By Bill Pluecker The state of Maine has been at the forefront of cleaning up the toxic mess created by PFAS chemicals. The legislature has passed a ban on consumer products that are created using PFAS; banned the land application of sludge (which is contaminated by PFAS in 99% of the cases); and banned the
otes cast today by members of the Maine Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (ACF) revealed the tentacles of corporate capture in Maine policymaking. Disregarding the mountain of science about the environmental and human health effects of glyphosate and other herbicides commonly used in plantation forestry operations, a majority of the committee
BPC Rejects Dow Application At its June 13 meeting, the Board of Pesticides Control (BPC) rejected the application of Dow AgroSciences to market clopyralid (Stinger) in Maine with a special label that would require a waiver of liability for damage to cranberries. The herbicide was in the news last year because it persists in compost
By Heather Spalding In 2020 the Maine Board of Pesticides (BPC) discussed pesticide residues in medical marijuana, treatment of browntail moth near marine waters, spray notification rules, and water quality monitoring during a pandemic, in addition to the board’s regular business pertaining to funding and finances, variances and special requests for pesticide uses, consent agreements
MOFGA advocates for policies that reduce all farmers’ and homeowners’ reliance on pesticides, and all citizens’ exposures to pesticides in their diets and in the air and drinking water. We believe that the dramatic increases since the 1950s in childhood and adult cancer rates, as well as immune system and reproductive abnormalities, are directly related
Who decides which pesticides can be approved for use – are these “forever” decisions? Teach-in participants, left to right: Sharon Tisher, Nancy Ross, Carol Hubbard and Jay Feldman. English photo Saturday, September 21, 2019 The 2019 teach-in at MOFGA’s Common Ground Country Fair, posted at https://www.youtube.com/user/MaineOrganicFarmers and with edited excerpts below, reviewed the process for regulating pesticides.
A panel of beekeepers (Theresa Gaffney and David Hackenberg, left) and scientists (Kim Stoner and Frank Drummond, right) discussed Colony Collapse Disorder at the Common Ground Country Fair. English photo. Common Ground Country Fair Teach-In 2012 Ten years ago an average of 15 to 20 percent of commercially managed honeybee colonies died annually; now, it’s 30 to
Cabbage aphids on kale growing in a tunnel. Photo by Eric Sideman Habitat plants flowering among brussels sprouts. Photo by Becky Sideman By Eric Sideman, Ph.D. Although it may seem so, the cabbage aphid is not a new pest. My favorite discussion of this pest is in a 1928 text called “Destructive and Useful Insects, Their Habits and
At the 2018 Maine Agricultural Trades Show, Philip Ackerman-Leist spoke about Mals, Italy, which banned synthetic pesticides. Photo courtesy of Chelsea Green Philip Ackerman-Leist Speaks in Maine By Stowell P. Watters There is a place in Northern Italy, right at the top of the boot, where farmers who raise fruits and vegetables, grain and hay,
Onion thrips (left) and western flower thrips (right). Alton N. Sparks, Jr., University of Georgia. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Thrips_tabaci,_Frankliniella_occidentalis.jpg By Tom Vigue Before 2002, I had seen the insect called thrips only under a microscope in entomology lab. Then in early July 2002, my onion crop was withering when the bulbs had just begun to size up,
Landsmith Farm in Waldoboro, Maine, organically grows a wide variety of high-quality, tasty vegetables, herbs, willow, and cut flowers using practices that prioritize the health of the land and its stewards. Their products are sold wholesale and direct-to-consumer through a variety of channels, including a farm stand, pick-your-own garden, and a future CSA (community supported agriculture) program. Landsmith Farm is owned and operated by Erin Espinosa, whose identities as a queer latina woman farmer ground the farm in values of reciprocity, community, and perseverance.
Visit Ladsmith Farm on Instagram @landsmithfarm and on their Website.
