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Upfront Groundwater good news
While the agriculture industry has worked to reduce herbicide runoff in recent years—especially in watersheds that drain to surface impounded drinking reservoirs—critics of the industry still suggest that corn herbicides could be a problem in groundwater wells. But a recent report from the Missouri DNR shows that groundwater contamination from herbicides designed for corn is virtually nil.
In a 5-year study, from 2002 to 2006, shallow ground water wells were monitored for the presence of alachlor, atrazine, metolachlor and simazine. In the course of the study, 98 percent of the samples showed no detectable concentration of any of the herbicides.
According to the report, “Pesticides were detected in only four of the 190 wells. Metolachlor,
The second most common herbicide used on corn, was the herbicide detected most often. Alachlor was the second most common detected herbicide. Atrazine, the most common herbicide used on corn in Missouri and one of the most frequently detected herbicides in groundwater, was detected in only one sample. Simazine, as well as the four pesticides (cyanazine, metribuzin, propachlor and butachlor) that are not the focus of this project, was not detected in any of the samples. None of the pesticide concentrations exceeds EPA [maximum contaminant levels] or health advisory.”
Moreover, “Three of the four wells in which pesticides were detected are shallow (20 to 28 feet in total depth) and completed in an alluvial aquifer. The fourth well produces water from the Ordovician bedrock aquifer; however, it is relatively shallow for bedrock well. All of the wells are completed in some of the most sensitive aquifer materials in Missouri. All these wells are within one hundred feet of a row-crop field and all are located in counties that have a large amount of land area in row-crop production. In addition, Stoddard, New Madrid, and Pike [where detections occurred] are three of the top corn producing counties.”
Quail day at Bradford
Tim Reinbott, superintendent at MU’s Bradford Research and Extension Center, which is just east of Columbia, Mo., told Today’s Farmer that people interested in boosting quail numbers on their land should plan to visit the Integrating Bobwhite Quail Management with Agriculture field day on Aug. 25. The field day runs from 8 a.m. till noon. Featured stops will include:
• Trailing soybean and native wildflower food plots
• Native shrubs and quail needs
• Annual crop food plots
• Invasive species eradication
• Native grass management options
• Using buffers and edge feathering in agriculture landscapes
• Alternative planting mixes for erosion control
• Next door neighbor’s successful quail management efforts
• Grassland bird and quail habitat needs
The event is free and open to the public and requires no reservations. For more information, contact Tim Reinbott at (573) 884-7945 or Bob Pierce at (573) 882-4337. You can find additional information and driving directions at www.aes.missouri.edu/Bradford.
Website focuses on ag perspectives
PotashCorp hopes to deliver some of the good news from agriculture through its new Web site, called Enriching. The site delivers perspective on worldwide agriculture production and the people who make it possible.
The inaugural Perspectives section includes a piece by Paul Fixen, Director of Research at the International Plant Nutrition Institute. He speaks about his use of an apple to help audiences understand how little land is available worldwide for crop production and the valuable role modern farming methods play in helping feed the planet. Viewers can view his perspective to learn how they might use an apple in the same way to educate people about the global farmland situation.
Visitors to the new section will also learn how ag dealer Brandt Consolidated, Inc. gives back to the community through gifts of knowledge, remembrance, hope, nature, recreation, safety and thanks. President Rick Brandt details each of the ways his company connects with community members in Pleasant Plaines, Illinois.
Hosting a mammoth barbeque each year is just one of the ways the Brandts reach out to their neighbors. The barbeque is so popular with the locals that it has been moved to the county fairgrounds to accommodate everyone.
In the Perspectives section, you can also check out what Chris James has to say about how a little financial help from organizations such as the MFA Foundation goes a long way in helping today’s youth become tomorrow’s leaders. James, a Ph.D., attributes his success today to an MFA scholarship that opened a door to college for him when he was a high school senior in rural Missouri.
PotashCorp is using the site to document the unique ways that people in agriculture improve the communities in which they operate. To tell your sustainability story or to nominate someone else, go to the Nominate link on the Enriching Web site at www.potashcorpenriching.com.
Break a Third World farmer, buy local
A.A. Gill is a restaurant critic for the Times of London as well as travel writer and novelist. His food criticism is worth reading for the acerbic off-topic windup he includes in each column. In his June 10, 2007 review, he took aim at an irony of food politics. It turns out that in the UK, food shipped by air can’t be called organic due to the carbon footprint left in jet vapor across the sky. That’s not a bad thing for domestic organic producers, it increases local demand. But the soul of food politics is divided. What, then, of the other half? What about the Fair Traders and promoters of dismantling agricultural policy to favor farmers in developing countries? Here is Gill’s take:
So soon has it come to this: food that has been airlifted can’t, shan’t, won’t be considered organic. So, if you want a climatically ethical life, don’t nosh anything fresh from abroad.
On the other hand, I expect those of you who want to live proper will also continue to fight ceaselessly for the cancellation of Third World debt and the tearing down of trade barriers that so cruelly penalize African agrarian economies, to allow them to sell their surplus cash crops freely to us. Except, of course, that they’ll have to deliver them by bike.
And that’s just the windup to the windup. You can find the entire review here: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/a_a_gill/
Follow the links to the review for Dim T.
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