Contaminated Manure

[Johnboy]

Hi Glallotments,
Thinking on your comments; if we could campaign chemical suppliers not to stock aminopyralid then that would be one way of getting around the problem. Obviously there would be suppliers who would not play ball but the one thing farmers do not like is having to pay money out on delivery or long distances to collect anything. (time and money)
I shall be petitioning my MP both at the houses of parliament and at his constituency address.
Being that my MP is one who claimed expenses for a non-existing mortgage I do not expect him to be coming up for re-election and maybe we may get a change of MP and if really lucky one of a different persuasion next election.
JB.

[Geoff]

This subject made "You and Yours" today with Bunny Guinness claiming Dow had done everything in their power to reduce the problem. I emailed them during the programme to say how far from the truth this was and that in fact they were trying to renew the approval, it wasn't read out. I emailed them again later at greater length with a link to this discussion and the glallotments website - hopefully they will follow it up.

[davew]

i recived this email today

Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you for your comments about the use of aminopyralid and the resultant use of manure containing residues that has affected allotment and garden crops.

I hope I can provide some reassurance to you with this letter. Firstly, I can confirm that residues of aminopyralid in manure do not pose a risk to human or animal health. The independent Advisory Committee on Pesticides (ACP) has carefully considered a comprehensive data package that includes studies on the residues in plants grown with manure containing traces of aminopyralid. The Committee has concluded that if plants do grow in this manure, they will not contain residues of aminopyralid that will be harmful to health.

As you are aware there can be a risk to certain plants as aminopyralid is a herbicide (weedkiller) that is active at very low doses against a wide variety of plants. The Committee is aware of just how upsetting it can be to lose your crops unexpectedly in this way. They have therefore considered a number of restrictions to be placed on the use of products containing aminopyralid, along with details of a product stewardship programme, designed to ensure that users are aware of the particular requirements for the safe use of such products. These new requirements would have the effect of restricting the use of the products so that any manure, produced by livestock that had eaten grass treated with aminopyralid, would not leave the farms on which it has been produced. Similarly, there will be restrictions to prevent the contamination of hay or silage, and hence there will be no movement of residues of aminopyralid away from the farms where it has been used.

The Committee were satisfied that with these stringent controls in place, there should be no new manure available to buy that might contain these residues. However, in addition to stopping the contamination problem at its source, the Committee have also noted that there might be gardeners and allotment holders who already have manure that might contain residues. The approval holder for products containing aminopyralid, Dow Agrosciences has undertaken to provide a testing kit to allow you to check your manure, and if found to contain these residues they will arrange for it to be removed for you.

Subject to these additional controls designed to prevent any further problems of manure containing residues of aminopyralid, the Committee has advised Ministers that they could consider lifting the current suspension on approval for the use of products, containing aminopyralid, on grassland for grazing, where products offer very useful control for a wide range of weeds.


At the time of writing it is not clear what Ministers will decide in the light of this advice.

With thanks for your email.

i still very much doubt that they can control this from getting into the wrong hands, but i will be happy if they will remove the manure if it's infected.
i've grown more beans to see what happens, the first lot was grown in a 50/50 mix of manure and compost and not a single bean appeared this may be down to the manure being very wet.
the second lot of beans that i've grown i chose manure from the edge of the pile that was dry and the beans have grown and at first looked ok but now they are all twisted.
i wonder how soon they will have the testing kits available.

[Johnboy]

Hi Geoff,
I too Emailed the programme whilst still on air. I was so bloody mad with what was said that I simply exploded with rage.
Bunny Guinness wants to be made known the facts. It was she who thought that Dow Agrosciences were so bloody marvelous by taking their product off the market and is so well informed that she has no idea that it is to be reintroduced soon!
You can log onto BBC Listen Again to hear the programme.
"You and Yours" BBC 4 16-7-09. About half an hour into the programme.
Davew,
It would be great to know who sent you the letter.
JB.

[glallotments]

The minutes of the ACP meeting held on the 30 June have now been published http://www.pesticides.gov.uk/acp.asp?id=2724

3. Agenda Item 3: Matters arising
3.1 (a) Aminopyralid [ACP 12 (338/2009)]
3.1.1 Members considered further information requested following discussions at the 337th Meeting on 12 May 2009.
3.1.2 After consideration of this information, the ACP advised that approvals could be reinstated subject to the rigorous conditions of the stewardship scheme which would stop the supply of manure containing residues and provide testing advice and equipment, as well as a removal service for any remaining manure containing residues on allotments or gardens.
3.1.3 The Committee noted email correspondence from allotment holders received prior to the Meeting, and discussed methods of providing information and reassurance. It was agreed that the ACP would produce a press release in addition to any action by CRD if their advice is accepted by Ministers.

[glallotments]

Main points of the stewardship for aminopyralid proposal

* herbicide will be sold in only large containers to make the product over expensive for casual users. It would be illegal to pass on any of the chemical for use by someone else who isn’t a registered user and has received appropriate training.

*There will be specific compulsory training in supply and use of products containing aminopyralid at supplier and user level. Users/suppliers must sign to say they will distribute/use the product in accordance with the training/instructions

*Names of suppliers/users are to be kept on a database which should mean tracking misuse is easier. This list would be made available to authorities investigating cases of misuse.

*Information on the instruction leaflet to be more rigorous for instance any manure produced must be disposed of on the site and not passed on to anyone else.

*Summary of information in picture format will be attached to the container.

*Contract sprayers will have to sign up to the stewardship as with any supplier, and inform the farmer of the restrictions and ensure the farmer signs the stewardship document.

*Contractors will have to sign up to all the restrictions that a distributor would. They would also need to get the sign-in of the farmer client.

*The product will only be approved for the grazing market. It will be illegal to make hay or silage from the grass. This will be highlighted in the stewardship document that the farmers signs.

[Monika]

Even if these restrictions (that is, not using manure from animals which have grazed aminopyralid-treated pastures) were in place and working, that would surely not solve the problem of the manure which contains straw from grain fields which have been treated with this herbicide?! Or have I got this wrong?
Our local farmer did not use aminopyralid on the pastures but has bought in straw which then turned into our allotment manure - and most of our allotment holders' potatoes have been badly affected this year, also red currants but NOT black currants.

[peter]

Monika you missed this point

*The product will only be approved for the grazing market. It will be illegal to make hay or silage from the grass. This will be highlighted in the stewardship document that the farmers signs.

[glallotments]

Monika,
Is your supplier sure that it was STRAW that was contaminated as bedding is normally straw from barley or wheat? Aminopyralid hasn't been licensed for use on cereal crops in this country and so should not have come into contact with straw. If he used hay for bedding then that is a different matter.

On a separate matter - I am still receiving emails to my website from people who have become victims of the contamination and not known that the problem existed before their plants started having problems so I have created an information sheet warning gardeners to be cautious when obtaining manure and to ask the correct questions before obtaining manure. It also has some questions that animal owners should ask their suppliers before supplying manure to gardeners etc. It's a no blame attached email just trying to prevent at least some people from ending up as victims due to ignorance about the problem.

I have emailed the sheet to everyone who has visited my website to say they have had problems and asked them to email on to as many people as possible - even non- gardening friends will have other friends who are gardeners - I know people can be annoyed by this sort of email but I am always happy to receive ones warning of viruses or scams so I am hoping people will forgive this and pass on the information.

I am going to post this on my website - later today - so if you feel you would like to try and help publicise the problem then feel free to download and email it out.

[glallotments]

Leaflet now posted at http://glallotments.co.uk/Documents/contaminated%20manure%20alert.pdf

[Monika]

I obviously got that wrong then, but that still doesn't explain why our manure was contaminated when the farmer assures us that he did not use the herbicide on his pastures. I think we'll rely on our home-made compost for a few years rather than getting manure.

[realfood]

Monika,
It is quite likely that he fed his cattle on bought-in silage during the Winter, and this seems to be the usual route for the aminopyralid contamination. Silage is basically dried hay that is fed to cattle in the Winter.

[realfood]

Interesting that Blackcurrants(ribes nigrum), were not affected, but that Redcurrants(ribes rubrum) were affected. While they are different species, it is good to know how they each react to aminopyralid. White currants are the same species as Red currants, and are likely to be affected by aminopyralid.

[glallotments]

Interesting that Blackcurrants(ribes nigrum), were not affected, but that Redcurrants(ribes rubrum) were affected. While they are different species, it is good to know how they each react to aminopyralid. White currants are the same species as Red currants, and are likely to be affected by aminopyralid.

The type of crops affected is dose dependent - in other words some plants are affected by lower doses than others. Even crops which are not sensitive can be affected if the contamination is at a high level. Variation occurs for instance where manure is spread more thickly, where a larger proportion of contaminated material is in the manure on a given patch of land.

[glallotments]

New epetition see
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/aminopyralidban/