By the Arkansas Department of Agriculture
LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Abandoned Pesticide Program collected 146,867 pounds of unwanted pesticides in seven counties during Spring 2022 collection events. Since 2005, the Agricultural Abandoned Pesticide Program has overseen the collection and disposal of 5,498,298 pounds of unwanted pesticides in counties across Arkansas.
“The Arkansas Department of Agriculture is proud to work with our partners in administering the Agricultural Abandoned Pesticide Program,” says Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture Wes Ward. “Events like these, held annually throughout the state, help ensure safe and proper disposal of unwanted pesticides and prevent them from potentially polluting our environment.”
The totals for each event were:
• Sevier/Little River County (DeQueen): 581 pounds
• Howard/Pike County (Nashville): 488 pounds
• Polk/Montgomery County (Mena): 3,798 pounds
• Arkansas County (Stuttgart): 142,000 pounds
Participation in collection events is free and anonymous to farmers and other non-industrial landowners. The program is funded through pesticide registration fees. Pesticide collection events have taken place in every county in the state. Fall 2022 collection dates will be announced at a later date.
Commonly collected items include old or outdated pesticides such as calcium arsenate, sodium cyanide, lindane, chlordane, and 2,4,5-T. Registered pesticides, like glyphosate products and 2,4-D, that are unusable because they have been exposed to the elements or have been held over from previous growing seasons also can be collected.
The Agricultural Abandoned Pesticide Program is conducted in cooperation with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, Arkansas Farm Bureau, and the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment. Representatives from these agencies make up the Abandoned Pesticide Advisory Board which is responsible for selecting county sites for collection events. The Advisory Board gives special consideration to priority watersheds when selecting counties/regions for site collections.
Find more information about the Arkansas Department of Agriculture and its programs and services at http://www.agriculture.arkansas.gov.
Categories: Outdoors