Disney’s latest movie “Planes” features a main character that is none other than a crop duster! The opening scene of the trailer features the animated plane flying over a field applying pesticides to the field below. I first saw this commercial last Monday, fittingly enough.
Last week I spent the bulk of my time learning about pesticides. I started with CRC Industry Affairs Manager Roberta Firoved in the office getting a general background about the registration process for pesticides. Tuesday and Wednesday we attended the Western Plant Health Association (WPHA) summer regulatory conference where I was able to hear about industry issues and updates regarding mostly pesticides.
Nearly all farmers use pesticides as an additional tool to help produce safe and high quality foods. Companies such as Bayer CropScience and Dow AgroSciences, also known as registrants, bring these pesticides to the farmers. The pesticides become available to the farmers after the registrant companies develop the product and complete extensive scientific reviews to prove safety to the crop, the environment and the people who will be applying the product.
These studies are part of the registration process required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Pesticide Regulations (DPR), a department of Cal/EPA. The products must first be registered with the EPA and then may be registered with DPR. Among other materials, registration also requires an extensive label that lists appropriate application methods, crops suitable for the products, possible environmental impacts and many other instructions and information.
All of these resources are used to ensure that the pesticide is the safest possible product. With proper application the chemical helps the crop to reach high yields while still maintaining a healthy product for the consumer. Rice growers utilize these chemicals through many methods including aerial application, or crop dusters.
To some in the public, pesticides have had a negative connotation. Disney’s newest movie brings up opportunity for pesticides and pesticide application to face scrutiny by members of the public with negative views. This presents an interesting and hopefully productive opportunity for parties involved with pesticides and pesticide application to show the public that under appropriate application pesticides can be used as a tool to produce safe and abundant food.
Maddie Dunlap is a senior agricultural communication student with a minor in agribusiness at California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo. She is the eighth generation of Dunlaps born and raised in Colusa County agriculture.
When Maddie isn’t studying hard at Cal Poly, she enjoys traveling throughout California, Giants baseball and attending county fairs.
No comments:
Post a Comment