Has anyone any comment on this:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/29/food.agriculture

I have personally had a bout 3 potato plants with the distorted long
lobes, and a friend who used the same stable muck has them dotted around
his crop quite widely.  Earlier in the year we saw rhubarb with a similar
sort of distortion of the leaves.

In article , Robert Seago
<URL:mailto:rjseago@zetnet.co.uk> wrote:
> Has anyone any comment on this:
> 
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/29/food.agriculture
> 
> I have personally had a bout 3 potato plants with the distorted long
> lobes, and a friend who used the same stable muck has them dotted around
> his crop quite widely.  Earlier in the year we saw rhubarb with a similar
> sort of distortion of the leaves.

FWIW the active ingredient seems to bind to the fibrous/woody parts of the
plants, not the succulent/leafy parts humans are likely to eat.

When it is eaten it passes straight through and is excreted (hence the
manure problem) - indicating that it can have little effect on animal tissue
- it would have to be absorbed/reacted somehow to be a risk.

The ld50 level is over 5g per kg (well over, this is the highest ratio US
category but testing went many times over this value), max application
levels are under 200g/acre and typical use about a quarter of that. (A 10
stone adult would have to consume the entire product of an acre and a half
of the most intensively sprayed ground, leaves roots and all, before
reaching this level) The compound doesn't stay in the body and so does not
build up to a lethal dose.

IOW it's nothing to worry about as part of you or your animal's diets.  The
knock-on gardening effect should be avoidable by composting the manure for
at least 2 years and incorporating a little soil into the heap.

Hth, Cheerio,

-- 

>>   derek@farm-direct.co.uk
>>   http://www.farm-direct.co.uk/

In message , Robert Seago 
 writes
>Has anyone any comment on this:
>
>http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/29/food.agriculture
>
>I have personally had a bout 3 potato plants with the distorted long
>lobes, and a friend who used the same stable muck has them dotted around
>his crop quite widely.  Earlier in the year we saw rhubarb with a similar
>sort of distortion of the leaves.

You need Oz:-)

Horses are routinely treated with anthelmintics. The bedding straw may 
have some residual agricultural chemical but I don't know the likely 
effects of either.

Someone elsewhere pointed out that Clopyralid (found in Grazon, Dow) has 
a long persistence and treated mulchings should not be used on sensitive 
plants.

regards


>

-- 
Tim Lamb

"Robert Seago"  wrote in message 
news:4fb7b74191rjseago@zetnet.co.uk...
> Has anyone any comment on this:
>
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/29/food.agriculture
>
> I have personally had a bout 3 potato plants with the distorted long
> lobes, and a friend who used the same stable muck has them dotted around
> his crop quite widely.  Earlier in the year we saw rhubarb with a similar
> sort of distortion of the leaves.
>

Fortunately, I have no direct experience of this, but it does seem to be a 
widespread problem, with no 'quick fix' apparent. It is ironic it will be 
most likely to blight the output of those following the 'organic' route.

Thus spake Tim Lamb 
>In message , Robert Seago
> writes
>>Has anyone any comment on this:
>>
>>http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/29/food.agriculture
>>
>>I have personally had a bout 3 potato plants with the distorted long
>>lobes, and a friend who used the same stable muck has them dotted around
>>his crop quite widely.  Earlier in the year we saw rhubarb with a similar
>>sort of distortion of the leaves.
>
>You need Oz:-)
>
>Horses are routinely treated with anthelmintics. The bedding straw may
>have some residual agricultural chemical but I don't know the likely
>effects of either.

I take it the moral of the story is, don't eat your horse.

Regards

-- 
Charles Francis
moderator sci.physics.foundations.
charles (dot) e (dot) h (dot) francis (at) googlemail.com (remove spaces and
braces)

http://www.teleconnection.info/rqg/MainIndex
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

On 2008-06-30, Tim Lamb  wrote:
> In message , Robert Seago 
> writes
>>Has anyone any comment on this:
>>
>>http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/29/food.agriculture
>>
>>I have personally had a bout 3 potato plants with the distorted long
>>lobes, and a friend who used the same stable muck has them dotted around
>>his crop quite widely.  Earlier in the year we saw rhubarb with a similar
>>sort of distortion of the leaves.
>
> You need Oz:-)
>
> Horses are routinely treated with anthelmintics. The bedding straw may 
> have some residual agricultural chemical but I don't know the likely 
> effects of either.
>
> Someone elsewhere pointed out that Clopyralid (found in Grazon, Dow) has 
> a long persistence and treated mulchings should not be used on sensitive 
> plants.
>
> regards

In the early days of worming drugs, there was Thiabenzold (spelling) which
could be used as a worm dose, or to treat potatoes that were to be stored.

(This is from a memory of about 40 years, so details may be wrong.)

Then there was another that was used also as an antidepressant, or in some
sort of psychiatric role.. what was that called ? Phenotaizine?

Bluestone, which was poisonous, marketed as Mintic (I think), most people
discovered that it was bluestone (copper sulphate?) when they noticed 
male sheep staining the wool when urinating later, could also be used as
an anti-blight spray.

Sommething called `essence of male fern' used for fluke control. Wow, now
that was real `JuJu`.


-- 
Greymaus
 .
  .
...

In article , Derek Moody
 wrote:

> > Has anyone any comment on this:
> > 
> > http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/29/food.agriculture


> FWIW the active ingredient seems to bind to the fibrous/woody parts of
> the plants, not the succulent/leafy parts humans are likely to eat.

Indeed, I dug up the few plants at the end of one row, and discovered the
unrotted remains of some sort of short lengths of grass stem.  I remember
a considerable proportion of the muck in parts of the heap last autumn
when I dug some in, though I generally avoided that part of the heap.   

> When it is eaten it passes straight through and is excreted (hence the
> manure problem) - indicating that it can have little effect on animal
> tissue - it would have to be absorbed/reacted somehow to be a risk.
I hope you are right, and though there were very small spuds on the plants
I did eat them,  (just 1 meal for 1)
> The ld50 level is over 5g per kg (well over, this is the highest ratio
> US category but testing went many times over this value), max
> application levels are under 200g/acre and typical use about a quarter
> of that. (A 10 stone adult would have to consume the entire product of
> an acre and a half of the most intensively sprayed ground, leaves roots
> and all, before reaching this level) The compound doesn't stay in the
> body and so does not build up to a lethal dose.
That's a relief.  :-)
> IOW it's nothing to worry about as part of you or your animal's diets. 
> The knock-on gardening effect should be avoidable by composting the
> manure for at least 2 years and incorporating a little soil into the
> heap.
Discussion suggests some market gardeners who have lost crops are shouting
loud.