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Pesticide Use Information for New York State | |
NAPIAP Survey - Field Corn - 1994 | |
Field Corn Survey 1994: Introduction |
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The authors gratefully acknowledge the help of the following people without whom this report could not have been completed: Carl Albers, Carl Bannon, Gary Bergstrom, Tom Burbine, Jim Capron, Paul Cerosaletti, Janice Degni, Andrew Dufresne, Lisa Fields, Stephen Hadcock, Russell Hahn, Eric Harrington, Nathan Herendeen, Debbie Kalaf, Donna Kowalski, Colleen McKeon, Tom McNamara, Dale Morse, Elson Shields, David Tetor, Bruce Tillapaugh, Keith Waldron, and Judy Wright.
The overall assessment and effectiveness of pest control techniques for field corn production systems are an ongoing process for scientists at Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Not only must the specifics of pest dynamics and pest-induced losses be assessed, but the general problem of designing and implementing appropriate pest management systems for grower acceptance must be addressed as well.
New York Agricultural Statistics 1993-1994 reports that field corn was harvested on 1.4 million acres in New York in 1993. Nationally, New York State ranked second behind Wisconsin in corn silage production and seventeenth in corn grain production. Over $349 million, or 27% of the State's $1.3 billion agricultural receipts came from field corn production. Field corn is produced in 54 of New York's 57 counties. Five hundred and eighty thousand acres of corn for grain were harvested at an average yield of 105 bushels per acre, and 560,000 acres of corn for silage were harvested at an average of 14.5 tons per acre in 1993. Field corn plays a critical role in the nutrition and health of dairy cattle and other livestock by providing an economical source of high quality carbohydrates (energy) and fiber. In addition, corn has numerous food uses for humans, including starches, syrups and sweeteners, and many nonfood uses such as for drugs, cosmetics and industry.
Pest problems in field corn can be responsible for as much as 20-50% annual losses. Losses from western corn rootworm are expected to increase greatly within this decade as this pest migrates eastward across the state. Insecticide usage for corn rootworm adults has more than doubled in the last decade. Disease losses from leaf blights, stalk rots, ear rots and interactions with insects may be considerable. Seventy to 90% of all field corn acreage receives an herbicide treatment for annual weeds (A Long-Range Plan for the New York State Integrated Pest Management Program, 1992).
Present pest management techniques rely heavily on pesticides. This dependence on chemical control can have serious consequences, including the development of pesticide resistance, the destruction of natural enemies of these pests, negative impact on endangered species, and the contamination of groundwater. The latter is, perhaps, of significant importance in light of the New York State Pesticide and Groundwater Strategy: Draft Generic State Management Plan (GSMP), which, in the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) federal strategy, establishes goals and a general framework and foundation upon which more specific pesticide management plans and implementation activities will be built. It is a beginning for approaches to manage pesticide use and protect groundwater.
The goal of the GSMP is to prevent adverse effects to human health and the environment, and to protect the integrity of the State's groundwater resources. At the same time, it recognizes the need to sustain the productivity and economic viability of New York's agriculture, and to provide control of pests which pose significant threats to food production, human health, and natural ecosystems. Nowhere is this more complicated than in the case of field corn.
Under the provisions of the 1990 Farm Bill, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Soil Conservation Service (SCS) must ensure conservation compliance for erosion control by farmers eligible for USDA farm program benefits. However, with decreased tillage, the need for herbicides greatly increases, and thus the potential for leaching into groundwater also increases. The possibility of a suspension/cancellation action on atrazine (which has already been detected in ground and surface water in many states) is a real problem for field corn producers, as conservation tillage programs for corn production rely heavily on atrazine for weed control. There are a number of registered herbicides for use on field corn, but they do not control the same spectrum of weeds, nor are they as effective as atrazine.
Disease prevention of field corn is of primary importance to New York growers. At present, more than 95% of field corn seed planted is treated by the seed supplier with a protectant fungicide for control of seed decay and seedling blight. Yield losses in New York without a seed treatment are estimated at approximately 7.5% (Bergstrom, 1991). Another important disease is stalk rot. Plant pathologists estimate that each year up to 10 percent of the nation's corn yield is lost due to lodging, stalk breakage and other difficulties related to stalk rot (DowElanco, Form No. 134-1956). Although chemicals play a relatively minor role in the management of corn diseases, in certain instances, such as when growers purchase seed that is not pretreated, they are urged to thoroughly mix fungicides with the seed in the hopper at planting time (Bergstrom, Managing Diseases in Corn).
Cultural methods such as crop rotation have historically been integral components in pest management programs. From 1960 until 1985, however, cultural practices as pest management techniques received less attention and use because of increased emphasis on the economics of corn production (A Long- Range Plan for the New York State Integrated Pest Management Program, 1992). Numerous farmers in New York grow corn in the same field for two or more years even though it has been documented that insect pests such as corn rootworm become very severe in continuously cropped corn fields. Because of increasing environmental concerns in agriculture, cultural practices, such as crop rotation and appropriate tillage practices, must once again become integral pest management techniques in any pest management program.
The importance of the availability of comprehensive detailed pesticide usage inventories, giving geographic locations, application rates and timing of use cannot be understated. Pesticide use data supports the development, and implementation of preventive approaches to groundwater contamination, improves response to EPA regulatory activity, provides information for Cornell Cooperative Extension educational programs, identifies research needs and emerging new pest problems, and helps in developing IPM strategies that provide alternative pesticide use. Such data is available in this report.
In addition, many pesticide handlers are unaware of the hazards of pesticide
exposure and uninformed about the type of personal protective equipment
(PPE) that should be worn. The health risks for these workers extend beyond
the workplace when pesticide contaminated clothing is worn into the home
or when it is washed with the family laundry. Worker safety also affects
employers through lost workdays and costly litigation. Pesticide handlers,
their families, and their employers need information about PPE that is based
on current legislation, national education efforts, and ongoing research.
To continue to serve the educational needs of pesticide handlers and their
families, information is needed about their current practices and
attitudes regarding the use of PPE. This report gives such information and
reflects the requirements outlined in the new EPA Worker Protection Standard
(WPS), and is based on specific pesticides and cultural practices of field
corn producers.
Funding for this project was provided by the National Agricultural Pesticide Impact Assessment Program (NAPIAP), United States Department of Agriculture.
Questionnaires were developed from previous NAPIAP and other surveys that had been conducted in New York State. The first drafts were reviewed by field corn specialists in the areas of weed, insect and disease control, IPM specialists and extension agents for comment and critique. Copies were also sent to Mississippi State, where the same survey was to be conducted. Final survey forms were printed and duplicated (see Appendix for survey form samples) based on input from these groups.
Letters were sent to field crops/dairy extension agents explaining the project and requesting assistance in the implementation of the survey. A one hour pesticide applicator training presentation on WPS and personal protective equipment use was given prior to the completion of the survey questionnaire. In order to attract growers to the meetings, two recertification credits were given to all those who participated. Six meetings were held throughout New York State where attendance ranged from ten to 100 growers. Mail surveys were sent to growers from mailing lists supplied to us by seven county agents. Response ranged from zero to 25 percent. Approximately 10% of the mailed surveys were returned uncompleted because the grower either "did not grow field corn in 1994," "did not use pesticides in 1994," or "had a custom applicator apply pesticides in 1994."
In addition to the mail surveys and courses, a booth was provided at the Dairy Day in Cobleskill, and the Corn Congress in Waterloo and Batavia. Surveys were handed out to interested growers and returned by mail. Ten surveys were returned. Mail surveys were also sent to 116 commercial applicators in the state; nine were returned completed and six were returned uncompleted because they "did not spray in 1994."
Once data were collected, database management files were developed using FileMaker Pro 2.0 for compilation and analysis of the data. This report contains data pertaining to the objectives stated previously.
Certain words and/or terms used throughout this paper are defined below:
