Mounting Methyl Problems

Conventional strawberry growers face fumigation limits.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

While sweet berries line grocery store shelves, conventional strawberry growers are anticipating challenges on multiple fronts when it comes to fumigating their fields this summer.  

Methyl bromide, long an essential in strawberry growers’ pesticide cache, is subject to tighter, court-ordered restrictions this year. The new limits come on top of a phase-out of the ozone-depleting fumigant under an international treaty. 

Last year, fumigators were permitted to apply up to 270,000 pounds of methyl bromide to a 6-by-6-mile area (called a “township” in state parlance) per month. That limit has been reduced to 171,625 pounds, the outcome of a 2004 lawsuit against the California Department of Pesticide Regulation by California Rural Legal Assistance. The DPR was ordered to consult with the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment in determining allowable levels.  

“It’s a fairly significant change,” says Dennis Lane, sales manager at Hollister-based fumigation company Trical. “More than likely, there will be townships during peak times of year that will hit these caps.” 

Ken Allen, Monterey County’s deputy agricultural commissioner, says the Pajaro area is unusually busy as growers try to get ahead of the new restrictions.  

An alternative fumigant, methyl iodide (sold under the trade name Midas) was registered for use in California last December, despite opposition from the DPR’s advisory scientists. But Allen says local growers are wary of the controversial product: “We don’t anticipate seeing much Midas this year.”