Pesticide Potpourri

• Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson announced on January 22 that a $5.9 million plant planned in Auburndale, Florida, will produce ethanol from citrus peels with the help of a $500,000 grant as part of the state's “Farm to Fuel” initiative.  In all, $25 million in renewable energy grants were awarded, including the grant to Southeast Biofuels LLC, a subsidiary of Xethanol Corp., a New York-based publicly traded company, for the citrus peel project in Polk County.  U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers in Winter Haven have worked for years on the technology.  Larry Parsons, a professor at the University of Florida/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred, was quoted as saying, “Florida is particularly interested in generating renewable fuels from biomass and cellulose.  Florida has the climate and land to produce a great deal of biomass.”  The ethanol plant, which will lease space from Cutrale Citrus Juices USA Inc. in Polk County, will use a 10,000-gallon fermenter and about 67,000 pounds of citrus peels per batch.  The goal is to have a plant that could make 8 million gallons of ethanol a year using 800,000 tons of citrus waste.  (Orlando Sentinel, 1/24/08). 

•  In North Carolina, a new state task force will study the potential hazards of pesticide exposure to people who work in the farming, fishing and forestry industries.  The Governor’s Task Force on Preventing Agricultural Pesticide Exposure was announced in mid-January to improve standards to protect the health of at-risk workers, according to Gov. Mike Easley’s office.  A spokesperson for the governor was cited as saying in an e-mail that the need for a panel caught Easley’s attention partly because of the AgMart case.  AgMart, a Florida-based company, grows about 1,000 acres of tomatoes in North Carolina.  In 2005, the company was fined $184,500 for exposing North Carolina workers to pesticides.  There were 369 violations brought against AgMart by the state.  The case is still in litigation, and a judge recently recommended lowering the fine to $6,000.   The task force will have its first meeting in February and is expected to make recommendations to Gov. Easley in May.  (The Fayetteville Observer, 1/24/08). 

•  A team of USDA researchers has found that switchgrass-derived ethanol produced 540 percent more energy than was required to manufacture the fuel.  One acre of the grassland could, on average, deliver 320 gallons of bioethanol.  The five-year study, involving 10 farms ranging in size from 6 to 20 acres, was described as the largest study of its kind by co-author Ken Vogel of the Agriculture Research Service based at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.  Previous energy analyses had been based on data from research plots and estimated inputs.  (BBC News, 1/8/08).

•  In California, the 2008-09 Governor's Budget supports new rules by the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) to reduce pesticide air emissions that help meet California clean air goals.  The proposed DPR budget includes about $2.6 million to implement new regulations to reduce pesticide VOC (volatile organic compound) emissions that contribute to smog.  The rules take effect on January 25.

•  Growers in California may have to forgo planting thousands of acres of strawberries and other crops this spring to comply with a state rule on pesticide VOCs.  The new regulation is projected to be the most costly pesticide rule in California history, with state officials estimating that it could cost growers $10 million to $40 million annually.  The biggest burden will fall on Ventura County, where growers will face strict caps on fumigants because their crop acreage and pesticide use has surged over the last two decades.  (Los Angeles Times, 1/25/08). 

•  Attorneys at the Birmingham-based law firm, Hare, Wynn, Newton and Newell are actively pursuing a lawsuit over the August 2006 incident wherein unregistered genetic events were found in the Arkansas rice crop.  In early February, representatives of the firm updated local farmers on the status of the suit at a meeting sponsored by the Arkansas Rice Growers’ Association.  Attorney Jim Thompson was quoted as saying the suit started out “over a year ago, with12 farmers from Lonoke County.  There are now 287 farm entities signed onto the suit.”  The suit names Bayer CropScience and Riceland Foods as defendants.  Thompson said Bayer had the case removed from state court and sent to federal court. “That was a delaying tactic,” Thompson said.  The case is now back in Lonoke County Circuit Court.  Thompson said he expects the case will go to trial this year. “We’re asking for a trial date before the year is out.”  (DeWitt Era-Enterprise, 2/6/08).

•  Canada, the U.S. and Argentina have the right to impose sanctions after the European Union missed a recent deadline imposed by the World Trade Organization to end import restrictions on many GM products.  Michael O'Shaughnessy, a spokesman for Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, was quoted as telling Canwest News Service in an e-mail “Canada believes that constructive progress is being made and has therefore authorized the extension of the reasonable period of time to allow the (EU) additional time to fully comply with the (WTO) panel's recommendations.”  U.S. trade spokeswoman Gretchen Hamel was cited as saying that the EU would be given the chance to show “meaningful progress.”  Michael Hart, a former senior federal trade negotiator who teaches international trade at Ottawa's Carleton University, was cited as saying Europe takes a “precautionary” approach to the regulation of GM foods which requires proof that a product isn't dangerous, while in Canada and the U.S., regulators require proof that it is dangerous, stating, “Logically you cannot prove that something is not dangerous.  The example I use with my students is, when they fly from Ottawa to Toronto, do they ask the ticket agent, ‘can you guarantee that this plane will arrive safely in Toronto?’  ‘Well, no we can’t.’  ‘Can you tell us if it is safe?’  ‘Yes it is safe.  The chances of it not arriving in Toronto are extremely small.’  That's what the so-called precautionary principle is all about.”  (The Vancouver Sun, 1/20/08). 

•  France’s Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo has stated that France will file a request with the European Union to formally ban the commercial use of the only genetically-modified crop grown in the country on February 8.  France issued an internal decree in December to suspend commercial use of MON 810, largely to end the hunger strike of activist Jose Bove and his followers.  It has since said it would invoke what is known as a safeguard clause at European Union level to secure a more long term ban, though it will be required to provide new, scientific proof of cultivation risks.  MON 810 has been authorized for use throughout the 27-nation bloc by the European Commission.  (Reuters, 2/7/08). 

•  Chemical companies are accusing France of flouting European Union standards by banning over 1,500 pesticides, saying fruit and vegetable crops could suffer.  France's farm ministry issued the ban on January 29 to end the sale of 30 substances found in the pesticides, which it suspects of being bad for farmers’ health.  France wants to cut the use of phytosanitary products, designed to combat plant pests, by 50 percent over the next decade.  The registrants point out 10 of the substances France wants to ban are still authorized for use in the EU and that France, the 27-nation EU's biggest farm state, should not act unilaterally.  Charles Bocquet, head of a group of plant protection firms and pesticide makers operating in France, was quoted as saying, “The government is just doing this to be politically correct.”  (Reuters, 2/2/08). 

•  China and Japan are scrambling after hundreds of Japanese consumers reported feeling ill from eating Chinese-made dumplings, triggering an emergency Cabinet session in Tokyo.  The Cabinet met to discuss a response as television networks broadcast the stories of people who said they vomited, passed out and felt near death after eating frozen meat dumplings.  China - Japan's largest trading partner - said pre-export tests had found no chemical residue in the product, but still ordered the companies which made them to halt production and recall similar items from Japan.  The frozen dumplings, produced by China's Tianyang Food Processing Ltd., were contaminated with the pesticide methamidophos.  Investigators, however, have found traces of the pesticide on the outside of the dumplings, rather than on the filling.  The poison was also found in much higher concentrations than would be expected from residue from pesticides sprayed on vegetables.  Health Minister Yoichi Masuzoe was cited as saying this fact pointed to deliberate poisoning, rather than accidental contamination, adding, “Judging from the circumstantial evidence, we’d have to think that it's highly likely to be a crime.  That means we must let police investigate, and I hope the case would be resolved through our cooperation with China.”  As Masuzoe spoke, a Japanese government delegation started an investigation in China, where they were meeting with their counterparts.  The group plans to visit the dumpling factory where the food was produced.  (Melbourne Herald Sun, 2/1/08 & HDR Japan, 2/5/08). 

•  At the PIO, we receive monthly requests for both adding and dropping the hard copy of the newsletter - mostly due to retirement.  A grower in Fort Pierce recently requested delisting for retirement but added these welcome words: “Thanks for doing this work.  As someone who started in the citrus business before modern pesticides I realize the value of accurate information.”  (Paul Driscoll, UF Class of 1952).