06/11/08 Guthion Stewardship

Guthion Stewardship. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. MANA Crop Protection has been working to develop an education and outreach program to reduce farmworkers' risk of exposure to Guthion and other pesticides as they are working in apple orchards during hand thinning or harvest. Leo Gaeta of the Columbia Basin Health Association has been conducting these programs. GAETA: One of the tasks that we take on is helping educate our families. It's a focus on prevention. Things they can do to prevent damage or injury or later health affects. The programs are working alongside the EPA, farm labor groups and growers and with funding from MANA. GAETA: The focus is small behaviors that families can take on an everyday basis to prevent exposure. We know that being an agriculture community means that's one of the givens; you know pesticides are used for many purposes. The piece that we want to do is just raise the awareness and teach families small things they can do. Without this stewardship program EPA likely would not have extended the labeled registration for Guthion in apples, leaving growers with few affordable options to manage codling moth and other pests. Gaeta says the education is really important. GAETA: One of the exercise we do is give a quiz and we say pesticides are used as deodorants and quite a few families answer, yes they are because they smell. We use that as an education opportunity to talk to them. The next Pesticide Safety Presentation will be June 12 at the Washington State Migrant Council in Mattawa, WA. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.