Friday 28 January 2011

Has aminopyralid finally gone away?

There were many of us organic growers in UK affected by the aminopyralid herbicide. It affected potatoes particularly badly. Used on grass, which it did not affect, it was supposed to be effective for at least two years. Cows and horses ate the grass and we used the manure on our allotment gardens. The effect of this herbicide on our allotments is only now beginning to wear off. It is worrying to realise that chemicals like this can pass through the food chain with little monitoring from the people that produce the chemicals. We were told by Dow AgroScience that our produce would be edible but we all had to think hard about whether we were going to eat it. 

Aminopyralid herbicide was banned for a while in the UK but now it can be used again. The government has published instructions that say affected manure cannot leave the farm. I am just wondering if it is on bedding straw that is moved to farms and stables . They can sell us their manure but it will still be contaminated. A lot of us are thinking hard about using cow and horse manure now.

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