Contaminated Compost and Horse Feed -- is there any safe brand?

[TheMountainsAreCalli]

Hi all-
We raise our own food and make our own compost, and I’m suddenly dealing with Aminopyralid contamination in my compost. We don’t spray our hay, so the only source I can come up with is the only bagged feed I bring onto the ranch: Purina Senior. :no: I know several studies have been done that have linked “major brands” of equine feed (without naming them specifically) to aminopyralid contamination (a broadleaf herbicide that survives animal digestive systems, often marketed as Milestone). But I need some names! What do I avoid? What can I buy?

Don’t get me wrong: I love Purina Senior, and I love what it does for my old guy. But I can’t keep his manure separate from the rest of the horses, so now all my compost is contaminated and my tomatoes for the past three years have been a complete and total failure. Has anyone read of any further research on this stuff? Has anyone seen any certified results that certain feed producers are watching for this, and are guaranteeing their feed to be herbicide-free? I’d love to find something else to switch to, so that I can preserve my sanity and my tomatoes! :mad:

[ShotenStar]

i believe that Triple Crown is making a non-GMO / organic feed. Marketed as Triple Crown Naturals. Now, whether all the ingredients are herbicide free is something you will have to call the company to research.

I feel your pain on the tomatoes. Before I fully knew / understood how some of these herbicides have long residual periods and pass through animal digestion systems, I used Milestone to deal with the carolina nettle that was taking over my pastures. Composted the horse manure and used it on the garden the next year. Big mistake. I ended up having to move the garden to a new area in order to get away from the contamination.

star

[goldenrow]

“Herbicide free” will be virtually impossible.

Non-GMO - there is no such thing. Only WHO or WHAT modified it, in what time frame.

Organic crops can still be sprayed with herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides.

May I ask who or how you diagnosed your aminopyralid contamination? I’m not doubting you, but it is important not to jump to conclusions, until you have had an agronomist (like me!) take a good look. It can present itself to look like other growth regulator herbicides injury symptoms.

Have you used any 2,4-D’s, dicambas, etc. on the farm? Warm and humid conditions can cause these to volatilize and move - I’ve know of one case of over a mile! These would cause leaf cupping and wilting stems.

Soil diseases, such as phytophthora, can also cause similar symptoms, which can bother your tomatoes year in and year out, after a plant is infected just once.

I can’t help you on what feeds out there won’t have any herbicide residues, but I can help you diagnose, treat, understand and manage plant problems!

Milestone and other “pass through” herbicides have a great - mandatory - flow chart in their label. Aminopyralids are a great tool, but the LABEL is the LAW. READ IT BEFORE YOU SPRAY!

[clanter]

actually not news as this was first reported in 2012, here an article from March 2013 about clopyralid contamination

Killer Compost Update: Herbicide Damage Still a Major Problem
http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/pest-control/herbicide-damage-zmgz13fmzsto.aspx?PageId=1

several samples of off-the-shelf Purina horse feed were contaminated with clopyralid at levels between 142 and 465 parts per billion

[AKB]

I would talk with your County Ag agent as well as your state university that has Ag, and Purina. You need to figure out if the herbicide is coming from your grain or coming from another source. Do your neighbor’s use herbicides and do you get run off of storm water from their land during storms? If the grain tests negative, you need to figure out where the herbicide is coming from. Let us know what you figure out.

[TheMountainsAreCalli]

Thanks for the advice, all! Yes, goldenrow you are totally right: I am self-diagnosing this problem. I did contact two county extension agents for help, but at this point this is just me looking at the damage and guessing that’s what it is. So perhaps it will turn out to be something else.

I found out yesterday that the county uses some kind of 2,4-D or Milestone product (I haven’t gotten a call back as to the specific chemical) to spray the shoulders of the road for daisies, and has, within the last two years, come up onto our private property and sprayed along our barrow ditches. So that opens up another (more likely?) possibility that the chemical has migrated. I clearly have a lot more research to do. Such a blow when I’ve worked so hard to keep things organic and chemical-free to find I’ve been poisoning my own garden…

Thanks for the TSC info-- I’m happy to hear there’s an organic feed out there, although I guess one can’t be sure of anything. I’ll be interested to learn more about what herbicides can be effectively used against daisies that also won’t contaminate my compost… if there is such a thing.

[csaper58]

Is there any chance your hay supplier is using broad leaf weed killers to maximise the hay crop and eliminate weed competition?

[TheMountainsAreCalli]

We grow our own hay, and do not spray.

[TheMountainsAreCalli]

Thanks again for your reply, goldenrow. I spoke with two ag extension agents and talked with the county weed project, and they all believe the damage in the greenhouse is due to spray. My next question, if I can prevail upon your experience (and any other COThers who have dealt with this!) is how do I fight invasive weeds on the property while avoiding contaminating my hay crop? We’re targeting ox eye daisy and knapweed, and the county was using Milestone. I clearly have a lot more research to do about chemicals, but I was wondering if you had any recommendations off the top of your head. Thanks again!

[csaper58]

Organic control for Oxeye daisy is mowing as soon as it begins to flower to prevent self sowing and intensive cultivation, and or hand pulling to kill entire adult plants.

Knapweed also responds well to mowing before seed is set, if it is done 3 years in a row.

You will want to consult your ag extension agents for pesticide/chemical recos.

Are you allowed to post Do Not Spray signs to prevent further damage by the county’s spraying?

[TheMountainsAreCalli]

We will be posting Do Not Spray signs for sure. Sadly the daisies are too far spread to combat with either mowing or hand pulling, so I’m going to have to do quite a bit of research to discover what I can use to control them safely. Knapweed I can definitely hand pull, and will be dedicated to keeping it out. Lots of shovel work digging out those beds in my short-term future!

[Mosey_2003]

It’s still summer vacation, if you get a move on you might be able to get a decent group of college boys to pull them for beer

[goldenrow]

I am fortunate that neither of those pesky weeds have taken a significant hold in my part of the country! So I will defer to those in the region, as how to best control them.

I am glad that you have been able to track down a source. It sounds reasonable to attribute it to the ditch spraying, and can put up signs to prevent it from happening in the future!

For anyone else who might have an issue like this, it is easy to make a quick phone call to ask for a heads up when the county might be in your area spraying. Most are very good about this, as it happens regularly. You can then plan ahead by covering it with a sheet for the day if you have a small garden near the ditch (not all plants will be affected), or asking them to spray on cool, cloudy days, or days when your garden would be up-wind.

[LexusBoBexus]

For the past three years, we have been using a flame torch to combat weeds. Our property has a well, so we wanted to limit our use of chemicals. This is the one that we ordered: red dragon. It has been great, and has really cut down on the time spent manually pulling out weeds.

It comes with everything needed, other than a propane tank. To make it easier to use, we strapped the tank onto a dolly that we already owned. Basically, we just roll the contraption around, then aim and fire. It’s pretty straight forward, just use caution around things that you don’t want burned. If you don’t already have one, they also sell a dolly specifically made for a propane tank.

If you do go this route, expect a lot of curious looks :eek: from your neighbors. When we first started using ours, they would sloooow way down as they drove by. I guess we are entertaining :lol:.

PS: Just wanted to add, that it is advisable to have a water hose handy as a safety precaution and to have basic fire safety/awareness in mind during use.