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Contaminated Farm Manure Destroys Gardeners’ Crops
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Concerns have recently come to light over the use of manure on gardens and allotments, due to contamination of the manure by Aminopyralid – the active ingredient in a grassland herbicide. The chemical, Aminopyralid, has been implicated in damage, distorted growth and reduced harvests of crops and vegetables by inadvertent transmission through farmyard manure spread on the crops.
Launched in 2006, the herbicide was developed and manufactured specifically for the grassland and pasture market by US chemical company Dow Agro Sciences. Sold in the UK under trade names Forefront, Milestone, Banish, Halcyon, Pharaoh, Pro-Banish and Runway, it is widely used by farmers due to its effectiveness on stubborn weeds, without damage to the surrounding grass, and its requirement to spray less often. However, it seems that residue from Aminopyralid left on grass can pass through animals and into their manure, largely intact. If manure containing the still active Aminopyralid is applied to growing produce, it can have devastating affects on harvests.
Transmission of the chemical into the food-chain was first reported in late 2007 when some commercial potato growers noticed damage to their crops. Reports now suggest the problem is significant amongst gardeners nationwide, with the most severe damage occurring in potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, beans and peas. Whilst contamination is disappointing for many gardeners and allotment owners, there could be more serious financial impact on market gardeners and commercial growers should the problem spread.
Aminopyralid is not licensed to be used on food crops and should there be any suspicion that manure or compost may contain the herbicide residue, it should not be spread on ground intended for food produce.
Dow Agro Sciences has delivered publicity campaigns to reiterate to Farmers the appropriate usage of Aminopyralid, and the product is labelled with a warning not to sell manure that may contain residue to gardeners. However, controlling transmission of the chemical is difficult because the supply chain, from the original user of the herbicide to the end user of the manure, can become very complicated.
Farmers and stables selling manure may not use the herbicide themselves, but could have purchased silage, hay or straw from other farmers, that have sprayed the weed-killer, or from Merchants sourcing hay from multiple farms and regions of the country. The problem has even been reported with use of manure from animals fed on silage from grass treated some 12 months previously. It can become very difficult to identify the source.
If your produce has been affected, advice from Dow Agro Sciences is not to consume it. There seems to be no definitive answer at this stage as to the implications on human health – some believe there is a risk to humans of consumption of produce grown where the chemical residue exists, whilst others state the trace levels of Aminopyralid present in such produce are unlikely to cause a problem.
There is no remedy once damage has occurred to crops and it is speculated that soil could remain contaminated for anything between 1 and 3 years. Experts suggest heavy rotavation and digging over of contaminated soil, both now and again in the autumn, to incorporate plant tissue into the soil where it will decompose. The chemicals will eventually be degraded by soil microbes.
Anyone using manure sold off farm should take care and endeavour to check its origin in order to avoid proliferation of the problem.
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