arming, Saturday, Aprl 11, 1998 ST. LOUIS. MO. The label on the jug says "crop oil concen trate.” If you believe that means the product is made from a vege table oil, you’d better read the la bel a little closer. Chances are, the primary ingredient is a petroleum distillate. The United Soybean Board (USB) wants farmers and other herbicide users to know the differ ence and then make up their own minds whether to use a herbicide adjuvant made from petroleum or one made from a vegetable oil, such as soybean oil. The USB does not recommend any particu lar brand of herbicide or any brand of adjuvant But, since vegetable oil is an important market for soy beans, and since die use of vege table oils as an adjuvant could be an important growth market for soybean oil, they do want all herbicide users, farm and non farm, to be able to make an in formed decision. An adjuvant does not contain an active ingredient to control weeds or other pests; it is an additive used to help a pesticide work more effectively. This may allow pesti cide manufacturers to recommend a lower rate of a pesticide or im prove control of a pest so that re treatment is less frequent or un necessary. But adjuvants arc not regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency as pesticides are, and there are no consistent, national labeling laws for adju vants used with herbicides and other pesticides. Several different kinds of adju vants are defined by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). The ASTM defines a crop oil concentrate as “an emulsi fiablc petroleum oil-based product containing 15 to 20 percent w/w surfactant and a minimum of 80 percent w/w phytobland oil.” The name “crop oil” came from the fact that the product was formu lated to be used on crops, not be cause it came from a crop. The ASTM defines a modified vegetable oil concentrate as “an emulsifiable, chemically modified vegetable oil product containing S to 20 percent w/w surfactant and the remainder chemically modi fied vegetable oil.” If the product says “methylated seed oil” or “methylated vegetable oil” or “methyl soyate” it is vegetable oil based. But some vegetable oil based products are mistakenly called “crop oils” or “crop oil con centrates” and may list ingredients with chemical names that are not recognizable to the lay person as coming from a vegetable oil. These vegetable oils primarily come from seeds such as soy beans, sunflowers, canola and cot tonseed but, in some cases, may be derived from coconut or palm oils. Almost all adjuvants contain or act as a surfactant to improve the dispersion of the herbicide in the water used as a carrier. Some sur factants, or surface active agents, may also be made from vegetable products or contain products such as soy lecithin as an ingredient This surfactant action also im proves the “wetting” of the leaf surface, so more herbicide stays on the weed. Vegetable oil con centrates and modified vegetable oil concentrates do both of these things, as do straight surfactants. Additionally, modified vege table oil concentrates improve the penetration of the herbicide into the weed. Experts don’t agree on United Soybean Board Reports On Oils In Herbicides how this occurs physically, though the widely held theory is that the modified vegetable oil acts as a solvent to penetrate the waxy cuticle covering the leaf and allow more herbicide to be ab sorbed. Vegetable oil concen trates, those that are not chemical ly modified, have less solvency so they may not hasten penetration of the herbicide significantly, but do help to “stick” the herbicide to the leaf. This logically results in in creased uptake of the herbicide, but less rapidly than with a modi fied vegetable oil. Finally, die solvent properties of modified vegetable oils may help to dissolve some herbicides. This also helps to distribute the herbicide evenly throughout the spray mixture, which can lead to more consistent results. For most post-emergence herbi cides. use of either a vegetable oil concentrate or a modified vege table oil concentrate will improve NFU Applauds Secretary Glickman, Senators For Agreement To Combat Anti-Competitive Measures WASHINGTON, D.C. Na- «M)-M on t, and Paul Wellstone, tional Fanners Union (NFU) fly- °-Mmn. in participants were the first to TTn 77lose ac^ ess,n « learn that a group of U.S. senators led by Senate Minority Leader S ip " . in u the . fl y ,n and Tom Daschle, D-S.D., has agreed s . work , ln kee P in « <roncen with Agriculture Secretary Dan agncuM marlcets on Glickman to aggressively pursue . egislanve front burner. NFU measures to combat anti-comped- . P° inted danger to pro tive practices in the livestock pro- 38 * eUas £ consumers of cessing sector. «“"« > ndus struclur ® “ “We must end the secret deals whl< ; h more ** n 80 percent of red in livestock sales right now.” njMt processing natmwide is con- Dachle told NFU fly-in partici- ?° J ust four multinational pants. “I'm very pleased to an- fums - Col " Pares Wlth J^ 1 . 36 nounce that the secretary has said ° f K red meat he agrees with us and will aggres- ctrolled by these firms in 1980. sively seek mandatory price re- P° the fact porting (of livestock sales) with con ? umer . PP ces Congress and make suer that it be- ” ma “ ed °f"“ ant despite precipi comes law before year end.” to " s drops in 68 ofUvcan *- NFU has repeatedly called for ma 1 mandatory price reporting on all livestock sales, including the price and terms of meat sales for export, on the basis that a lack of price transparency has contributed to a thinner market and lower live stock prices. NFU also has been frustrated by the lack of aggres sive enforcement of Packers and Stockyards Act provisions which are supposed to be used to combat anti-competitive practices by the buyers and processors of live stock. “We want to be sure that we put teeth into the Packers and Stock yards laws, and we want to see the Department of Agriculture use muscle to put competition back in to the system,” Daschle said. “This isn’t something that ought to be left just to the Department of Agriculture. I want to see the De partment of Justice do for meat what it has done with Microsoft in the last month.” Daschle made the announce ment on the steps of the Senate be fore 130 Farmers Union members immediately following the group’s meeting with Glickman. Daschle was joined in the an nouncement by Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., and Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. Others meeting with Glickman were Sens. Bob Kerrey, D-Neb„ Tom Harkin, D-lowa, Kent Conrade, D-N.D., Max Bau its performance. The amount of improvement depends on the herbicide; with modified vege table oils working as well as, and sometimes significantly beter than, the petroleum-based oils. Control of larger weeds and/or longer-lasting weed control arc some of the benefits attributed to the use of modified vegetable oil concentrates. In recent years, work specifical ly with modified seed oil concen trates as adjuvants have shown them to be clearly superior to pe troleum-based crop oil concen trates when used with specific herbicides. These herbicides re commend using a modified vege table oil concentrate as an adju vant This is when it is most im portant to know whether the adjuvant you select contains a ve getable oil or a petroleum oil as its base. Just because it says “crop oil concentrate” does not mean it con tains vegetable oil “We need aggressive attention by the department (USDA) in each of these four areas. The secretary has said he will work with us to make it happen. Now we have to make sure the job gets done,” Daschle said. The announcement by Daschle follows an address to NFU fly-in participants yesterday by Vice President A 1 Gore, who stressed the importance of involving agri cultural producers in the develop ment and implementation of en vironmental regulations. A LESSON WELL LEARNED... LANCASTER FARMING’S CLASSIFIED ADS GET RESULTS! The use of a crop oil concen trate, or a modified vegetable oil concentrate, is not recommended with some herbicides. This should be clearly spelled out on the herbi cide label. There can be serveral reasons for this: the herbicide may not be compatible with an oil and the spray mixture may form a jel ly-like substance; the oil may make the herbicide move too quickly into the leaf, killing the leaf but not moving into other parts of the plant so the weed grows back; or the use of an oil with the herbicide may cause crop damage. In the last case, it may still be effective to use a vegetable oil concentrate. These non-modi fied vegetable oils with surfac tants may improve the activity of the herbicide, although a modified vegetable oil does not. There may be some basis for the perception that vegetable oil con centrates and modified vegetable oil concentrates are less likely to cause crop damage, but data com paring the potential for crop injury between petroleum-based crop oU concentrates and vegetable oils, or modified vegetable oils, on a wide variety of crops under various cli matic conditions, is not available. At recommended rates, vege table oils and modified vegetable oils themselves do not cause crop damage. Because they enhance penetration of the herbicide into the plant, either petroleum-based crop oil concentrates or modified vegetable oil concentrates may in tensify the activity of a specific herbicide on a crop and cause crop injury. Herbicicde damage to a crop varies greatly with climatic conditions and the development stage of the crop. The use of any adjuvant is one more factor which may, or may not, be the cause of crop injury in a specific situation. Avoiding contact between the herbicide spray and the crop is the best method of reducing or elim inating the potential for crop dam age. “ Our goal is not to recommend one herbicide over any other, or any adjuvant brand over any other,” David Durham, chairman of the United Soybean Board Do mestic Marketing Committee stated. “I, personally, use methy lated seed oil as an adjuvant when- ever it fits my program, and I am Surfactant - see surface-active pleased with the performance, agent. That doesn’t mean that it is the Vegetable oil oil extracted right choice with every herbicide from seeds; typically those of or for every situation. It’s up to xorn, cotton, peanut, rapeseed, each herbicide user to read and sunflower, canola, or soybean. follow the label directions that Vegetable oil concentrate come with the herbicide. I just an emulsifiable vegetable oil want every fanner, every road su- product containing sto 20 percent pervisor, every utility company, weighl-tc-weight(w/w) surfactant every forest owner and any other and a minimum of 80 percent w/« herbicide user to know that they vegetable oil. EXTENDED PARTS DEPT. STORE HOURS EFFECTIVE MONDAY, APRIL 6, 1998 To Better Serve You During The Busy Planting Season APRIL - MAY - JUNE MON. THRU FRI. 7:00 AM -8:00 PM; SAT. 7:00 AM • 3:00 PM 133 Rothsville Station Rd. iaMM DTWT mmiPCT P.0.80x 0395 H*| Iw BWKrf £ SS® 1 Liti,z - PA17543 m Farm Plan “f ItllOS INC — / {717)626-4705 Ct 3 ASnwolFPCFmndl . I*Boo-414-4705 FAX 7 17 . 6 26-099 j have a choice to use a vegetable oil-based product, instead of a pe troleum-based product” A list of herbicide adjuvants containing vegetable oils, particu larly soybean oil, has been com piled and placed on the Internet at www.StratSoy.com and at www.omnitechintl.com. For more information about soy adjuvants please contact your state soybean board. Crop oil concentrate an emulsifiable petroleum oil-based product containing 15 to 20 per cent weight-to-weight (w/w) sur-1 factant and a minimum of 80 per-1 cent w/w phytobland oil. | Crop oil (emulsifiable) an | emulsifiable petroleum oil-based | product containing up to five per-1 cent weight-to-weight (w/w) sur-1 factant and the remainder of a| phytobland oil. ’ Modified vegetable oil an , oil, extracted from seeds, that has I been chemically modified (for ex-1 ample, methylated). Modified vegetable oil con centrate an emulsifiable, chemically modified vegetable oil! product containing 5 to 20 percent weight-to-weight (w/w) surfactant « and the remainder chemically modified vegetable oil. I Nonionic surfactant a sur-| face-active agent having no ioniz-j able polar-end groups but com-* prised of hydrophilic and lipo-j philic segments. i Phytobland oil a highly re- j fined paraffinic material with a minimum unsulfonated residue of 92 percent (v/v). Sticker a material that as sists the spray deposit to adhere a stick to the target and may be mea sured in terms of resistance to time, wind, water, mechanical ac tion, or chemical action. Surface-active agent i material that, when added to a liq uid medium, modifies the proper- ties of the medium at a surface a interface. Note surface-active agent it the general term which include! soluble detergents in liquid medium, dispersing agents, emul sifying agents, foaming agents, penetrating agents, and wetting agents. NOTICE ASTM Definitions
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