Contaminated Manure

[Johnboy]

Dear Glallotments,
It is such a pity that somebody has beaten you to it because if anybody deserves some recognition for the sterling effort you have put in over the last few weeks it is you!
May I suggest that anybody reading this, who also belongs to another gardening forum, could you please spread the word on the other forum/s and ask people on those forums, in the same position, to please do the same. We should all eventually be singing from the same hymn sheet!
This is the perfect tool to make the government totally aware of what is going on and show how it highlights the failure of the PSD to act as they should have done. I think their actions with regards to the whole subject has been nothing short of disgraceful.
I do not see that Aminopyralid is necessary in British Farming or in any other guise in the UK and feel that it should be withdrawn immediately.
Please remember to vote.
JB.

[Geoff]

Duly signed - anybody know how long it takes to update, I confirmed but my name hasn't appeared.
If Paul Wyman sees this or anybody knows how to contact him, is it possible to change the wording of the petition? I don't think it shouts the concerns loud enough. I think most of us are dismayed that such a persistent chemical could be approved in the first place and that there is a real possibility that it is in the food chain.

PS : I was too impatient, name appeared!

[glallotments]

Sorry I don't know who Paul is. I can't see that you will be able to change wording as people who have already signed would be signing up to something that they hadn't read.
I was working on something like - trying to get the wording right meant that other people got involved and hence the delay.I don't think this would have gone far enough for some people but I didn't want to put some people off signing it by calling for a ban:

Anyway all credit to Paul for putting something up there - well done to him!

"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to tighten up the legislation on, and monitoring of the use of hormonal herbicides to prevent the destruction of vegetable crops and avoid contamination of our food chain".

A further description
"Recently hormonal herbicides have been used in agriculture. Instructions on their use specify that where animals have browsed on land treated using them or where the silage or bedding that is used by animals includes treated materials that any manure must not be made available to the public or used on any horticultural land. This year many gardeners, allotment holders and others have reported incidences of hormonal damage to their plants and crops where the misuse of hormonal herbicide is strongly implicated. Where vegetables are grown on land that has been treated using suspected contaminated manure the official advice is that plants should be dug back into the soil and not eaten. Advice is that there are no reliable tests available to confirm the presence of any hormonal herbicide residue. Furthermore there seems to be no strategy in place for tracking those responsible for misuse in order to prosecute or where appropriate educate them. Also there appears to be no reliable information systems whereby information of the herbicides used is passed down the chain of supply. Stables or farms supplying manure are therefore unaware of the implications regarding the disposal of manure. It also seems to be the case that manure derivatives and compost made from grassland products bought from organic or commercial suppliers could also contain hormonal herbicide residue.

[JK]

Just had an email from Nigel Farage our MEP who was kicking up a real fuss with the PSD

The PSD have announced that Dow have withdrawn it from sale and PSD have suspended its licence:

A snippet of the note from PSD:
"Dow have now indicated that they are withdrawing products which contain
aminopyralid from sale and PSD is formally suspending their
authorisations whilst we investigate the options for preventing a
recurrence of this problem. A key issue in our consideration will be
whether the conditions of use regarding manure are sufficient, or
sufficiently well known."

Sorry to steal glallotments thunder, but very many thanks to her for being the prime mover and keeping this going

PS: We still need to keep our guard up as I think this is just a temp suspension.

[glallotments]

No problem John. I don't care who steals thunder at all - its good news. I think the bombardment from all sort sof people have brought this about.

As you say it is a temporary reprieve. The bit:
"A key issue in our consideration will be whether the conditions of use regarding manure are sufficient, or
sufficiently well known."

Even if this is sufficiently well known it will not prevent some of the occurrences also there must be lots of manure out there that is contaminated just waiting to be passed on to unsuspecting gardeners.

A good result so far though!!!!

[oldherbaceous]

I don't suppose the word compensation will come into fruition at any stage of the game.

[alan refail]

Glallotments

Congratulations on the success of your campaign. You and all the other affected people have achieved something truly remarkable. I would like to think that chemical companies and the PSD might have been urged to think more carefully about the effects of new pesticides. But I am fairly sanguine and suspect there will be other such cases.

As I said in my first post, I only use manure/compost I have produced on my own land, so am never likely to be affected. But I do extend my sympathy to all of you who have lost crops this year and been caused so much worry by irresponsible use of an irresponsibly marketed herbicide.

[Geoff]

Excellent news - as you say must keep up the pressure to make the ban permanent. Hope the RHS can do the decent thing!

[glallotments]

Thanks Geoff - probably my first and last gold award. basically it is down to the internet thought that we as a smallish group of people can take on the biggies!!

What we really need to do now though is make it stick as the suspension is temporary!

[glallotments]

I don't suppose the word compensation will come into fruition at any stage of the game.

Old Herb
The advice is that compensation would need to be sought from your supplier - if necessary through a small claims court. If you are an NSALG member I think they are working on some compensation claims on behalf of members

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Gallotments, i'm glad to say i'm not affected by the manure, but i hope this will be of use to the poor people that are.

[JOHNBISHOP]

Well done to all who have pushed to get this weedkiller banned, hope it is not a ploy to keep all of us quiet!!!

[glallotments]

John B
Actual quote from the Hansard is almost word for word what John's email told him:

The manufacturer has indicated that they are withdrawing products which contain aminopyralid from sale and PSD is formally suspending their authorisations while they investigate the options for preventing a recurrence of this problem. A key issue in their consideration will be whether the conditions of use regarding manure are sufficient, or sufficiently well known.

So it would seem that this isn't the end of the story - just a breathing space? Or am I reading this wrongly? It also needs to be appreciated that herbicides that contain aminopyralid will have been used already this year. According to available information the herbicides used this year could be affecting our supply of manure for at least two more years and probably for longer than that depending on how manure is stored prior to distribution. It is therefore, crucial that we only buy manure from trusted sources - that is from sources who know exactly what has been used on the product from the very beginning of the chain of supply. Not an eay task!

Paul's petition is doing really well so it's worth still signing up. I think this has been a really great team effort - I have also sort of met some great people through forums such as this and emails.

[alan refail]

glallotments wrote:

"It also needs to be appreciated that herbicides that contain aminopyralid will have been used already this year. According to available information the herbicides used this year could be affecting our supply of manure for at least two more years and probably for longer than that depending on how manure is stored prior to distribution. It is therefore, crucial that we only buy manure from trusted sources - that is from sources who know exactly what has been used on the product from the very beginning of the chain of supply."

I think it needs to be remembered also that farmers who have stocks of aminopyralid-based products may well continue to use them. So maybe extra caution needs to be exercised for a few years to come.

If you doubt that farmers could be so irresponsible (AS IF!), think how many home gardeners are still using stockpiles of now banned products ranging from creosote to ... a few here.

[Colin Miles]

May I suggest that we try to retain a sense of perspective on this. As the latest KG mag says - page 34 - 'The Pesticide Safety Directorate have investigated the risk to human helath and concluded that produce from affected land is safe to eat.'

The list that Alan refers to covers many of the products used during the last 50 years both commercially and in gardens and allotments. Obviously, it would have been better if these products hadn't been used, but they have and we are still here and life expectancy is still increasing. There are no medicines, drugs or foods, natural or unnatural, which are 100% safe - think of peanuts and fish allergies, both of which can be fatal.

Then again, think of the 'Toxic Tomatoes' thread. How many other allotments or gardens might be 'contaminated'? When houses are built, the leftovers from builders rubble aren't always completely 'friendly'.

Vigilance is the key to events like this. They should be brought to light and investigated, and the people who have done this are to be congratulated. But remember, Life just isn't risk-free and we will never be able to make it so.