Organic Agriculture and Pesticide Drift

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Organic Agriculture and Pesticide Drift

• Michael L. White and
• Kathleen Delate

Modified by Georgia Agriculture Education
Curriculum Office June 2002
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What is organic agriculture?

• Organic agriculture uses naturally occurring
  amendments for fertilization and pest control.
  Fields must be free from synthetic fertilizers
  and pesticides for a minimum of 3 years.
  Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are not
  allowed. Animals grown organically feed on
  organic grains and pasture. Synthetic hormones
  or antibiotics are restricted. The foods are
  processed, packaged and distributed without the
  use of synthetic pesticides, artificial
  preservatives or irradiation.

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Organic history

• Most food and fiber prior to 1940 was organic
• Organic crop production is now a 4.2 billion
  industry in the U.S.

• 1989-1996 saw a 20 annual growth rate in the
  U.S.
• Certified organic acres in Iowa
• 1996 - 21,733
• 1997 - 62,000
• 1998 - 100,000

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Organic agriculture laws

• U.S. Organic Food Production Act of 1990
• Rules out by 2000?
• Iowa Food Production Act of 1988 - Code of Iowa
  Chapter 190C
• Law rewritten in 1998 to establish state
  certification requirements

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Certification

• Crops must be certified organic by 1 of 6 organic
  agencies in Iowa
• Cropping records for a minimum of 3 yrs,
  preferably 5 yrs.

• Field or farm organic for past 3 years
• Organic farm plan
• Use a crop rotation 3 out of 4 years
• Audit trail of production, input, harvest,
  storage, sales and transportation

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Pesticide drift

• Against the law
• Accidental pesticide drift can result in loss of
  a high value crop for 3 years
• Pesticide residue analysis is expensive

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Droplet size vs. drift distance
Dv0.5, ?m Source Herbicide Spray Drift, NDSU
Extension
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IDALS drift case examples

• Command drift on organic garden in 1997 resulted
  in 755 civil penalty and unknown damage claim to
  organic producer.
• Custom applicator accidentally sprayed outside 2
  rounds of a 49 acre organic oats field in spring
  of 1998. Case has not been resolved.

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Drift precautions

• 25 to 30 foot buffer strip required but wider is
  recommended
• Post CERTIFIED ORGANIC signs
• Know your neighbors
• Read the label

• Know wind direction and speed
• Use nozzles producing larger droplets
• Avoid volatile herbicides
• 2,4-D
• clopyralid (Stinger)
• dicamba (Banvel, Clarity)

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Other options

• Drift retardants
• Cultivation instead of postemerge spraying
• Pesticide-free crop rows adjacent to organic
  buffer areas

• Pesticide-free forage crops next to organic crops
• Enroll buffer areas into CRP, wetland reserve or
  forestry reserve
• Other ideas?

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Report drift complaints to

• Chuck Eckermann
• Chief, Pesticide Bureau
• Iowa Dept. of Ag Land Stewardship
• Henry A. Wallace Building
• Des Moines, IA 50319
• [phone]

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Organic information

• Maury C. Wills
• IDALS - Organic Food Production and Certification
• [phone]
• maury.wills_at_
• idals.state.ia.us

• Kathleen Delate
• Iowa State University
• Organic Crops Specialist
• [phone]
• x1delate_at_
• exnet.iastate.edu