From The Roots Up

          Stewardship Starts with Systemic Strength

 

The idea of product stewardship is nothing new in the ag industry. Everyone knows it’s good to be kind to the land, give a crop a fighting chance and protect an investment from start to finish.

But that stewardship involves more than a seed, a tractor, an arsenal of crop protection products and a prayer that things will turn out reasonably well by the end of the season. It also involves a proactive approach from the field to Washington D.C.

Simply keeping a product on the market is a daunting challenge, according to Steve Brown, Executive Director, Peanut Research Foundation, American Peanut Council. “You want to protect your privilege to use a product to produce crops,” he said. “Stewardship and understanding of the products and how to handle them is critical for keeping products on the market.”

PROACTIVE STEWARDSHIP AT THE TOP

When AgLogic Chemical Company decided to bring aldicarb (formerly branded as Temik) back to the market, the leadership decided upfront that product stewardship would be not only forefront, but also mandatory. Currently, anyone buying, selling or applying AgLogic aldicarb must pass a written certification test designed to reinforce the understanding of product stewardship. The requirement has been in place since AgLogic aldicarb was first marketed. The intent was obviously not to make it more difficult to sell the product, but to reinforce the importance of complying with all regulations regarding its use.

“In our current modern world of agriculture, you have to go through re-registration every so many years,” Brown said. “You’re building a record the whole time you’re out there on the market. Every time there’s a misuse or a complaint, it goes into a file. It’s a black mark against you. It can be any kind of product.”

A VOICE TO BE HEARD

Stewardship goes much further than just complying with the rules and regulations. It’s also the idea of standing up for science and the merits of a product. While that concept is nothing new, it’s become increasingly important to maintain product availability across the entire agricultural industry.

That means getting involved, according to Vern Crawford, long-time former Pest Control Advisor (PCA) with Wilbur-Ellis in Shafter, CA. Now retired, he still advocates for the responsible use of pesticides in the industry and the importance of getting involved from the grower level up regardless of how small one grower might think his or her voice might be.

“I’ve seen it a lot of times over the course of my career,” Crawford said. “Growers tend to want to concentrate on their strengths – production and equipment and leave the marketing and industry oversight to others so they can stay focused on the furrows and the equipment. However, it’s just as important to take a stand in policy that affects the industry.

“Growers shouldn’t just leave it up to a company that markets a product,” Crawford continued. “First and foremost, they need to adhere to the regulations, but also be an advocate to maintain continued use of products when that use is beneficial to their individual operation and the industry.”

What some growers take for granted is the power of a single voice and the synergy created when that voice along with others are united on a local level.

“Growers have a lot of clout in D.C.,” Brown said. “It may not be as much clout as they would like to have, but when a grower goes to Congress and says ‘this product is vital to my livelihood, and we can’t grow good crops that are important to our country without it, that gets more attention than a company going and saying we want to sell this product because it fulfills an important need to the industry.

“It carries more weight,” Brown continued. “When growers make their voice heard through their local organizations, I think it does carry a lot of weight in the halls of Congress.”

Brown has considerable experience with aldicarb when it was marketed as Temik (Now as AgLogic.)

“I worked with aldicarb when I was a peanut entomologist years ago,” he said. “I think Temik was probably the #1 use of aldicarb because of peanuts, cotton and pecans in the state of Georgia. It was one of the best options we had for early season pest control in those crops.”

DRIVING RESEARCH AND LAYING A FOUDATION

Stewardship and grower participation is also critical at the many research stations located across the nation. Without the science and field data to back a crop protection material, that product would not be available to growers. Although research may seem far removed from the grower level, it’s not, according to Dan Anco, Ph.D., Extension Peanut Specialist and Associate Professor, Edisto Research and Education Center, Clemson University.

“The research of my program is directly driven by farmer input and needs,” he said. “When farmers share their concerns, it is my duty and interest as a land grant researcher to address these issues. I get both direct input talking to individual farmers, as well as current research needs and priorities from organizations including the South Carolina Peanut Board.”

The importance of that participation from the grower level up cannot be underestimated, Anco said.

“Pesticides are a very important tool in our integrated management of peanut,” he said. “Whether interest seeks greater efficacy, practicality, or cost-effectiveness, the voice of farmers is vital to keeping our research activities relevant and applicable. It keeps us grounded, and the mutual sincere exchange of ideas and legwork continues to fine tune the direction of our efforts.”

INTEGRATION AND SYSTEMIC AT ALL LEVELS

Across the Peanut Belt, from the highest producing areas to the lesser, a grower’s voice matters.

“I think of it almost as I think of Integrated Pest Management which became a bedrock of agricultural production – not just in California, but across the entire agricultural industry,” Crawford said. “Everything is intertwined, whether you are talking about trying to grow a crop or influence policy and the ability to produce food and fiber for the world. When we first got aldicarb in California, it was a game changer. We didn’t have to run sprayers across the field as much. It kept our early season pests in check while allowing the beneficials to thrive and shoulder part of the load going forward.

“It is a classic example of how an IPM material should work,” he continued. “It was systemic from the roots up, and that’s exactly how grower participation in the industry should work. If you ignore your role in the world of policy decisions, you run the risk of losing the important tools of your livelihood. For the moment at least, we don’t have the benefit of aldicarb in California.”

THREE STEPS FORWARD, TWO BACKWARD

Sometimes it almost seems like slow moving dance - a little bit of progress offset by a few setbacks. Today is no time to sit on the sidelines, according to Brown.

“The peanut industry is doing well,” he said. “We’ve had our ups and downs the last few years. Exports are up. We’re exporting about a third of our U.S. crop now. The worldwide market is kind of screwy. China can go in and out of the market. They’ve bought a lot of peanuts in the last couple of years, but they’re kind of out of the market right now. It’s a difficult thing to summarize, because it changes so often, but it’s always a factor.

“Yields have been good,” he continued. “We’ve seen some phenomenal yield increases in yields across the peanut belt. We’ve got great varieties coming out. That’s due to a lot of factors, and growers should never underestimate their importance in the progress of the peanut industry – whether it’s in the field, on the research farm or in the halls of Congress.”

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