Local News

Wednesday, November 14, 2007 Farmers and applicators views about pesticide use by Karin L. Nauber A few weeks ago a legislative hearing was held in Wadena. Several state representatives were present and heard testimony from several in the area who reported bodily side effects caused by the spraying of pesticides near their homes. These citizens were asking that they be given the right to know what is in the air, our food and our water. Toward the end of the meeting, a few people who had signed up to give their view on pesticide use were allowed a few minutes to present their views. Roger Dukowitz, a farmer in the Browerville area, said that he was allowed two to three minutes to speak. "What upset me was how this hearing was orchestrated. It was loaded with one side of the issue. I don't want to deny or wish to restrict people's ability to tell their story, but when there is a legislative sub-committee collecting testimony, witnesses from both sides should be allowed to speak instead of just one side," said Dukowitz. Spoken of at the hearing was the bill that has been authored by several state representatives including Ken Tschumper and Mary Ellen Otremba. The document which is called House File No. 2459, calls for more regulation of records kept, expanding access to pesticide application information and amending several Minnesota Statutes. The proposed bill calls for record keeping which must include the following: 1. Date of the pesticide use. 2. Time the pesticide application was completed. 3. Brand name of the pesticide, the United States Environmental Protection Agency registration number and dosage used. 4. Number of units treated. 5. Temperature, wind speed and wind direction. 6. Location of the site where the pesticide was applied. 7. Name and address of the customer, if applicable. 8. Name and signature of the applicator, name of company, if applicable, license number of applicator and the address of the applicator, if applicable. 9. Any other information required by the commissioner of ag. These records must then be kept for five years. Another key point was that the records must be filed with the commissioner on a monthly basis. Records can be filed electronically. Dukowitz said that he didn't disagree that regulation was needed, but that most farmers and applicators are very conscious of what they are doing. "This was a bureaucratic mask to appease a small group of people. It encumbers us involved in ag and it really does nothing for their protection. It does create a need for more paper companies because there will be a lot more paperwork," he said. Dukowitz said that besides one person who spoke at the hearing, none of the people speaking were farmers but most were living in farming areas. He said that if people were violating the law they should be punished. "But don't create another level of bureaucracy that will cost a fortune to administer and a fortune to comply with such a regulation," he said. Steve Leiser from Central Ag Services in Clarissa felt that the article about the hearing "painted a bad picture of agriculture." He said that he respects the community that he works in and that Central Ag puts a lot of effort into spraying according to the label, because the label is the law on pesticide use. "Last year with all the wind, we bought special lights so we could spray at night (when the wind died down). "I want to represent Central Ag, my family and myself as doing this right. We work very hard to do it right," he said. "I have no problem with regulations. They are like having a speed limit, but there are so many things that go out on the ground which are not regulated," he said. Leiser feels that regulation of pesticides should be made fair across the industry. He said that they have made a lot of changes to make the way they spray safer, such as spraying at night, respecting the wind and following the Environmental Protection Agency labels on all chemicals they spray. "We're not perfect, but we follow the law. I do the best I can for Central Ag and for the community," he said. Manager at Central Ag, Clarissa, Larry Dickinson said that they always follow best management practices when spraying. "It's too expensive to just toss it up into the air. My crew does a good job and follows the law. We also have state and federal regulatory agencies we have to comply with," said Dickinson. Local farmers agree Two that were contacted for this article said that they employ Central Ag to do most of their pesticide spraying. Dave Harren of Eagle Bend uses chemicals on his crops and felt that Central Ag did a very good job of applying them and following the label which is the law. Harren already does some level of neighbor notification. "When the bee people are here, we call them to let them know we are spraying. They move their hives because they know we can only spray at certain times," said Harren. Harren said that if the technology afforded through pesticide use was not used he would not have a crop. "How are we going to feed the world?" Harren asked in frustration. "Anytime we use them, everything is kept in records. Anytime I use pesticides I have to record it. Central Ag does a lot of the application. They keep up on the chemical side of it. We can't just do anything we want," he said. Harren said that he felt the Food and Drug Administration would not approve the chemicals if they should not be used. "They do a lot of studies," he said. "If we wouldn't have the chemical use we have today, we wouldn't have the crops we have today. You can't go out and cultivate that many acres," he said. "The population consists of approximately 1.8% farmers. How can we feed everyone in the world? The food won't just be there," he said. Allen Blommel of Clarissa also has much of his crops sprayed by Central Ag. He said that most of the information requested in the proposed bill is already recorded and reported. "I am not necessarily for it being public record. The state already knows what we are doing. We are not doing anything we shouldn't be and that isn't regulated," he said. Blommel said that he doesn't get real involved with the paperwork end of the application. "That is why I pay money to Central Ag so they can do that," he said. Blommel did pose an interesting question in return to the ones I asked him. He asked if there was a way to monitor if Todd County had more illness than other counties that could be traced back to pesticide use and specifically because of tree farming done in the county. An Aerial Perspective Ken Peterson owns Peterson Aerial Spraying out of Staples. Peterson has been doing this sort of work for 30 years. "We are highly regulated and not just by the Federal Aviation Administration," he said. Peterson is already required to keep records on the level that are being requested by the proposed bill and must make them accessible to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture who also licenses him and regulates what he does. There are several other regulatory agencies that he must be licensed through. "Each pesticide I use is regulated by the EPA. They register the products. They have done testing on them. These pesticides must pass stringent guidelines and years and years of testing before any are brought onto the market," he said. "Everything is on the label and the label is the law. These labels tell you everything from which crops they are safe to use on to the legal rates of use. They tell us how to handle them, how to apply them, what clothing to wear. They tell us the environmental and human hazards. They are strict guidelines for use and everything is on there. "It is not like I'm trying to get out of it (regulation). But we are already highly regulated. I'm not just out there doing my own thing," said Peterson. He goes through annual training to keep his licenses. Each year his aircraft is pattern tested which helps to keep the product he sprays on target. He said that many of the places that he gets his licensing through also provide recurrent training programs which helps prevent accidents and drift of the product. "I raise my family in the same environment that I work and spray in. I breathe the same air and drink the same water as everyone else does. I have worked with these chemicals in concentrated forms daily for 30 years and I have never missed a day of work in those 30 years due to illness. You would think I would be affected," he said. When Peterson thinks about spraying and why he does it, this phrase comes to his mind, "Every moment we take a breath, another child starves to death." It is a motto to him because he feels that the best way to have affordable, safe, high quality abundant food for people to eat is through the use of pesticides. Peterson said that through advanced techniques and the use of pesticides they are able to raise two to three times more food on the same acreage as was raised on it 30 years ago. "Part of the reason we have a good lifestyle here (in the United States) is because we have cheap food. Many countries have to spend 60% of their income on food," he said. Peterson also seeds crops, does fertilizing, fights fires, helps with frost control, helps the forestry department with planting and protecting, helps with Department of Natural Resources animal counts, taking photos, mapping, mosquito control and a host of other activities which would be more difficult or impossible to do on the ground. "Most people think we just spray to kill things," he said. "I am very willing to work with people. I will notify them if they want and will tell them what I spray. This bill, however, wants me to notify each landowner at each field I spray. There are many absentee landowners. I feel this bill is trying to ban aerial spraying without calling it a ban," he said. Peterson said he works with several people now who want to be notified when he sprays. "I can easily do that on a case by case basis. On a general basis, it would be next to impossible," he said. Because of the stringent record-keeping already done he said he would be willing to let people know what had been sprayed if they asked. Like many applicators, Peterson looks over the spraying job he is being tasked with beforehand. "If it looks like a situation where I shouldn't spray, I turn it down. I turn down jobs all the time," he said. Peterson is especially concerned with environmentalists and others who make false accusations about his spraying year after year. "One person said that I was over her house dumping loads and loads of spray. I was in the hardware store charging a part at the time. I have the sales slip with the printed date and time that says I was at the store and not in the air," he said. In spite of his ability to prove otherwise, he said that he continues to have false accusations placed upon him. "I was accused of poisoning cows on another occasion. After the MDA investigated, they found it was penicillin that the farmer was giving to the animals himself that was poisoning the cows," he said. Another instance came when he was fertilizing a field on a windy day. "The fertilizer is heavier and falls right to the ground even on a windier day," he said. Peterson said he has had calls from people telling him that the spray he was applying was making them sick when what he was doing was seeding wheat. "The sheriff comes out here several times a year with one complaint or another that has been called in. I have had guys come out here and threaten me with guns. I get hate mail all the time. I put up with false accusations all the time," he said. Despite all of this, Peterson continues his business because he feels it is important and done in a safe manner. "I have had so many false accusations made against me that I have a hard time believing them. You can only 'cry wolf' so many times. I just have a real hard time believing them," he said. "If I did believe it, I would stop doing it. I am not out to attack people. I am just trying to protect my business and my livelihood. If I didn't think it was worth doing, I wouldn't lay my life down on the line every time I go up in the air," he said. The public hearing in Wadena raised a voice about wanting the "right to know" about what was being put into the air, water and ground. As mentioned here, many producers and commercial applicators already keep detailed records on what, how much, when and other conditions related to their spraying activities. This is a huge issue and will not be resolved by a few articles. It does however give you a chance to hear from another side of the issue which, in a democracy, is always important.