The Animal and Plant Health Association (APHA) has warned that farmers risk losing essential pesticides such as the rush spray MCPA, as well as 2,4-D and glyphosate unless they take more care when using them. APHA echoed the EPA’s warning to farmers to use all plant protection products carefully to avoid any potential contamination of waterways
The Animal and Plant Health Association (APHA) has warned that farmers risk losing essential pesticides such as the rush spray MCPA, as well as 2,4-D and glyphosate unless they take more care when using them.
APHA echoed the EPA’s warning to farmers to use all plant protection products carefully to avoid any potential contamination of waterways
APHA chief executive John Keogh told the Irish Farmers Journal that farmers should be especially cautious when using herbicides such as MCPA on wet land for rushes.
“If we are to preserve the availability of such products for farmers in future, we all have a responsibility to use them wisely today,” said Keogh.
“The vast majority of farmers are behaving responsibly and using the product as they should. However, there is a minority, whether it is through expediency, a genuine lack of awareness or other reason, who are not following the guidelines,” he added. “They are putting these pesticides in jeopardy for everyone.”
The legal limit for pesticides in drinking water across Europe is 0.1µg/l (microgram per litre).
“On a farm, that means that in a stream 1m wide and 0.3m deep, a single drop of MCPA is enough to exceed the legal limit for a distance of 30km,” Keogh explained. “That is a very, very, low tolerance level.
“A ban on MCPA is a possibility. This is a challenge for every farmer in the country.”
On MCPA, he advised farmers to:
Adhere to label recommendations on mixing, application and rate of use.Only spray when dry weather is forecast for the following 48 hours.Triple-rinse containers carefully, and recycle used containers through an approved collection scheme. Read more
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