Metaldehyde to be withdrawn for outdoor uses

radar

Member
Mixed Farmer
Having applied my propizamide on to my rape end of last week in ideal travelling conditions, after this weeks rain, I image they'll find that in the water next! If they ban that next, the rape job will be completely jiggered.
 

Flintstone

Member
Location
Berkshire
Will this ban also extend across domestic use of metaldehyde too? The kind that’s sold in little boxes in garden centres for £14.99 per kilo, and then spread liberally across gardens that are less than 3 metres from a roadside drain?

[and the main reason the water levels of metaldehyde are so high]
 

Hindsight

Member
Location
Lincolnshire
Will this ban also extend across domestic use of metaldehyde too? The kind that’s sold in little boxes in garden centres for £14.99 per kilo, and then spread liberally across gardens that are less than 3 metres from a roadside drain?

[and the main reason the water levels of metaldehyde are so high]

The decision to withdraw approval for outdoor use applies to both professional and amateur use.
 

No5

Member
Location
South Essex
The decision to withdraw approval for outdoor use applies to both professional and amateur use.
But who will stop amateur outdoor use if still available to buy in garden centres? Most people will still throw them about outside. Probably don't read the instructions/restrictions anyway.
 

Exfarmer

Member
Location
Bury St Edmunds
I can see the Guardian article already... "The scientific study, funded by the Eradicate Farmers Institute, found hedgehogs fed 50kg of ferric phosphate died. Therefore all wildlife decline, including polar bears, is because farmers use ferric phosphate"
For humans , ferric phosphate pellets are as poisonous as Metaldehyde!
Not sure about hedgehogs.
 
But who will stop amateur outdoor use if still available to buy in garden centres? Most people will still throw them about outside. Probably don't read the instructions/restrictions anyway.

They won't be on the shelf.

This ban will hardly affect me because I like ferric. Yes it is expensive but they work well for me.

If anyone considers them dangerous, will they keep quiet, we have enougth critics without giving those critics ammuntion.

I think metahdyde has been banned because it has found its way into ground water, not because of toxicity to wildlife living in hedges.
 

Exfarmer

Member
Location
Bury St Edmunds
Oral rat LD50 for Sluxx (Ferric) greater than 5000mg/kg.
Oral rat LD50 for Super3 (Meta) 227mg/kg.

Seems to suggest otherwise?
The LD50 is quoted for the ferric phosphate alone and does not account for the chelates
incidentally the LD 50 of iron is around 250mg/kg
on its own ferric phosphate is of little risk to humans or slugs. The chelates enable the gut to uptake a super quantity of the iron present, chelates on their own are of no harm so have escaped many of the regulation.
Their ability to increase the uptake of certain elements has been used for many years by manufacturers of mineral supplements.

I read up on this a couple of years ago as we use pellets in the garden and was concerned about my grandson playing. It appears both products are of similar risk to humans, which is very low!
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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    Votes: 79 42.0%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 66 35.1%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.0%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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