Mary Shepherd, the Editor of Farmers Market Today, expresses her concerns over errant aerial applicators. They spray pesticides and fungicides in an unprofessional manner leading to losses. The article starts by stating how in the month of July, crops in a farm were damaged while being sprayed by an errant aerial sprayer. The farmers had no option but to collect all the crops affected and record how much they had lost.
The plants were damaged and could not be used for consumption because of the chemicals. The farmers then destroyed all the collected plants after recording. After the incident, farmers in Iowa are more cautious during spraying because of the damage they faced earlier (Shepherd). They are currently rectifying the affected parts of the farm to get rid of the contamination. They gave a guideline on how to deal with the issue if anyone faced similar problems.
They stated that if a farmer witnessed the spraying of a non-crop area, they should immediately record the date, time, and location and forward the complaint to the State Pesticide Bureau. They should also note the weather, especially if the application took place on a windy day. Pictures should be taken as proof of the complaint. The Editor ended the article by asking the readers to forward similar incidences to the magazine to help other farmers.
The article acts as a watchdog for farmers subscribed to the online magazine. This story’s primary purpose is to educate farmers on what to do when they are affected by such situations. The Editor should offer more insight on how to avoid such violations. She should have done more to educate her readers on companies that offer better spraying of pesticides in farms to avoid damages.
Works Cited
Shepherd, Mary. “Getting Sprayed Starting over.” Farmers Market Today. 2013. Web.