Enquiry to the CRD

The following information from the CRD has been received by one of our visitors. It contains information that will be of interest to all gardeners. It was in response to the following question:

One point has come up in discussion with affected growers which concerns us as revealing a loophole in Dow's stewardship campaign. We are worried about the not inconsiderable quantities of this product still in the possession of people such as stable owners and others. It is likely that its use will be resumed for spot removal of weeds in paddocks etc with the result that manure supplied to allotments and gardens will continue to suffer contamination. Has consideration been given to these residual stocks and a way of ensuring that they are not used?

The response was:

Thank you for your email.

The only aminopyralid products which may now legally be used are the two products for which approval has recently been granted; these are Forefront with approval number 14701 and Mileway with approval number 14702. Any aminopyralid product with any other approval number may now only be stored for disposal and may not be used; anyone using these 'old' products will be doing so illegally and will be subject to appropriate enforcement should they be discovered to be doing so.

I understand that Dow have taken steps through their distributors to identify and recover unused stock and that they believe that only small amounts of the products now still remain in the hands of users.

It is certainly possible that stocks of manure containing aminopyralid residues from use in 2007 and 2008 might still be available so you will, I'm sure, accept that, even with Dow's stewardship programme, anyone now obtaining manure for their garden or allotment will need to assure themselves that the manure is suitable for their needs, and not only in respect of herbicide residues such as aminopyralid, but also any other 'contaminants' such as veterinary medicine residues that they would not want.

We will, of course, continue to monitor this issue so if you do come across evidence that things are not working as anticipated - whether this is stocks of manure containing aminopyralid reaching allotments and gardens, or the incorrect or illegal use of aminopyralid products - do please let both us and Dow know.

I hope this answers your questions but if you would like clarification or further information on any point, please let us know.

***END ***

Please also let me know too so I can include your information on my website.
Additional information from the poser of the question:
I could also add a warning that straw mixed with manure could also contain residues of disinfectant - apparently I am told that some allotment holders used to get straw-based manure from a slaughterhouse until it started to distort crops. That followed new disinfecting regulations on slaughterhouses following the BSE scare.