What are pesticides?

"How can an organization preach about informing the public and telling our story when our own producers don't even understand basic terms like pesticide?"

That was said to me shortly after a discussion on a resolution where I was making an attempt to broaden and strengthen the language of a particular line of wording at the recent TFBF convention.  Ultimately the amendment passed--albeit rather clumsily--after some brief discussion which was reduced to little more than semantics after an explanation of the desired purpose of the change.

But it did get me to thinking, if several people in a room full of farmers and ranchers were confused on basic agriculture terminology, how many more people who make up the non farm population (which, by the way, is over 98% of the population in the United States) would likely be confused or uninformed of language farmers use regularly?

What is a pesticide?

To define this, we need to break the word down.  Cide means to kill, hence the use of terms we are  familiar with like homicide, suicide, or genocide.  Pest, in agricultural terms, refers to something unwanted such as a plant/weed, insect, or disease.  Combine the words together to form pesticide and you get a definition of the word like this:

From the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) - any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying or controlling any pest, including vectors of human or animal disease, unwanted species of plants or animals causing harm during or otherwise interfering with the production, processing, storage, transport or marketing of food, agricultural commodities, wood and wood products or animal feedstuffs, or substances which may be administered to animals for the control of insects, arachnids or other pests in or on their bodies. The term includes substances intended for use as a plant growth regulator, defoliant, desiccant or agent for thinning fruit or preventing the premature fall of fruit. Also used as substances applied to crops either before or after harvest to protect the commodity from deterioration during storage and transport.


And from Dictionary.com - an agent used to destroy pests; A chemical used to kill harmful animals or plants. Pesticides include fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, and rodenticides. 


So, pesticide subclasses include herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, miticides, nematicides, rodenticides etc.  The confusion arises because in our common everyday language, we choose the easy route and just say pesticide.  It's like when we say Kleenex instead of tissue.  When producers go to get recertified, we don't get herbicide or insecticide recertification.  We get pesticide recertification.  Why?  Because pesticide is the umbrella word that captures or covers all the sub classes of related "cide" words. 


Are pesticides dangerous?


Depends on who you ask, but the short answer is yes and no.  Think about it like this.  Are guns dangerous?  Yes and no.  Are baseball bats dangerous?  Yes and no.  Are vehicles dangerous?  Yes and no.  What do I mean by all this?  Simply, anything not used as its intended function can be dangerous.  So, if a person doesn't follow the label on a chemical, it could be dangerous.  Is that the fault of the chemical?  I would argue nay, it is the fault of the user.  Likewise with guns, bats, cars, computers, or anything else, when used in accordance with how it's designed to be used, it is safe.  When used in a reckless and irresponsible manner, it can be dangerous.  


So why the fear?  


Well, let's just admit the word pesticide doesn't sound nice.  If we had a puffy flowery term we could use instead, I'm sure we would, but pesticide is the word we have, so it is the word we use.  Second, whatever the formulation of the product, all pesticides come with "signal" words on them that denote toxicity of the product.  Words like "caution, warning, danger," and "keep out of reach of children."  Mind you though, these are the same words commonly found on common household products like shampoo, hairspray, and dish soap.  Sometimes they even have cool symbols with a skull and crossbones.  


Many people have at least heard about a product called DDT, and the effect it had on the bald eagle population.  For many, this is perhaps the only association they've had with pesticides.  A memory, a story, a video from over 50 years ago--that is what some equate to modern agriculture and its use of crop protection products.  DDT has long been banned in this country and in several others, and arguably so, but does that mean it, or any pesticide for that matter, should never be used?  Well, one thing DDT is excellent at controlling is mosquitoes--particularly those malaria carrying mosquitoes that are ravaging already ravaged parts of Africa.  I'm not advocating the return of DDT.  However, in those special circumstances where a product could be used safely and help alleviate malaria from war-torn, poverty and drought stricken, hungry, thirsty, and lacking in basically anything you can imagine nations of Africa, I think we could make an argument for the use of a DDT type product.  It's a heck of a lot better than the governments solution of giving them nets to sleep under, but I digress. 


Is the fear of pesticides justified?


I think not, and here are some of the reasons why:


1.  Farmers and producers of food & fiber are required to go thru routine training, testing, and certification on safe, proper use, storage and handling of pesticides.  Training includes items like reading & understanding labels, understanding target and non-target pests, use rates, droplet size, variances such as water volume, temperature inversions, wind speed, ground speed etc., what to do in the event of a spill, buffer zones, and accurate record keeping of what/when/how a product was applied.  And, if we break the rules and get caught, we face serious fines, potential legal action, loss of use, and even potential jail time if the act is especially or intentionally grievous. 


2.  Consider this realistic scenario - Farmer Smith sprays a common product like Roundup (Glyphosate) at a rate of 1 quart per acre, in a solution of water at 10 gallons per acre.  Picture a quart sized bottle of product evenly distributed in 10 gallons of water.  Beginning to see how small of an amount that is?  And, many products farmers use are used at much lower rates like 8 ounces, 3 ounces, even half an ounce per acre.  In other words, this is concentrated material.  Now, how big is an acre?  One square acre is 43,560 square feet, or roughly the same size as a football field.  As you can see, 10 gallons of water with a quart or less of product spread evenly over an area the size of a football field in order to get the desired control of the target pest(s) is not very much.  Suffice it say, farmers are not poisoning the ground--which, by the way, would seem to be counterproductive to the farmer since that's the very ground he is depending on for his livelihood.


3.  There is a difference between regular use and restricted use pesticides.  Basically, regular use products can be purchased by the general public at places like Lowes, Wal-Mart, Tractor Supply, local nurseries etc.  These would be common household and lawn type products that do not require any special license or certification in order to purchase.  These products are diluted down and are typically much weaker in strength.  The products that farmers typically use are not available to the general public for purchase and do require special license or certification for purchase.  You may ask, couldn't anybody just go get the license and fill out the paperwork and buy it?  Well, not exactly.  These dealers know who the farmers and/or licensed professionals (think certain types of lawn care, right of way, utility companies, forestry personnel) are and what the purpose of using these products is for.  To make a long story short, they know who is and isn't allowed to be making purchases of restricted use products.


4.  OK, but shouldn't farmers be using organic products and finding other ways not to use chemicals.  Yes, and we are.  First, keep in mind that "organic" is a loosely defined term and is about as easy to define as is Wicca or New Age.  Second, the organic movement is as much an environmental/political movement as it is a healthy food movement.  However, that doesn't mean we have to have organic vs. non-organic wars.  The fact remains farmers can learn from the organic movement.  The organic movement also has to realize that it alone is not a sustainable model to feed over 6 billion people globally.  Local food co-ops, organic gardens, and farmers markets are wonderful ideas and should be supported and utilized, but a community garden will likely feed more possums, raccoons, and squirrels than it will people.  The fact is that thru technology, crop rotation, no-till, cover crops, and other means, farmers are reducing the amount of pesticides they spray each year.  That's a good thing both environmentally and economically.


5.  All pesticides used in the United States are regulated by federal and state law. Before farmers and other applicators can use them, crop protection chemicals undergo extensive research, development, testing, governmental review and approval to protect human health and the environment before being able to apply for registration from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  For much more information on the criteria that has to be met before a product can ever make it to a field, check out this link: http://www.croplifeamerica.org/crop-protection/pesticide-regulation

Additionally, consider this - many of the common products producers use are naturally occurring in our environment.  For example, the active ingredient in a popular corn herbicide called Callisto comes from the chrysanthemum plant.  Another popular crop protection product called Roundup attacks enzymes in plants that humans and animals don't have, so it is safe to humans.  Finally, there are millions of tiny microorganisms (unseen by the naked eye) that live in the soil and begin breaking down products by literally feeding on these products.  Sunlight also has a similar effect.  So, it's not as if these products stick around in the soil indefinitely, which also greatly diminishes the likelihood of these products contaminating groundwater.  Actually, a better argument for potential groundwater contamination could be made by all the chemicals we dump down our drains, flush down our toilets, or use irresponsibly on our lawn.

6.  Practically, unnecessary or excessive pesticide use is just wasteful and expensive.  Farmers are also business people, and like any good business person, cutting waste and eliminating inefficient methods and practices is good business that contributes to the healthy and stable economic vitality of each operation.


Rather than adding to the confusion, hopefully I've helped eliminate some of the confusion.  Perhaps next time you see an article, or a documentary, and words and phrases like those in this blog appear, you will be all the more discerning.

As with all things, let sound science and common sense prevail; not rash, fear based, emotional arguments.  Thanks for reading and together we as American farmers can and will continue to produce the worlds safest, most abundant, most affordable food supply.  That's what good stewards do.