Grainswest - Fall 2024

Fall 2024 Grains West 12 THE FARMGATE TEAM ALBERTA CROPS conducted a three-year, $1.5-million pro- ject to measure pesticide concentrations on farm wetlands. The organization’s commission members, product manu- facturers and Results Driven Agriculture Research provided funding. Completed last fall, sampling for nu- merous chemicals found no exceedances of Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) guidelines. This indicates farm- ers employ effective stewardship in their crop protection practices, said Nevin Rosaasen. Alberta Pulse Growers sustain- ability and government relations lead, he played a major role in the project. He said it confirms products are being used according to label instructions and vege- tative filter strips are used effectively as buffers to mitigate spray drift and runoff. “The combination of those beneficial management practices and good steward- ship have resulted in our project demon- strating there is no risk to aquatic life,” he added. “That includes fish, plants, algae and aquatic invertebrates in the wetlands we sampled across Alberta. It’s a real good news story.” Though some were apprehensive about what the study might uncover, the commissions and farmers who volun- teered their land acknowledged the need for good data. “They wanted to learn more about current practices and if these posed a risk to wetlands,” said Rosaasen. The Team Alberta project accessed 21 sites on private land. It also gathered complementary information such as crop, seed treatment and spray records. The data will be used to retain inputs farmers rely on. Product registrants are able to use it for PMRA re-evaluations of their chemistries. Team Alberta is now in talks with the PMRA to allow the agency to access the project’s online data portal directly for use in upcoming re-evalua- tions. There is a need to ensure privacy of farmer data and that results aren’t taken out of context by the public, said Rosaas- en. A detection may cause undue alarm where levels are in fact so low they’re difficult to detect. Measurements of vegetative filter strips were taken at the minimum width between each wetland’s high-water mark and the edge of the seeded and sprayed crop. The amount of ground cover and the plant species within the strip were also noted as were rough estimates of the land’s angle of slope. Team Alberta is now working with its registrant partners and the PMRA to create better filter strip guidance for farmers. While a three-me- tre buffer is required under Alberta’s Water Act, the labelled requirement for insecticides is 10 metres. Where tempo- rary water creates puddles in a field or submerges a portion of it, maintaining buffers can be a huge challenge. “There’s still a lot of work to be done on our understanding of vegetative filters strips, but we do know three-metre buffers are effective at mitigating pesticide drift and runoff,” said Rosaasen. He emphasized the study supports En- vironment and Climate Change Canada’s sustainable agriculture and biodiversity strategies. And though it is constrained by limited budget and staff, it is one of the most well-regarded human health and environmental regulatory agen- cies in the world. “Team Alberta Crops always works with our colleagues at the PMRA to ensure we can move forward into a changing climate with beneficial management practices that will continue to protect our environment and protect Canadians,” said Rosaasen. “The project helped demonstrate our farmers are using these products correct- ly,” said Shannon Sereda, Alberta Grains director of government relations, policy and markets. “And the PMRA has ac- knowledged we’ve built the gold standard framework for water monitoring.” Awinforwetlandsstewardship TeamAlberta Crops project delivers good news The three-year study established that Alberta farmers widely employ effective stewardship in their crop protection practices. BY IAN DOIG • PHOTO COURTESY OF ALBERTA PULSE GROWERS