Kitchen Garden Forum

GL, as I said below my question.

Half-life means the time taken for half the item being measured to decay. So after three years half of what was introduced in manure has gone, six years three.quarters gone, nine years seven eighths and so on.


Usually used in relation to radioactive substances and how long it takes for half of the radiation to 'go'. So of a ton of plutonium, half is no longer emitting radiation. while the other half is still as deadly as at the start.

The molecules of aminopyralid are, I assume, either active or not, so it must relate to the quantity of active aminopyralid left in the environment after three years.

In the bottle it should be stable or they'd have issues.

One email that I have just had from another potential victim thinks that the contamination came via hay bought as bedding for her guinea pig. She added the used hay to her compost heap.

This opens up another route for the contamination - bedding sold for pets! Even avoiding manure if you have a pet be wary about using the bedding material. Straw should be OK but hay is a potential problem.

Hi Sue,
Hay as supplied in supermarkets can be already many years old before it is sold to that person.That route could take a very long time before it is finished and done with.
Why the hell they didn't ban these types of weed killer when they had the opportunity I will never understand!
JB.

Hi folks.

Sorry to appear thick, but I just want to clarify something. I just popped up to my local farmer who has a small dairy herd. I was thinking about taking some manure off his hands. My first question was did he use herbicide on the pasture ground. He said he didn't, but he couldn't vouch for the 'bought in' straw he uses in his shed. I'm guessing that this could be a potential problem?

Cheers...Freddy

freddy wrote:Hi folks.

Sorry to appear thick, but I just want to clarify something. I just popped up to my local farmer who has a small dairy herd. I was thinking about taking some manure off his hands. My first question was did he use herbicide on the pasture ground. He said he didn't, but he couldn't vouch for the 'bought in' straw he uses in his shed. I'm guessing that this could be a potential problem?

Cheers...Freddy

Hi Freddy
Straw shouldn't be contaminated as aminopyralid products aren't licensed for use on cereal crops or any other food crops.

Hay is a problem as the grassland from which the hay has been cropped may have been sprayed.

Of course this assumes that everyone follows procedures.

glallotments wrote:

freddy wrote:Hi folks.

Sorry to appear thick, but I just want to clarify something. I just popped up to my local farmer who has a small dairy herd. I was thinking about taking some manure off his hands. My first question was did he use herbicide on the pasture ground. He said he didn't, but he couldn't vouch for the 'bought in' straw he uses in his shed. I'm guessing that this could be a potential problem?

Cheers...Freddy

Hi Freddy
Straw shouldn't be contaminated as aminopyralid products aren't licensed for use on cereal crops or any other food crops.

Hay is a problem as the grassland from which the hay has been cropped may have been sprayed.

Of course this assumes that everyone follows procedures.

Thank you very much for that

I normally buy composted manure, which goes for around £5 a bag. But, it seems to be more wood than manure these days

Thanks again...

I made some new raised beds in 2009 and bought soil from a recommended local supplier. It was a mixture of fen soil and horse manure, and contained aminopyralid. I've been digging, turning and not using this bed for 5 years, and it's still contaminated. I tried some overwintered broad beans on it last year, and they were very strange. I really despair of ever trusting it fully now.

new cases are still being reported http://ossettweather.com/glallotments.c ... e2014.html