This is regarding something that was in the news not so long back.
I've copied and pasted this quote directly from the BBC gardening/allotment message boards.
I am not sure how many of you have had this problem already but I am betting if you've not had it yet you will sometime in the near future. For those of you who have not come across it yet, the problem is caused by a hormone weed killer called Aminopyralid, found in commercial weed killers used in agriculture. (Not Glyphosate based weed killers) These products are used on grassland and selectively kill broad leaved weeds only. The problem with this product is it stays active in the cells of all the plants it is sprayed on and only becomes inert after every cell of the plant has been broken down by soil microbes. During the process of decomposition the Aminopyralid will still affect broad leaved plants.
This means manure from animals which feed on contaminated grass, or hay, is effectively poisonous and cannot be used as a fertiliser on land to be used for edible crops.
As a vegetable gardener who is striving to stay organic and as healthy as possible I find it a horrifying thought that this chemical has found its way into the food chain.
I have started a petition to the Prime Minister at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Aminopyralid/ to halt the use of the product in British agriculture or at least to force the manufactures (Dow AgroSciences) to produce a cheap and easy to use detection kit so we may continue using chemical free manures.
If you could please find a few minutes of your time to fill in the petition I would be eternally grateful.
For more information about Aminopyralid, visit http://www.aminopyralid.com. To see some other discussions relating to the problems other allotment owners are having with the product visit the http://www.allotment.org.uk...
Thank you for you time
Paul
Please feel free to pass on this information.
