Sunday, September 6

Questions re: Manure Matters website

After reading the section for manure suppliers on the ManureMatters website a couple of statements made me wonder so I put a couple of questions to DOW.

Firstly the response to the question; Can we accept manure from treated paddocks? was:
Twelve months after treatment, manure generated from animals grazing fields or eating forage that has been cut from them, is considered aminopyralid-free. Manure with suspected aminopyralid residue can still be used to fertilise grassland and fields used to grow cereals and maize. However, it should not, under any circumstance, be supplied to farmers growing sensitive crops such as potatoes or sugar beet nor to gardeners and allotment holders

My query to DOW was:
There was only mention of animals grazing and not that aminopyralid could have been used on bedding material.

DOWs response was;
The most commonly used bedding material for UK livestock is straw derived from cereal crops such as barley or wheat. No products containing aminopyralid have been developed for use on cereal crops grown in the UK. No products containing aminopyralid have ever been approved for use on cereal crops grown in the UK. Therefore, no cereal crops grown in the UK should have residues of aminopyralid derived from direct application to those crops.

If manure generated by livestock fed on forage from pasture treated with aminopyralid is applied to land prior to establishing a cereal crop, the straw from that cereal crop will not contain residues of aminopyralid in sufficient quantities to cause problems to sensitive crops. If the suspension of the approval of products containing aminopyralid is lifted, the new product label will not allow application of manure that may contain residues of aminopyralid to crops other than grassland, thereby removing this concern.

Secondly the response to the question; How can we tell if there is any aminopyralid in the manure? was
Dow AgroSciences has developed a test to check whether manure or compost contains residues of aminopyralid. (See "What can I do" in the panel on the right).

(The test in the panel is the now well known broad bean test).


My query to DOW was:
Isn't it a bit dodgy advising manure suppliers that if they run the test DOW recommend then the manure is safe?

DOWs response was:

This manure test has been put in place as a simple procedure for manure suppliers to check whether residues of aminopyralid might be present in their stocks of manure. A positive result would obviously indicate that the manure should not, under any circumstances, be supplied to gardeners or allotment-holders. A negative result does not guarantee the suitability of the tested batch of manure for use in gardens or allotments, but could be used as additional information when trying to establish the provenance of that manure.

Questions about the source of the manure, and forage within the manure, should always be asked in conjunction with carrying out the test. The test alone should not be relied upon to guarantee the provenance of manure supplies. Gardeners and allotment-holders must always satisfy themselves, as much as possible, as to the suitability of the manure they are planning to use.

1 comment:

  1. Your blog is interesting. It was nice going through your website. Keep it up the good work. Cheers :)

    ReplyDelete

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