Topic: Aminopyralid relicensing proposals

[realfood]

I contacted my MP seeking her help in trying to prevent the re-licensing of aminopyralid. She has now forwarded a reply from Dan Norris MP, Rural Affairs and Environmental Minister.

From his reply, I think it is likely that aminopyralid will be relicensed, though with some conditions, which I have summarized.

Proposed restrictions contained in the product stewardship programme.
For livestock that have eaten grass treated with aminopyralid, the manure produced should not leave the farm on which the manure was produced.

A more problematic restriction to enforce, concerns hay or silage made from grass treated with aminopyralid. The Minister states that such hay or silage will not be allowed to be moved from the farm on which it was produced. This means to me that such hay or silage should not be sold-on to stables or other farmers.

I suspect that this condition will be difficult to enforce due to the financial implications for farmers and other vested interests.
This is the route of aminopyralid manure contamination for allotments and gardeners, that was involved in most of the cases reported on gardening forums.

As the Minister's statement above is at variance to the information presently contained on the Dow "manurematters" site, I have asked if the Minister can confirm that my understanding of his proposals, is correct.

There is also a statement that the Chemicals Regulation Directorate has published a leaflet on contaminated manure for garden centres and gardening organisations. Has anyone seen one of these leaflets in garden centres??

[ceres]

Those are 2 of the points from the proposed stewardship arrangements that Dow used to convince the ACP to recommend re-instatement of the approvals (I posted the details here a few weeks back).  Dow are being very coy about the stewardship proposals.  They won't put them in writing publically or discuss them with you unless you agree to meet their representative (who has posted on this forum) IN PERSON.

My opinion, for what it's worth, is that this stinks.  This problem arose in the first place because the people (us, amateur gardeners) who would be affected weren't consulted about the complexity of the manure supply chain.  Well guess what?  They've done it again.

The leaflet is available to print off from the CRD website or you can request paper copies free of charge.  To the best of my knowledge, it's been distributed on a 'pull' rather than a 'push' basis.  I haven't seen it in shops or garden centres.  It should be in Wilko's, B&Q, Homebase etc etc all over the country.

[sunloving]

They also have to remove infected manure if asked.
I think everyone who has a pile should call them.
We asked for this so called simple bioassay kit, they wrote back to say that we obviously had contamination and didnt need one!
So this magic kit that suposedly simply proves contamination is not being issued to people who ask . Instead they just say we dont need them.
If you can write to Dow and ask for both things, removal of toxic manure and a kit.
Lets cost them some money at least it will go some way to addressing the amount of damage and heartache they have put hundreds of gardeners through.
Get writing! and sign the number ten petition if you havent already done so!
SUNLOVING

[Ninnyscrops.]

Would be interesting, in fact very interesting if we were to buy a load of manure and ask the supplier to take out insurance that if our crops fail.........on their heads be it if we make a claim against them.   Or......if we take out insurance on a load bought?

Can hear you all shouting already..........would be down to our crop cultivation!

Be interesting though!

Linda

[realfood]

Dow admit on their site that the proposed testing kit does not prove the presence of aminopyralid contamination where the contamination level is low. I have noted this year that where the contamination level is low, potatoes for example do not show the typical spoon and fern-like leaves, but the yield is 25% to 50% of what would be expected.

[staris]

i've asked dow to test my suspect manure and i've just recieved a mail from them today asking how much i've got and where they can collect it from, so looks like they arn't going to bother with testing it.

[Eristic]

Looks like Dow does not want us to have the ability to test manure.

What are they afraid of?
What are they hiding?
Just how big is the contamination?
What else is contaminated?

[Digeroo]

I got a similar letter from my MP.  I simply wrote back saying that this stewardship campaign is simply not good enough. 

Aminals from contaminated farms will also carry the contamination off site when they go off site.  Basically any farm that uses this product should have to have a huge wall aound the site and large notices all round saying nothing what so ever should leave this site.  No manure, no hay, no silage, no crop, no animal.  I also do not think farmers will realise just how long these restrictions need to last.

What we need is the huge numbers of farmers who grow beans and potatoes on the case.  Suggest we also contact birds eye etc.

I thought the test kits were a pots and a few beans. 

I also think a great number of people have no idea of what is affecting their crops.  I even saw signs of contamination at the show 'allotment' in St James Park.  They had no idea of what it was or where it came from.

[moonbells]

Just popping in to mention this article by Bunny Guinness:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/6105899/Beware-manure-affected-by-herbicide.html

Not news of course to us but nice to see a prominent paper keeping this topic in the public eye.

moonbells