It thrills me to hear about organic blueberries. There were several pices of land we would have bought when we were looking but they were surrounded by barrens. We wouldn't buy because of the chemicals.

I hope to be there at the meeting,too.

Flagship Sponsor


Farmers' Rights to Apply Pesticides Challenged
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 8, 2005 – Threats of a lawsuit have forced a Maine blueberry grower to abandon his legal right to aerial spray. The threat of legal action is an abuse of the court system and warrants immediate attention from Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

The Maine blueberry farm of Jasper Wyman & Son was threatened with a lawsuit by activist groups unless the family farm sought Clean Water Act permits to aerially apply pesticides. Jasper Wyman & Son announced yesterday that it would cease aerial spraying because the legal defense costs would threaten the 125-year old farm's existence.

AFBF supports the farm's decision and understands that family farmers normally don't have the financial resources to defend themselves against lawsuits brought by coalitions of activist groups, said AFBF President Bob Stallman.

In spite of the activists' claims, for the last three decades, the EPA, and now the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, have said that Clean Water Act permits are not necessary for pesticides applied in compliance with federal pesticide laws and regulations. After the threat, the Wymans asked Maine DEP whether they needed a permit. Maine DEP said "no" and also issued a letter explaining this long-held policy to the activists' attorney.

"If the activists want changes, then they should take on the EPA or ask Congress to change laws, rather than attacking family-run businesses," Stallman said.

The decision by Wyman & Son to bow to activists' demands now increases the urgency for EPA and congressional action. This is the second blueberry farmer to relent in the face of lawsuits. The groups that threatened the lawsuits have stated they intend to establish a new "standard" and force their will on other farmers through threats of litigation.

In deciding not to aerially apply, Wyman and Son is not admitting any liability to apply for a permit or violation of the Clean Water Act. The farming operation also reserves the right to once again aerially apply if it can obtain protection against these lawsuits.

-30-

Contacts: Tracy Taylor Grondine
(202) 406-3642
tracyg@fb.org Richard Keller
(202) 406-3640
keller@fb.org

This page was last modified Fri Apr 08, 2005 at 12:06 pm

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((snip))
Hope it doesnt get too political there at the meeting.
I dont see trying to not comply with the clean water acts and just get approval before arial spraying?!

It seems that McDonalds has an invested interest with beef farmers and the likes, I wonder if the manager is encourage to hold meetings where the bureau may be bias and inturn the bias is quite influential to any attending.

Could be interesting to see what everyone talks about though.

I wonder if there is any gmo hype? new chems for the coming year?

just thinking-
Sue

I don't think these issues or politics will be a problem. Farm Bureau in general does a lot with commodity farmers. MOFGA is my style. I don't think we'll see large scale blueberry growers there but it's entirely possible. The areas included cover a lot of small, diversified organic farms.

Martha and her granddaughter came to market in Calais last year. She spent a couple of hours talking with all of us, taking pictures and wrote a story for The Maine Farmer. I haven't seen it yet so I'm hoping she brings it with her.

But thank you for speaking about Martha and giving me some insight, should be more interesting now!

Robin how were the blueberries looking last year in your
area.

The berries in our immediate area looked awesome, I was just curious. About 20 bee hives were placed in the fields and an electric fence once the bears had knocked the hives around.( Wish I could have sat in my car from a distance to see that happen!)

I haven't heard there aren't any wild bees. That's something I've wondered about occasionally. I'd love to find a wild hive. There are honey bees here. Maybe they're escapees? That doesn't sound right though.

Yesterday morning there was a big fat bumblebee in the greenhouse. He was bright orange with pollen. He was kind of sluggish from an encounter with a fan. I put him out and then forgot to look to see if he'd flown.