PMEP Home Page Pesticide Use Information for New York State NAPIAP Survey - Field Corn - 1994 Summary

PESTICIDE APPLICATIONS MADE BY COMMERCIAL APPLICATORS

Table 53 summarizes the herbicides applied by commercial pesticide applicators to New York State field corn in 1994 by active ingredient. As with herbicides applied by growers, pendimethalin (Prowl) was applied to the greatest number of acres, and was the greatest amount of active ingredient applied as well. There was a total of 201,983.7 lbs herbicide active ingredient applied to 127,401.9 acres of corn, making an average of 1.6 lbs ai/acre applied by commercial applicators in 1994. This is considerably less than what was applied by growers themselves (2.6 lbs/acre less than corn grown for grain, and 2.3 lbs/acre less than corn grown for silage).

The application equipment used, and timing and method of application used by commercial applicators to apply herbicides to field corn in New York in 1994 are shown in Table 54. All of the applications were made as broadcast applications with a boom sprayer. These were applied as preemergence sprays on two-thirds of the acres treated and as postemergent sprays on one-quarter.

Table 55 summarizes the weeds for which commercial applicators treated New York State field corn with one or more active ingredient in 1994. Annual broadleaves and grasses were the most targeted weed for most active ingredients. The triazine resistant strains of weeds were treated almost exclusively with pendimethalin. Commercial applicators were much more specific as to which weed(s) were targeted by a certain pesticide than were growers, but the incidence of "don't know" as a target pest is a little disconcerting since it is very important to identify the problem weeds prior to spraying.

A summary of insecticides applied by commercial pesticide applicators to New York State field corn in 1994 is found in Table 56. These differ greatly from those used by the grower. Terbufos (Counter) and fonofos (Dyfonate) were applied to the greatest number of acres by commercial applicators, but were applied to less than one-third of the acreage treated by growers. A total of 604.2 lbs insecticide active ingredient was applied to 537.5 acres of field corn for an average of 1.1 lbs ai/acre. In contrast to herbicides, commercial applicators applied 0.2 lbs more insecticide active ingredient per acre to corn than growers did to corn grown for grain, and 0.4 lbs/acre more than growers did to corn grown for silage.

Most of the insecticides were applied at planting (92.5%) using the planter (92.5%, Table 57). The method of application used was split between "in furrow" (46.5%), and banded applications (46.5%). All but two of the insecticide applications made by commercial applicators to field corn in 1994 were made for the control of corn rootworms (Table 58).

COMMENTS AND CONCERNS OF NEW YORK STATE GROWERS

The following are comments written by growers on their surveys. They fall into one of three categories: public perception, control of pests, or pesticide regulations.

Public Perception

• "The public needs to be educated that they don't have to be afraid of a corn field. People assume a corn field is a hazardous waste area. Landlords and neighbors think we are all poisoning the land and that farmers are indiscriminate polluters."
• " Corn is a great crop to grow - easily mechanized - good feed for cattle, high energy source. On the other hand, it is very expensive to grow. The use of chemicals is an absolute must, but growing concerns with the environment
  has made non farmers and consumer groups wary. We need a higher level of education to these groups to help alleviate their fears."
• "Don't forget we as farmers have families. We are concerned about health issues as we are more exposed to chemicals than the consumer is. Our wives and families buy all the groceries at the same stores other people do. We want and deseve good information on which we base our decisions."
• "We need all the products and tools we can get in order to ultimately use less total pesticide. I get very tired of some environmental groups thinking farmers spray pesticides on crops just because they have nothing else to do, or worse yet, don't know any better. We don't put $4,000 or more in a sprayer and then go apply it unless it is absolutely necessary."

Regulations/Certification/Pesticide Use

• "I don't feel we farmers are being treated fairly in regards to the use of pesticides. We now must take tests in order to purchase and use chemicals and then go to some of the 'foolish' meetings in order to get 'points' to get our recertification. The meetings I have attended give me the impression people feel we are not applying the chemicals properly or do not give a hoot about the environment. If they only knew how much we have invested in these chemicals and machinery. We farmers have enough common sense to know not to spray when it's windy, not near open ditches, streams and ponds, and certainly not near the neighbor's houses where we rent land."
• "I personally feel that there is too much blame on the farmers who try to do everything they can do to be safe with their own, and everyone else's lives. I do not like how the average person can go to a department store and buy a pesticide with no training, apply it by dumping it, instead of spraying. Then they blame other people for the problems of the environment. We, the farmers, do not have the money to throw around and waste with not having the training to apply it correctly."
• "More restrictions should be implemented to household and lawn care products. They pose serious environmental problems."
• "I would like to see New York State have quicker approval of newly released pesticides - ones that the EPA and other states have already approved. Each additional agency that requires approval before use only drives the corn growers' cost up for the pesticides, and for crop production, such that NYS, which is a marginal corn production area, will eventually have fewer and fewer farmers producing. I am very concerned about the re-evaluation of atrazine. If it is not reapproved, there will be no replacement for this broad spectrum and economical herbicide."
• "New York State corn producers have to be competitive with Midwest corn growers who have a much wider spectrum of chemical controls that are priced more competitively. Chemical companies don't register in NY because of delays in registration. Atrazine products and others are more cost effective than many alternatives."
• "To grow food and crops we need the option of chemicals that are safe for all users and the environment. When we lose good products that do a good job, it will cost everybody lots of money. We must read and apply according to the label to protect the environment, people and products."
• "In New York State, farmers are dying of taxes and other expenses. Other states bordering New York have more access to less costly pesticides. Atrazine is one of the few chemicals we can use to control small problems with lower cost per acre."
• "With the demise of atrazine formulations, the growing of corn will be very expensive."
• "We need access to newer, safer chemicals. I would not remove older ones from the market, however. We need to be able to rotate chemicals in order to avoid resistance problems."
• "Our main concern in using pesticides in growing crops are the threats of fines and liabilities. Even though we use practical precautions, we are aware things possibly can go wrong. We are very mindful of the effects to persons and the environment, and do our utmost to be careful. It seems that the control agency could be more understanding and helpful in the products they license for the public to use. After all, they and the government make the decision to put these pesticides on the market. By their very act of licensing they are the ones who introduce hazardous material into the environment."
• "Accept Pennsylvania training for recertification for license."
• "I feel I have a serious deer problem. I lose between 5-10% of my corn crop to deer and raccoon (mostly deer). I would like farmers who grow more than 40 acres of corn to take two deer per year without a permit, or be able to apply for a 5 year permit to remove two deer per year."
• "I feel a landowner should have the right to kill deer for his own use when there is deer damage."

Control Measures and Problems

"I believe that maintaining short rotations is the most economical and environmentally advantageous way to produce field corn. The most successful way we have had has been to use atrazine as the sole herbicide. Since atrazine rates have been cut we have had to use other (more expensive and more dangerous) herbicides to get control. Keeping fields in corn for only two years prevents weeds from becoming established which might in longer production plans. Also, insect and disease problems are minimized in short rotations not to mention the decreased need for commercial fertilizers."

• "Crop rotation remains the best control." (Four growers wrote this.)
• "Mowing is used to control weeds. Also use cover cropping. We are reluctant to use spray of any kind due to environmental and health concerns."
• "We tried some red clover for cover crop on about 100 acres in 1994. Applied at cultivation. It didn't work. The corn shaded out the clover."
• "Increase of stalk disease making grain corn hard to harvest."
• "I am very interested in band applications of herbicides over the row at planting to control in-row weeds, with cultivation to control between row weeds. I would like to see more information on equipment set-up, operation and related information."

COMPARISONS AND CONCLUSIONS

According to "Pest and Pesticide Use Assessment in Dairy Cattle/Field and Forage Production Systems in the Northeast, 1986, 66.7% of New York corn was produced using a conventional tillage system, 17.4% no-till, and 16.4% reduced tillage. In an unpublished 1990 survey, conventional tillage was used on 87.9% of the acreage, 6.0% was no-till and 4.0% was reduced tillage. This survey (1994) shows a much different pattern. Fifty-six percent of total acreage surveyed used a conventional tillage system, 42% used reduced (conservation) tillage, and only 2% used no-till systems. This pattern is reflective of atmosphere/public concern/specialists' recommendations over the past ten years on herbicide use, water quality, and soil erosion.

This pattern also explains the difference in herbicide usage from 1986, 1990 and 1994 by New York growers illustrated in Table 59. For almost all of the herbicides listed, the percent of acreage treated was the least in 1990 (when most of the corn acreage was produced using conventional tillage), followed by 1986, and the most acreage was treated in 1995. However, the amount (lbs) of active ingredient applied per acre has decreased since 1986.

Since 1986, corn rootworm has been cited as the insect for which most insecticides are used. However, the actual insecticides, amounts used and acreage treated has changed (Table 60). In 1986, the insecticide used on the most acreage was chlorpyrifos, followed by terbufos. In 1990, it was carbofuan followed by terbufos, and in 1994, tefluthrin (which was not used at all in 1986 or 1990) was used on almost half of the treated acreage. Rates have also changed, but not greatly, except in the case of fonofos which was being applied at the rate of 4.0 lbs/acre in 1990 versus 1.0 lb/acre in both
1986 and 1994.

In comparison to other corn producing states, herbicide applications in New York State appear to cover more acreage, and applicators apply more pounds of active ingredient per acre (Table 61). Also, applicators in some states appear to be utilizing herbicides that are not being used at all in New York.

In comparison to United States pesticide use on corn, New York, in this survey, applied only 0.3% of the total herbicides (213,195,408 lbs ai, Gianessi and Anderson, 1995) applied to corn, and only 0.03% of the total insecticides (26,418,410 lbs ai).

Growers seem to be genuinely interested in following correct procedures. Storage of pesticides is being done correctly in "pesticide only" locations, locked and in original containers. Most growers either carryover unused pesticides, or return them to the manufacturer. Disposal of containers is being done properly, and application equipment is being calibrated at least "once a season."

Use of alternative methods to control pests appears to be much less in 1994 than it was in New York in 1990. For example, the unpublished data from 1990 indicated that 90.2% of growers used crop rotation to control pests, while only 30% used it in 1994. However, this may be due to how the question was asked. In 1990, growers were only asked if they used certain non-chemical methods, while in this survey, they needed to indicate what pest they used the method for, and how many acres were treated in this manner.

According to Specker, et. al., 1986, weeds caused 2 percent yield losses to corn in the Northeast. If atrazine were no longer available for use, the yield losses due to weeds would increase to 13 percent. If no triazines were available, losses would increase to about 28 percent, and if all herbicides were no longer available, weed losses would increase tremendously to about 61%. In this survey, that appears to be the case for corn grown for grain, although not as severe (Table 62). There is actually an increase in yield on corn for silage when triazines were not used, but that may be reflective of the low number of fields where this occurrred (13 fields).

If no insecticides were available in the aforementioned 1986 survey, there would be a one to three percent yield loss due to various insects. In this survey, average yield for corn grown for silage with insecticides was 19.2 tons, versus 15.7 tons for silage corn grown without insecticides. That is an 18.2% loss without insecticides. For corn grown for grain, the loss was much less: 5.2% loss for grain corn grown without insecticides.

In a comparison of effect of use of insecticides on yield in various rotations, the least amount of loss is found in first year corn (Table 63). It is interesting to find that the greatest loss occurs in second year corn, and there is even a gain in yield on third year corn for grain that did not have insecticides applied.

REFERENCES

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