Each of the Food Policy Council committees (Education & Outreach, Policy & Infrastructure, and Land Preservation) will be posting monthly pieces - highlighting an issue that they're currently studying about our local food system:
Don't Get the Drift
Herbicide drift can cause injury and death to crops sensitive to herbicides. Grapes, tomatoes, walnut trees, and many other horticulture crops are sensitive to a common herbicide 2,4-D, used on lawns, pastures, and crop land. Reading the label is highly encouraged anytime you use a product.
Weeds such as dandelions, bindweed, and musk thistle, are more easily
controlled in the fall than in the spring. These weeds are pulling
carbohydrates from their leaves in the fall and storing food reserves in
their roots. If they are treated with a herbicide prior to a killing
frost, the herbicide is translocated into the root systems and kills the
plant. In the spring, the roots are pushing food into the leaves to grow
the plant, and a herbicide may damage the top growth, but is less likely
to kill the roots.
Sensitive crops such as grapes and tomatoes are less likely to be effected by herbicides in the fall. They are either finished producing and/or their leaves are not as tender and susceptible to herbicides as they would be in the spring.
For more information, click on the link below.
http://www.ksda.gov/pesticides_fertilizer/content/177/cid/513
Comments