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Fastidious will develop in response to deployment of the clear communication about your concerns. Get-

practices are Enlist system, which is designed to be applied ting a written agreement that inputs are raised
without herbicides is an important precaution and
to corn and soybean crops (and soon cotton) ge-
needed to netically modified to resist both herbicides. The alerts your grower to the high level of vigilance
protect food chemical arms race, like any arms race, has no you require.
Understand that destroying a farm's or
plants from soil endpoint other than mutually assured destruction homestead's economic future for many years is
(MAD).
contamination as simple as having “bought hay at auction, fed
by herbicides. PROTECT YOUR POTATOES! it to my horses, and put the manure in my hoop
With aminopyralid in particular, there is houses.” Realize that the people who produce this
no current test to detect its presence in soils. So poison have one thing to say to you when your
for growers, fastidious practices are needed to farm and financial future are destroyed by their
protect food plants. First, any compost should be deeds: “What I was told by Dow is that they are
bio-assayed before purchase (see sidebar below) not legally responsible for it.”
3
until testing for aminopyralid contamination You must be absolutely sure of what you are
becomes affordable and available. Second, for obtaining as a grower of any scale and kind. The
those needing hay, visually inspect the fields chemical companies deny any and all responsi-
before and during harvest. If the field lacks clo- bility for damage caused by contamination from
vers and similar broadleaf plants, there is reason their killer moneymakers. Their bureaucratic
for concern. Milestone is a broad leaf herbicide, buddies and political pals ensure these protec-
so any field that lacks typical broadleaf pasture tions are in place.
plants is a prime suspect for having had it, or a Only you can protect your growing spaces.
similar product applied at some point. Good hay Also, in cases of damage caused by overspray
should contain a perennial polyculture of various and drift, the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense
grasses mixed with other species. Fund may be able to help if you document the
Also, note the risk of fence lines and other incident properly and promptly.
boundary areas. Many farmers won't spray their
main fields, but may use these chemicals for fence REFERENCES
lines, around outbuildings, and other similar 1. http://www.panna.org/blog/long-last-epa-releases-pesticide-
use-statistics
maintenance applications. This means that the 2. http://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/legacy/assets/docu-
hay, straw or animal manures from grazing along 3. ments/food_and_agriculture/rise-of-superweeds.pdf
http://www.biocycle.net/2011/06/16/the-aminopyralid-
these areas may be contaminated. Some bales of challenge-continues/; http://www.biocycle.net/2011/06/16/
hay or straw may thus be clean, while others may dupont-label-says-do-not-compost-grass-clippings/; http://
www.cornucopia.org/2014/03/roundup-weedkiller-found-
be heavily contaminated. 75-air-rain-samples-gov-study-finds; http://healthimpact-
The best defense is a good relationship with news.com/2014/the-microbiota-crisis-how-the-herbicide-
glyphosate-is-killing-microbiomes/; http://www.ncagr.gov/
the people who supply your growing inputs and spcap/pesticides/documents/AminopyralidGardenerRespon-
se29Apr09.pdf

BIO-ASSAY FOR COMPOST SAFETY

Until reliable tests for herbicide contamination are available, growers must rely on less precise methods. Bio-assays
require advance planning, since you will need at least four to six weeks to complete the test, and will want a time cushion
in case something goes wrong with the trial and you must retest. You don't want to be a few weeks out from planting
only to realize that you lack certainty regarding the safety of your soil.
The bio-assay is a typical high school science experiment, involving two sets of plants, one using known clean plant-
ing soil, one using soil containing compost or other inputs that may be herbicide contaminated. A full explanation of this
method, along with helpful pictures, is available for free from Washington State University, puyallup.wsu.edu/soilmgmt/
Pubs/CloBioassay.pdf

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