Here in the United States, it's pretty easy to find a chemical that will make life easier some way or another. Gasoline makes a trip from the Ozarks to the beach possible in a long day's drive. Shampoo and deodorant make it a heck of a lot easier to enjoy your seat at a Razorback football game. If you're an athlete, a hunter, or a hiker, materials such as Gore-Tex, polyester and nylon help you stay dry, warm and comfortable when the weather is bad.
These familiar products are the result of decades of research and testing and collectively include assorted petroleum products, waxes, fats, oils, alcohols, silicone and citric acid, just to name a few ingredients. Advances in chemistry make our modern way of life possible. This truth also applies to modern farming.
Whether derived directly from the earth or from a series of test tubes, a great number of chemicals are combined to manage pests, fertilize crops, keep livestock healthy, sanitize working facilities -- and the list goes on. The purchase and application of pesticides is a normal part of modern agriculture.
People have strong feelings about pesticide use, favorable and unfavorable, but that's not the topic here. Rather, what is the best way to dispose of pesticides that are no longer needed? Fortunately for Arkansas farmers, every year there is a safe, easy opportunity to dispose of outdated, discontinued or otherwise unwanted pesticides.
Managed by the Arkansas State Plant Board, the Agricultural Abandoned Pesticide Program began collecting unwanted pesticides in 2005. Since its introduction, more than 740,000 pounds of pesticides have been collected and properly disposed by licensed contractors. The neatest thing about this program is it is free to farmers, no questions are asked, and collection sites rotate conveniently around the state yearly. The objective is simple: remove pesticides from the farm that are no longer needed and properly dispose of them.
Now it's our turn to take advantage of this program. In Benton County, the designated collection sites are the County Road shops at 200 Spavinaw in Decatur and 17900 Dennis Mitchell in Garfield. The collection date for both locations is Nov. 3. Collection times run from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
For large quantities, call the Benton County Extension Office (479-271-1060), and ask for an inventory form. If packaging is so degraded the pesticide cannot be moved safely, the pesticide can be picked up on site, but an inventory form is also needed for this service. If you can't make it on Nov. 3, a collection site will be manned at the Washington County Fairgrounds on Nov. 4.
So what are the two easy steps to safe pesticide disposal?
On Nov. 3, drive the products to the collection site and hand them off to the pesticide crew. It doesn't get much easier than that!
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Neal Mays is the agricultural extension agent with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service's office in Benton County. His phone number is 479-271-1060. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
General News on 10/26/2016