(Beyond Pesticides, January 30, 2012) The Rodale Institute has published a new technical bulletin containing information and resources to assist farmers in transitioning to diversified organic no-till cropping systems. No-till practices are highly effective for preventing soil erosion and can also decrease labor requirements and fuel use, but they typically depend on heavy pesticide applications to manage weeds in lieu of physical cultivation. This increased dependence on herbicides is unsustainable, contributing to herbicide resistance in certain weeds and increased leaching of pesticides into groundwater due to higher infiltration rates. The technical bulletin outlines the practices that organic farmers can use to capture the benefits of no-till and for conventional farmers to decrease or eliminate the need for herbicides. The technical bulletin contains guidance on using the specialized equipment that enables farmers to move beyond either routine tillage or pesticide applications. The key piece of equipment is a roller-crimper that knocks down the residues from annual crops and crimps them at a standard interval to create a thick vegetative mat into which the next crop is directly planted. The roller-crimper can knock down residues from a cereal crop, such as wheat and oats, or leguminous cover crops including red clover and […]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 24, 2012) Research published this month in the online edition of the Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology finds that the neonicotinoid pesticide imidacloprid contaminates surface waters in agricultural regions. Imidacloprid is a systemic pesticide, meaning it is taken up by a plant’s vascular system and expressed through pollen, nectar, and gutation droplets, and is highly toxic to bees, birds and aquatic organisms. The study, “Detections of the Neonicotinoid Insecticide Imidacloprid in Surface Waters of Three Agricultural Regions of California, USA, 2010—2011,” concludes that imidacloprid commonly moves offsite and contaminates surface waters at concentrations that could harm aquatic organisms following use under irrigated agriculture conditions. Researchers at the California Department of Pesticide Regulation collected 75 surface water samples from three agricultural regions of California and analyzed them for contamination with imidacloprid. Samples were collected during California’s relatively dry-weather irrigation seasons in 2010 and 2011. Imidacloprid was detected in 67 samples (89%); concentrations exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) chronic invertebrate Aquatic Life Benchmark of 1.05 μg/L (micrograms per liter) in 14 samples (19%). Concentrations were also frequently greater than similar toxicity guidelines developed for use in Europe and Canada. A benchmark is a chemical concentration, specific […]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 19, 2012) Although organic farming and land management continue to grow, policies to protect people from pesticides are threatened in the Northeast and around the country. At the same time, cutting-edge science links pesticide exposure to health problems, honey bee colony collapse, and other environmental issues. Join researchers, authors, beekeepers, organic business leaders, elected officials, activists, and others at Beyond Pesticides’ 30th National Pesticide Forum to discuss the latest science, policy solutions, and grassroots action. This national conference, Healthy Communities: Green solutions for safe environments, will be held March 30-31 at Yale University in New Haven, CT. Registration Register online. Fees start at $35 ($15 for students) and include all sessions, conference materials, and organic food and drink. Speakers Confirmed speaker highlights include: Gary Hirshberg is chairman and co-founder of Stonyfield Farm, the world’s leading organic yogurt producer, and the author of Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World. Previously, he directed the Rural Education Center, the small organic farming school from which Stonyfield was spawned. Before that, Gary had served as executive director of The New Alchemy Institute, a research and education center dedicated to organic farming, aquaculture and renewable energy. He […]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 17, 2011) The Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) Board of Directors announced last week that it will invest $50,640 in four new grants to improve the success of organic farmers. The projects include helping organic growers to increase yields while decreasing nitrogen and impacts on surrounding waterways, preventing organic seed-producing crops from being contaminated with genetically modified organisms (GMOs), producing sweeter corn in Oregon, and testing new varieties of broccoli best suited for farmers in North Carolina. “The benefits to OFRF grant awards are far reaching,” states OFRF Board President Deirdre Birmingham. “After more than 20 years and $3 million investment in organic research, we continue to experience sustainability benefits for both organic and non-organic farming.” Organic food sales have grown significantly each year since 1997 as more and more consumers make healthier food choices and turn away from the use of chemicals and synthetic fertilizers. It is the fastest growing sector of U.S. agriculture despite its premium prices. Today OFRF estimates that there are nearly 14,500 certified organic farmers who raise fruits, vegetables, grains and textile crops that improve the soil and the health of consumers and the planet while supplying a $29 billion industry. That’s […]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 11, 2012) On January 10, beekeepers from across the country gathered at a national conference, with environmental organizations at their side, to draw attention to the growing plight facing their industry —the decline of honey bees, a problem that has far reaching implications for the U.S. economy. The disappearance of the bees alerts us to a fundamental and systemic flaw in our approach to the use of toxic chemicals -and highlights the question as to whether our risk assessment approach to regulation will destroy our food system, environment, and economy. “Bees and other pollinators are the underpinnings of a successful agricultural economy,” said Brett Adee, Co-Chair of the National Honey Bee Advisory Board and owner of Adee Honey Farms. “Without healthy, successful pollinators, billions of dollars are at stake.” Many family-owned beekeeping operations are migratory, with beekeepers traveling the country from state-to-state, during different months of the year to provide pollination services and harvest honey and wax. Bees in particular are responsible for pollinating many high-value crops, including pumpkins, cherries, cranberries, almonds, apples, watermelons, and blueberries. So any decline in bee populations, health and productivity can have especially large impacts on the agricultural economy (see factsheet). Honey […]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 10, 2012) A Purdue University study shows that honey bees’ exposure to the highly toxic neonicotinoid pesticide clothianidin, as well as thiamethoxam, is greater than previously thought. Beyond Pesticides, as a part of a coalition of beekeeping and environmental groups, challenged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a December 2010 letter for allowing the continued use of this bee-killing pesticide after EPA admitted in a leaked memo that its field study on bees is inadequate. The study, “Multiple Routes of Pesticide Exposure for Honey Bees Living Near Agricultural Fields,” was published January 3, 2012 in the online edition of PLoS ONE. Like other neonicotinoid pesticides, clothianidin is a systemic pesticide, which is taken up by a plant’s vascular system and expressed through pollen, nectar, and gutation droplets. It is most commonly applied by seed treatment. Most pesticides that are toxic to bees carry a warning that the product cannot be applied while foraging bees are present. As this study shows, systemic pesticides continue to expose and poison bees throughout foraging season. The study authors decided to take a closer look at clothianidin routes of exposure because of its prevalence in honey bee pollen and comb material, combined […]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 9, 2012) The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on December 22, 2011 that it was terminating a rulemaking process begun in 1977 to reduce or potentially eliminate feeding low doses of certain antibiotics to healthy farm animals in conventional livestock operations. FDA had initiated the rulemaking and taken intermediate actions for more than thirty years in response to concerns that feeding livestock sub-therapeutic levels of antibiotics would spawn resistant microorganisms that could subsequently infect people. These concerns have been consistently validated by a substantial body of scientific evidence, including the emergence of bacterial strains resistant to many and sometimes all available antibiotic treatments. In announcing its decision to forgo binding regulatory action, FDA cited the potential for voluntary reforms imposed at the discretion of livestock producers and pharmaceutical makers to achieve an acceptable standard of public health protection. Dating to the 1940s, feeding sub-therapeutic doses of antibiotics such as penicillin and tetracycline to livestock has become so common that it accounts for upwards of 80% of those materials’ annual usage in the United States. The practice is chronic in the industrial-style production systems referred to as confined animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, in which the […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 22, 2011) For the tenth consecutive year, the Northeast Organic Farming Association’s Organic Land Care Program (NOFA OLC) is hosting an accreditation course in organic land care in three different locations around the New England area starting January 9, 2012. Attendees will learn the how to design and maintain ecological landscapes without the use of toxic pesticides. The course is for any land care professional, including school grounds or municipal employees, conservation property managers, master gardeners, entrepreneurs or landscape enthusiast to learn the ecology of residential yards or municipal and school grounds and to learn how to care for these spaces using sustainable and safe products and methods. Over 1,200 students from 22 different states have taken the course, and there are currently about 550 Accredited Organic Land Care Professionals (AOLCPs) bringing this expertise to their jobs as landscapers, groundskeepers, conservationists, planners, garden center employees, and a number of other fields. Students of the accreditation course come away with a practical understanding of landscape ecology and organic methods. Frank Crandall, owner of Frank Crandall Horticultural Solutions in Rhode Island, described the course as “the best educational course I have ever taken . . . I immediately made […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 19, 2011) The National Organic Program (NOP) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has released a comprehensive list of the expiration dates for all materials currently allowed for use in organic production and handling. These materials, which are collectively referred to as the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (National List), must be reviewed by the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) every five years. Since materials have been added to the National List on an irregular schedule, a unique subset of them comes up for reconsideration each year in a process commonly referred to as “sunset review.” The NOSB is then responsible for recommending whether to renew, remove, or restrict the use conditions for each material after which the public is invited to express its opinion through public comment proceedings. The sunset review process is separate from the NOSB’s additional responsibility to review petitions for new materials under consideration for addition to the National List. While the Secretary of Agriculture has final authority for adding materials to the National List, only those materials positively recommended by the NOSB — whether through the sunset process or new petition review – may be added. The National […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 19, 2011) The 30th National Pesticide Forum, Healthy Communities: Green solutions for safe environments, will be held March 30-31, 2012 (Friday evening and all day Saturday) in partnership with Connecticut and New England groups at Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. The conference will focus on organic landcare, urban/ suburban pesticide use, organic food, and protective national, state, and local policies. The conference is convened by Beyond Pesticides, Environment and Human Health, Inc., and the Watershed Partnership, Inc., and co-sponsored by local, state and regional public health and environmental organizations. Contact us if your organization is interested in co-sponsoring this event. Registration fees begin at $25. Online registration coming soon. Sessions will be held in the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies’ Kroon Hall. It is a truly sustainable building: a showcase of the latest developments in green building technology, a healthy and supportive environment for work and study, and a beautiful building that actively connects students, faculty, staff, and visitors with the natural world. Watch videos from the 29th National Pesticide Forum. We would like to thank everyone who was able to be a part of Sustainable Community: Practical solutions for health and […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 13, 2011) Despite opposition from Lake Tahoe water providers and environmental groups, the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board (LRWQCB) voted last week to allow the use of pesticides to control invasive species like Asian clams and the underwater plants Eurasian watermilfoil and curly leaf pondweed. For years, the rules regulating pesticide use in Lake Tahoe limited their use to below detectable levels, creating a “de facto prohibition,” explains Mary Fiore-Wagner, an environmental scientist with the LRWQCB. The decision to allow the use of pesticides in the lake now rests in the hands of California State Water Resources Control Board. Carl Young, interim executive director of the League to Save Lake Tahoe/Keep Tahoe Blue, told the Associated Press that the plan poses a threat to the lake’s water quality and the public’s health, and he’s concerned visitors and residents could be exposed to pesticides through Tahoe’s fish and drinking water. The League is urging regulators to use non-chemical methods, including bottom barriers that involve the use of large mats to starve the species of sunlight and oxygen. The aquatic plants can be managed through mechanical harvesting. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates economic impacts from introductions […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 12, 2011) Continuing a long tradition of public participation in setting organic standards, more than one thousand people submitted comments leading up to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) meeting in Savannah, GA between November 30 and December 1. View webcast of 4-day meeting. The comments were in response to specific agenda items which the NOSB was convening to consider, including many important materials review decisions. At the meeting, NOSB members frequently cited both individual comments and the collective weight of public opinion as decisive factors in determining how they voted. Beyond Pesticides thanks everyone who used our Keeping Organic Strong webpage as a resource for developing their comments and encourages the public to continue making your voice heard in the development of organic standards. The NOSB was established under the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (OFPA) which authorizes the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to operate an organic certification program. Appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture, the 15-member NOSB is responsible for making recommendations on whether a substance should be allowed or prohibited in organic production or handling, assisting in the development of standards for substances used in organic production, and advising the Secretary on […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 8, 2011) We are pleased to announce that Mark Keating, a conservation biologist with over 16 years’ experience in the organic science and policy, most recently as policy expert with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Organic Program, is the latest addition to the Beyond Pesticides staff. Mr. Keating will serve as Beyond Pesticides’ Senior Scientist. Among other things, he will bring his expertise to Beyond Pesticides’ work on organic agriculture, while applying the principles of organics to broader land management and beyond. Since the mid-1990’s, Mr. Keating’s professional experience has been connected to government service and academia. He served as a county cooperative extension agent in northeastern North Carolina before coming to Washington, DC in 1998 to work for the Henry A. Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture. Writing research papers, reports and technical comments to federal agencies for the Wallace Institute, Mark began to develop an expertise in organic production and certification, pesticide regulation, and the federal agricultural research system. Mark joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Organic Program in 1999 as the principal staff person working on organic crop and livestock production standards under the Organic Foods Production Act. He drafted proposed […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 1, 2011) Ongoing research at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Sustainable Agricultural Systems Lab (SASL) finds that organic grain production reduces greenhouse gas emissions relative to chemical-intensive no-till and chisel-plow production systems. In fact, the research concludes that the organic system removes more greenhouse gases from the atmosphere than it contributes, while the other systems result in net increases. The results are based on data from comparable three-year crop rotations maintained for each production system at the Lab’s farm in Beltsville, MD under the direction of Michel Cavigelli, PhD. The rotations mirror typical commercial grain production operations in the mid-Atlantic region that begin with corn followed by a rye grass cover crop, rotate to soybeans and winter wheat in the second year, and conclude with a legume crop. Dr. Cavigelli’s team identified the substantial energy savings achieved in the organic system by using natural fertility sources, especially for nitrogen, as the critical factor in reducing its overall impact on climate change. Previous research shows that carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide are the two most potent greenhouse gases that are produced and released as a consequence of crop production. It is also known that, due to its […]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 21, 2011) Two recent reports from the Organic Center can help consumers identify food choices that will reduce their intake of pesticides while enhancing the overall nutritional content of their diets. The reports, entitled Dietary Risk Index and Transforming Jane Doe’s Diet are based upon state-of-the-art pesticide residue and risk assessment research conducted by USDA and EPA. The reports establish that switching to organically produced and handled foods significantly reduces the amount of pesticides consumers will receive from their diet and that a few simple changes in behavior can drive such exposure to nearly zero. Noting that extensive research has identified fresh fruits and vegetables as by far the greatest source of pesticide exposure and risk in our diets, the Dietary Risk Index (DRI) report focuses on the relative risk of choices within these food groups. The DRI calculates expected risk by weighing the toxicity of a specific pesticide with the amount of the substance to which consumers are likely to be exposed. This estimated risk is then measured against the EPA-established “level of concern”, the exposure level beyond which EPA can no longer assert a “reasonable certainty of no harm.” The DRI calculations for individual pesticides […]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 18, 2011) Organic crop systems can provide similar yields and much higher economic returns than a conventional corn-soybean rotation, according to thirteen years of data from a side-by-side comparison at Iowa State University’s Neely-Kinyon Research and Demonstration Farm. The University’s Long-Term Agroecological Research Experiment (LTAR) began in 1998 with support from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. LTAR is one of the longest running replicated comparisons in the country. Kathleen Delate, PhD., professor in ISU Agronomy and Horticulture, leads the project. “The transitioning years are the hardest years,” Dr. Delate said, explaining that the project was originally designed to help farmers make the shift into an organic system. To sell a product as organic, the crop must be raised for three years prior to harvest in accordance with organic systems plans on land that has not been treated with synthetic fertilizers and has only been exposed to substances placed on the “NationL List, ” which is established by the Organic Foods Production Act. The LTAR experiment shows that organic crops can remain competitive with conventional crops even during the three-year transition. Averaged over 13 years, yields of organic corn, soybean, and oats have been equivalent to or […]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 11, 2011) The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) will meet this month to decide on a range of issues regarding the future of organic food and farming in the U.S. The NOSB will vote to allow or prohibit substances and practices in certified organic food and farming after considering input from the public. Your participation is vital to this process. Public input can be highly influential to the development of organic standards, as farmers and consumers relay their ideas to the board for consideration, but only if you speak up. The public comment period closes after this Sunday, November 13. Take Action. There is a wide range of issues that the board is considering for this meeting including pest control materials, inputs in processed food, internal board procedures, and many others. You can access background on these issues on our Keeping Organic Strong webpage and then send comments into USDA by the end of Sunday, November 13. It’s easy. Submit your comments using this form. This will bring you to a form in which to fill out your personal information and type your comment. When filling out your personal information, you only need to fill in the […]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 10, 2011) Two new studies released last week add further proof that the popularity of organic food is not just an elitist trend. One report by the Organic Trade Association (OTA), The 2011 U.S. Families’ Organic Attitudes and Beliefs Study, finds that 78 percent of U.S. families purchase organic food. Another study by SCALE, Inc. finds that organic food is generally cheaper at farmers markets than at grocery stores in Southeast U.S. OTA partnered with KIWI Magazine, and polled nearly 1,300 U.S. families about their attitudes and behaviors relating to organic food. The total sample reflects the target population of U.S. households with a confidence interval of +/-3% at the 95% confidence level. This is the third year the study has been conducted. According to OTA, it contains in-depth information about organic consumers’ demographics, purchase motivation, understanding of organic, willingness to substitute when organic is not available, and attitudes about genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The other study, Is Local Food Affordable for Ordinary Folks?, compares farmers markets and supermarkets throughout 19 different communities in six Southeast states, including Virginia, Tennessee, West Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina. Though the study focuses on local foods, it did […]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 9, 2011) A 2009 European Union (EU) report on pesticide residues, published yesterday by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), shows food on the European market is still heavily contaminated with cocktails of pesticides. The percentage of EU food in shops and markets with multiple residues remains at a high level of 25.1%, meaning only a slight improvement in the last five years of reporting. The highest reported number of pesticide chemical residues in one food item remains at 26: One sample analyzed had 26 different pesticides! Like the U.S. where consumers are exposed through food and drinking water to a variety of chemical mixtures of pesticide food residues, EU citizens also continue to be exposed to mixtures of pesticides on a daily basis. According to the report , compliance with the legal maximum residue levels (MRLs) for pesticides in food rose to 97.4 percent of the analyzed samples in 2009, up by about one percentage point from 2008, EFSA said. However, like their counterparts in the U.S., the regulatory entities EFSA and European Commission still do not protect people against the effects of mixtures. Health standards for pesticide residues do not take these effects into account. […]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 4, 2011) On Tuesday, November 1, Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Representative Chellie Pingree of Maine along with 35 original co-sponsors, introduced the Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act (LFFJA) — S. 1773 and H.R. 3286 — a comprehensive bill intended for inclusion in the 2012 Farm Bill. The legislation helps farmers and ranchers by addressing production, aggregation, processing, marketing, and distribution needs to access growing local and regional food markets. The bill would provide critical support for a number of programs that benefit organic farmers and the organic industry, as well. It also assists consumers by improving access to healthy food. The measure provides secure farm bill funding for critically important programs that support organic and family farms, expand new farming opportunities, create rural jobs, and invest in the local food and agriculture economy. Take action. Among the provisions of the bill that would benefit organic producers are an increase in funding and payment caps for certification assistance, elimination of surcharges on crop insurance for organic farmers and development of more accurate price estimates, and expansion of specialty crop block grants that often are awarded to organic operations (“specialty crops” being the U.S. Department of […]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 3, 2011) The State of Ohio announced Friday, October 28 it will rescind a regulation that has prohibited organic dairy product labeling from declaring that antibiotics, pesticides or synthetic hormones are not used. In a lawsuit filed by the Organic Trade Association (OTA), the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals found that proposed restrictions violate the First Amendment of the constitution. As a result, Ohio has abandoned the rule, thus allowing labeling to proudly state that organic dairy products are produced in accordance with federal organic standards under the Organic Foods Production Act, and therefore without the use of synthetic growth hormones or antibiotics. “This is significant for all of us who support what the organic foods are about, and for consumers who carefully read food labels to find out what’s in their food and how it’s produced,” said Christine Bushway, Executive Director and CEO for OTA. “The Sixth Circuit opinion made it clear that states cannot unduly restrict organic labels or consumers’ right to know how their food is produced, and the State of Ohio’s actions today make it clear that the fight to keep labels accurate by OTA, its members, farmers, and consumers was worth it.” […]

(Beyond Pesticides, October 28, 2011) St. Louis-based chemical and seed giant Monsanto Co. has purchased a company called Beeologics, which has developed a product intended to counteract viral agents that plague honey bee colonies in an attempt to stem the effects of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). However, advocates wonder whether the antiviral agent will result in any significant decline of CCD when bees around the country and across the world continue to be exposed to highly toxic pesticides that are known to have serious effects on a range of pollinators, including honey bees. Beeologics was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in both Florida and Israel. The company’s antiviral agent, called Remembee, is designed to fight a virus that is commonly thought to be a contributing factor to CCD. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Monsanto spokesperson Kelly Powers said that, “I don’t need to tell you how important bees are to farmers who rely on pollination, and Remembee has great promise, pending approvals.” The product is currently being reviewed for potential commercial sale by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Efforts to counteract CCD are commendable, as a range of factors, including viruses as well as colony invaders such […]

(Beyond Pesticides, October 25, 2011) Farmers in California and other states have begun planting bee-friendly flowers and shrubs to attract bees, whose populations have been severely declining in recent years under a complex set of circumstances. Farmers hope to sustain native bees and strengthen dwindling honey bee populations as well as lower their pollination costs. For many farmers that rely on bees to pollinate their crops, creating safe bee habitat and reducing chemical assaults can help stem the tide of declining pollinator populations. These efforts, organized by the Xerces Society, a Portland, Ore.-based nonprofit group, and other organizations are aimed to educate and help farmers boost dwindling wild pollinator populations needs to pollinate their crops. According to Xerces Society, as part of their pollinator conservation program, farmers and land managers are trained with the latest science-based approaches to reversing the trend of pollinator declines. California farmers are provided seeds for native plants like wild rose, aster, sage, manzanita, and other shrubs and trees to entice bees. New bee habitat can also reduce a farmer’s costs and alleviate the stress on honey bees. “For bees to thrive, they need a diverse diet, so we’re trying to bring more pollen diversity to […]