It's
been a few weeks since Brexit and things are pretty cloudy. We
don't fully know what it means and how it will affect us all in a
daily basis just yet. Alan Abel from Complete Weed Control discusses
what this means for the amenity industry.
People
sleep-walked into the vote and didn't realise the ramifications. It
must have been a sign from someone that there where over a thousand
lightning strikes in the south east on the eve of the vote.
The
morning of the 24th June in the London area was chaotic, with
multiple train stations shut, flooding incidents everywhere and that
chaos lasted all day. This must have skewed the voting in that
area, as there where nothing but stranded people and vehicles
everywhere, leaving them probably unable to cast their important
vote.
In
our Amenity world, we were waiting with bated breath on the outcome.
No, not the Brexit but the Glexit.
Our
vote was due on the 24th as well, but in true EU style, the vote to
extend the use of glyphosate for eighteen months went down to the
wire on the 29th
- just 24 hours before the licence expired.
A
totally ridiculous situation for the world's most utilised herbicide
to find itself subjected to.
Just
a few mis-judged words by the WHO, led the green campaigners and the
Soil Association to get on the bandwagon and lobby MeP's to
outlaw glyphosate.
No
science was useful in this argument.
I
was at the Wiltshire regional launch of glyphosate in the mid 1970's
in the Bear Hotel, Devizes. The rep from Monsanto actually glugged
some from a glass! That herbicide revolutionised agriculture across
the globe and has had many use changes over the years preceding its
inception.
In
those days the cost was prohibitive. It was the container that you
may
have had five litres of in your store. That cost £95 and only to be
used on special occasions.
Now
it has become the stock in trade of the Amenity industry (£25
average price) given that we no longer have the triazines, amitroles,
diurons and paraquats that were our staple products on industrial
sites and street pavements up to the 1990's.
Now,
the label on a glyphosate product stipulates that only spot
treatment is permitted.
That's
all well and good if people stuck to the rules. Sadly that's not the
case and people are still 'blanket spraying' putting glyphosate and
the whole of the amenity industry into jeopardy.
At
this juncture, I must point out with pride, that Compete Weed Control
has championed spot treatment of this product on hard surfaces since
1997
and have reduced the use of glyphosate by up to 80%
in certain situations.
This
has been by the use of the Weed
It system of application. This
machine can see chlorophyll in leaves on weeds in hard surfaces and
then automatically administer the correct dose of glyphosate onto the
plant.
It
is the world's leading spot sprayer and is being utilised by Network
Rail today. The only downside is that not all Local Authorities are
taking their responsibilities seriously and decisions are being
driven by Procurement Officers who are sometimes taking the cheapest
option.
Contractors
that are in the amenity industry should all be in the Amenity Assured
Scheme and not working unregulated to low standards. There
should be more policing of what is going on within our industry.
In
a fine turf or pitch renovation situation, it also has its place.
Many surfaces are sprayed with glyphosate before ground works
commence.
We
must endeavour to hold on to the pesticides we currently use by being
safe and careful during all applications.
For
more information, please contact Complete Weed Control's National
office on 01325 324 277 or visit
www.completeweedcontrol.co.uk
You
can also follow Complete Weed Control on Twitter @CWCLimited and view
the company's YouTube channel at
www.youtube.com/user/completeweedcontrol1