at the bottom of the wigwam and the new growth is very badly deformed.  The new growth on the tomatoes is coming through defomed.  Squashes, cucumbers, french beans all look sick.  I can't tell yet if sweet peppers, chillis and aubies are hit.

If your growth looks like the pictures posted here, then it's not how you garden.  If you want to be sure and to shut the sceptics up, take a photo and send it to the RHS at Wisley and to the Pesticides Safety Directorate.  They are the experts and will give you a positive ID.

The tricky question is whether it's safe.  Because of the risk of litigation, no-one will give a positive yes or no answer.  Off the record, the experts are saying that if you get a crop and it looks OK, it's probably OK to eat.  It's quite legal for cattle to graze on sprayed grass 7 days after spraying so it's already likely to be in the food chain.  Whether you eat your stuff has to be a personal decision.  I am.  I don't like it being there and it shouldn't have been allowed to happen but on balance I think it poses a very low risk to human health.  But that's only my opinion.

Sorry you're getting thieving as well.  We've got it too.  Normally our site doesn't really have a theft problem, but at the moment we have a phantom gooseberry thief.  Not the first time either.  They had a go at mine and one other person I've heard of.  There may be more that haven't realised it yet.  Barstewards!

[tonybloke]

re gooseberry theft
a neighbouring plotholder had a gooseberry bush stripped by birds in 20 minutes! He knows this 'cos he only left it uncovered while he went in the shed for a cuppa!!
 thieves will drop or miss a few, birds don't. It's been a dry year, and birds need the liquid, watering points protect your fruit.
rgds, Tony