Moth Flap HeightensMore big news on the Light Brown Apple Moth front:
California Certified Organic Farmers, one of the nation’’s oldest and largest third-party organic certifying agencies, has revoked its support of aerial spraying of organically approved pheromones.
CCOF took this decision due to what its Board of Directors describe as “potential human health and environmental concerns.”
Instead, CCOF will support diversified ground integrated pest management approaches toward LBAM and is urging the California Department of Food and Agriculture to “pursue a diverse and precautionary approach”.
CCOF's decision comes hard on the heels of a report that claims the moth threat has been overstated
Maybe CCOF’s withdrawal of support and Dr. Harder's report will open up the door on the wider policy discussion here: namely, what are truly sustainable policies and practices in a steadily shrinking global economy?
To find out more about the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s spraying plans and the opposition to them, head for Marin on Thursday March 13, where Sen. Carole Midgen joins forces with Senate Environmental Safety Committee chair Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Santa Cruz) for a hearing on the state's LBAM plans.
The March 13 hearing takes place at the Marin County Civic Center, 3501 Civic Center Drive, Room 330, San Rafael from 1-3 PM. It will feature state officials who support the spraying alongside scientists who oppose it, and include an opportunity for the public to comment.
To see CCOF’s Board of Directors full statement, keep reading::
“CCOF is concerned about the impact of all pests on agriculture. In addition, we are concerned about the impacts of pest control actions on human health and the environment.
As we have learned more about the ecology, chemistry, policies and politics surrounding the eradication program for the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM), we question whether an eradication program can be successful, and we acknowledge that the repeated spraying of an untested material and its inert ingredients on a large populated area is not desirable.
We also believe that the health impacts on people, pets and wildlife, as well as the ecological impacts on our ecosystems and watersheds, need further evaluation.
CCOF supports the use of pheromones in ground applications and other ecologically sound organic integrated pest management (IPM) approaches as far preferable to the use of dangerous organophosphates. However, CCOF does not endorse further aerial applications of pheromones in LBAM eradication efforts due to potential human health and environmental concerns.
One of the basic tenets of organic farming is to use a diversified approach to solve agricultural pest problems, with preference given to those that are the least disruptive to ecological systems.
Lepidoptera pests such as the LBAM are successfully controlled on organic farms throughout California using cultural controls, natural predators, pheromone products, and proven biological insecticides.
We urge the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to pursue a diverse
and precautionary approach. Key to this is taking the steps necessary to alleviate the concerns of our trading partners so that the disruption of exports through embargoes and quarantines does not continue.”
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