Farmers Cautioned Over Glyphosate

SASKATOON - Apr 20/11 - SNS -- Canadian lentil growers need to be especially careful about using glyphosate on lentil crops this year because even following the label directions could result in residues which exceed the maximum limits in Europe.

"If producers used pre-harvest glyphosate on their 2010 lentil crop and followed label directions, the glyphosate residues are likely to be between 0.1 parts per million (ppm) and 4 ppm," says Garth Patterson, Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers.

"This means that your lentil crop will meet the Canadian glyphosate MRL of 4 ppm, but will not meet the EU MRL of 0.1 ppm." Glyphosate levels greater than 4 ppm in lentil will exceed the Canadian MRL and cannot be sold for any use.

Buyers may ask producers to sign a declaration regarding their pre-harvest glyphosate use on lentil for the 2011 growing season. "There are other options such as Diquat (Reglone) which has also been registered for pre-harvest use on lentil," says Patterson." Growers should also know that a pre-emergent burn off with glyphosate does not result in any carryover of the glyphosate residue to the harvested lentil crop."

An MRL for a crop is set at a level that is not likely to be exceeded if the crop protection product is used in accordance with approved label instructions and good agricultural practices. "Harmonization of MRL's between countries is occurring, especially for new products, but there are gaps," explains Patterson.

It could take up to 12 months to process an application to increase the MRL in the EU and there is no guarantee the EU will approve the application. Therefore, producers should base their lentil harvest management plans on the assumption that the EU MRL will be 0.1 ppm throughout the 2011 growing season.