Contaminated Manure

[Chantal]

Hi all

I've emailed Steve (KG Editor) to ask him to read all this, in case he's missed it.

[KG Steve]

Hi folks
I think I can help with this one. I first heard of the problem at BBC Gardeners World Live the other week from a keen allotment holder and later received a press release from the RHS advice dept who have been getting lots of calls about the topic.
As a result we have a full news item about the contamination in the next KG.
You are correct however, that the contanination appears to be from the hormone weedkiller aminopyralid. The RHS say that this is a relatively safe weedkiler in that livestock are allowed to graze on treated pasture very soon after application, suggesting that it should not be highly toxic, however sensible advice would have to be that any plants or produce from plants showing any symptoms at all are discarded and not eaten. Plants not showing any symptoms are unlikely to have abosorbed a significant dose.
The RHS advice is that the weedkiller is relatively short-lived in the soil and that it should not affect crops sown or planted in 2009.
Any contaminated compost should not of course be used and should instead be returned to the supplier (easier said than done!)
For more info on the weedkiller visit:
www.pesticides.gov.uk and for more on the advice from the RHS: http://www.rhs.org.uk/news/Weedkiller-manure.asp
Hope this helps

[Johnboy]

Hi Gallotments,
I take it that the farmer who supplied the manure is a dairy farmer? Could you please confirm.
When did you take delivery of the manure? Could you please confirm. I ask for confirmation because you can work out approximately how long ago it was that the cattle imbided the hormone herbicide and how old the manure was when you got it. There is normally a surplus of manure after clearing the wintering sheds.
I think that to get the Yorkshire Post on board is wonderful. It is from Provincial News Papers that the Daily Tabloids get a lot of their material.

I beleive that we have somebody who writes for the Telegraph Gardening section on the forum. If that person reads this and would kindly send me a private message I would be more than grateful.
If you(G's) could post the Yorkshire Post website
we can refer people to the damage that you have incurred and the more photographs the merrier.
JB.

[glallotments]

Hello Captain Carrot,
All that you say does equate to the details that we have - our concern now is to get the facts into the public domain.
In fact one of the photos on the RHS website article is one of mine! (Just thought that I'd add that as a bit of light-hearted banter in this sorry tale!

[glallotments]

Johnboy,
Will do - I have read the article - they actually sent it to me for proof reading! They have obviously contacted various people and according to their research the RHS is getting about 20 enquiries a week relating to this problem.

The farmer did tell me that he always allows manure to stand for about three months before passing it on as he felt this ensured that anything in the silage would have been exhausted.
We had our manure delivered in October so I guess that by August we may be out of the woods!! The farmer only has a few cattle and the rest of his livestock are horses apparently. He did say our muck was from his cows though. I will investigate further.

[glallotments]

Johnboy.
The editor of the YP responsible for our article would like some background from a farmer's perspective. Are you up for talking to him? If so will you email him on Chris.Benfield@ypn.co.uk (he has given his permission to post his email address).
Someone from the Midlands has emailed me to say that 20% of his allotments' site is affected. I also emailed the RHS to find out what effect the herbicide has on fruit bushes and perennial plants and had this advice.
"I imagine, as with other types of weedkiller damage, that the more established fruit bushes and trees will survive. Once the contaminated manure is in the soil, the breakdown of aminopyralid is much faster so affected trees and shrubs are likely to show signs of growing out of the problem by the following season. Raspberries do tend to be more sensitive to hormonal weedkillers than other fruit so they may show the worst symptoms. Perennial plants may too look badly hit but I think it is worth leaving them in the ground until the following year to see if they show signs of recovery"
Our local radio may be interested in running something but no more replies as yet.

[glallotments]

Yorkshire Post article http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/Gardeners-warned-over-manure-poison.4209491.jp suggests that the Pesticide Safety Directorate are going to carry our some testing!
Other than KG and our local radio station no-one else has responded to any of my emails yet.

[alan refail]

Congratulations on your success so far.
Unfortunately "reassurances" that there is no danger in "consuming" food rings hollow when there is no crop to consume. I do sympathise with all at Green Lane.
I wish you and others every success with the campaign. It is alarming how hard it is to fight the multinationals, whether chemical companies or other.

[glallotments]

As you say Alan - but we haven't really had firm assurances just opinions. Tests haven't been carried out for this scenario so no guarantees.
The YP article though does say that the PSD are going to test soil - not sure whether that means our soil or not as we haven't heard anything yet.

Sort of smacks of Selwyn Gummer saying he would feed his daughter beef at the time of the BSD outbreak.

[Johnboy]

Hi Gallotments,
I find this extract from the YP article most disquieting:

The pesticides authority was informed, but its advice to gardeners is to make their own inquiries and pass the results to the manufacturers, Dow AgroScience.

The authority says the weedkiller does break down and should not persist in the soil for more than a year. But it can last longer in a compost heap. Confirming its presence is "costly". And "if in doubt, it is probably best not to consume affected crops".

A Dow spokesman said they had to give the same advice but the risk to human health appeared to be negligible.
**************
It appears that Dow do not have the foggiest idea of the performance of their own product. If it is the PSD that the article are quoting who have said that gardeners should pass all findings to Dow is to me downright neglection of their responsibilities.
What the hell are the PSD supposed to be doing in all of this!
This smatters of buck passing and really to my way of thinking is that the buck should stop with the PSD!
JB.

[glallotments]

Johnboy,
Apparently it is a quote from PSD. I did email them along with all the others that I sent out and no reponse.

Quote from their website
"Action to take
Anyone who suspects that this might be the reason for their plants being affected should contact the person who supplied the manure. If possible you should try to confirm whether an aminopyralid product was used on any grass, hay or silage fed to the animals which produced the manure. You may need to trace the original source if the grass, hay or silage was obtained from elsewhere.

Contact details
If you are reasonably certain that aminopyralid or one of the following products - Banish, Forefront, Halcyon, Pharaoh, Pro-Banish, or Runway - was used, then you should contact Dow AgroSciences for further advice at ukhotline@dow.com.

This will help Dow AgroSciences Ltd. and the Pesticides Safety Directorate gather information on this issue".
http://www.pesticides.gov.uk/garden.asp?id=2465

[glallotments]

Local Radio interview tomorrow and the Observer are getting in touch!

Birmingham and Sandwell have banned horse manure on all their allotment sites.

I have updated the blog and website with information - too much to post it all here.

[glallotments]

Someone contacted me to say that lots of plots in his area that had bought manure from the same source - an organic farm - has been told that the symptoms are caused by using fresh manure. He says that the manure didn't look fresh. He also commented that the manure didn't break down in the same way as usual. This rang bells as ours was claggy and in many ways slimy. Where it was spread the soil texture was spoiled. Not sure if this is of any significance. Can any potato growers out there describe the symptoms of using too fresh manure - I thought that one of the main symptoms was scab as the tubers burned. If you can help - can you say if you give permission for the information that you give to go on my website please?

Another person suspects that the compost that he bought in bags was contaminated - he contacted his supplier and found out that the composition did have lots of grass in it. His supplier is putting into place procedures to make sure of his composts history!

By the way PSD tell me that the herbicide that is causing our problems could have been applied in 2006 so tracking a source will be difficult. Also there remit is only in regulating chemicals and not following up cases such as ours.

By the way our local radio interview was at 7:25 this morning so not exactly mega exposure but every little helps.

[WigBag]

How about Garden phone-ins? Most local Radio stations have a weekend slot, and a question on manure could be the vehicle to get the information out in the form of seeking advise on residual herbicides.

[Johnboy]

Hi Glalottments,
There is an article in today's Telegraph highlighting the perils of contaminated manure

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.j ... ure123.xml

The article is in conjunction with the RHS but I feel that it is only through your labours that it has made the Telegraph. But what we need is headlines or at least on the front page.


I am still not satisfied in the PSD's role in this
because they are really allowing Dow Agrisciences to police themselves which in a thousand years is never the correct way for this to be handled.

This matter has been brushed under the carpet, so to speak, and to make the complainant responsible for gathering material evidence makes it an almost impossible task.

I am really unsure of the best course of action to take from now on. I feel that pressure should be applied but on whom should we apply it?

Should we bombard DEFRA with Emails as I feel if we did that to Dow they would simply delete them.

Come on now Forum contributors, from all the people following this thread there must be a concerted effort and we have got to target somebody but who!
Somehow we have to turn this into a think tank!
Come on now!
JB.