/ • \ X Herald & Lantern 23 May '84 business , 63 "

Bill on Pesticides Blow at Farming

By WALTER ELLIS Just about one-third of what America's farmers plant is destroyed by pests. There are more than 900,000 species of insects weeds arfd types of diseases competing witfc the farmer for his ertgjLThe major tool in protecting crops — for better or for worse — is thfe pesticide. In New Jersey a major bill pending before the state legislature would radically change the ability of farmers — and backyard gardeners — to use pesticides. The bill's aim is to restrict severely the availability of pesticides.^ft also would put into place ? strict system of notifying people who live within 1,000 feet of an area to be sprayed. The legislation also would set a precedent by allowing anyone to file a damage suit against a pesticide user, regardless of whether any personal loss was sustained. THERE ARE many pro^ blems with the proposed bill. The underlying assumption is that there is an effective alternative to pesticides. This is not the case. Although great strides have been made with Integrated Pest Management systems, these techniques cannot be applied to all crops in all cases. < IPM integrates biological controls, farm management practices and pesticides) Ye&r-4hehrtroduction of parasites frSm Italy and France virtuaUy reduced all dependence on pesticides for New Jersey's alfalfa growers! However, without the chemical sprayings, the) Colorado Potato Beetle wiuld eat up potato sproutTand tomato seedlings witffl|n the first weeks. Without sprayings, apple orchards might produce adequate crops for the first year, but the following year the insect population would explode and the fruit would be disease-ridden and unsaleable. Consumers have

« come to expect, and de mand, unblemished prof duce. New Jersey's s farmers would not be able to compete in the i marketplace THE TONE of the prof loosed legislation also sug p gpsts that farmers use , — 1*sticides willy-nilly This - is not true. Pesticides are r too expensive and the ; margin of profitable farming too narrow to waste r money on unnecessary - sprayings. Indeed, the I ^ reason farmers are en- ' thusiastically cooperating I in IPM experiments is so • that dependence on chemicals can be reduced, i We know all too well that ; insects develop rapid ! tolerances for chemicals, i And the cost of research to- ; day has drastically reducI ed the number of new 1 pesticides reaching the i market shelves. A closer look at the bill shows that the notification requirements are onerous. Ten days advanced notice, in writing, with alternate dates, would be cumbersome if not impossible, to carry out. Farmers are at the mercy of Mother Nature when it comes to spraying, and she often does not even give them enough notice. As the bill is now written, the advanced notification process, and . ulnerability to nuisance and damage suits, would apply to backyard gardeners as well THE NEW JERSEY Farm Bureau, of which 1 am president, is waging a strong, grassroots campaign to defeat this bill. Key parts are impractical, and major portions duplicate existing laws New Jersey rewrote and toughened its pesticide code xin 1982 after exhaustive statewide hearings. At that time, a mechanism was put in place for residents, as well as farm workers, to lodge complaints regarding pesticide abuse Between July 1. 1982 and June 30, 1983, the state's Pesticide Control Council received 412 complaints. Only 20 of those complaints involved the agriculture community, and less than half were found to be legitimate. These figures, we believe, reflect the concern of the- farmer in safely ' handling pesticides r ;

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Germany Next Stop COURT HOUSE - Pvt. Erik J. Statzell, son of.* David and Judy Statzell of Dias Creek Road, Who has been home on, leave after graduating from 'Fort Benning Infantry Center in Georgia leaves today for Frankfurt, Germany, where he will be stationed with the 3rd Armored Division. Statzell recently designed a special emblem for his battalion which is now being worn by servicemen in his division. Statzell attended Middle Township schools and won many awards for his art work

Business 0 Contest Winners

ERMA - Three Business Education students from Lower Cape May Regional High School recently com - peted in the First Annual * Business Symposium sponsored by Atlantic Community College The three winners were: Theodore Harris, first place. Business Law; Jeff Coldren, second place. Computed Programming ; Debbie' Smith, third place, Accounting II. Theoldore Harris is enrolled ia James Ridgway's Business Law class and Debbie Smith and Jeff Coldren are enrolled in Accounting II and a gifted and Talented project with \ John Hosford. THE STUDENTS com peted against 15 high schools in Atlantic County and Cape May County. Ms. Linda Gruchowski, supervisor of the Business Education Department, nated that she was extremely proud of these students and the faculty of the business Education Department She also said that she was pleased to head a department that has six computers received through a department-wide effort in receiving state .funds and administrative support

99^HRf \ CONTEST WINNERS — Lower Cadj.Wav Regional High School students who -won in recent^feiness Symposium sponsored by Atlantic Community t^Bgr are shown with teachers. Front row. left to right, 0 Theodore Harris, who took first in Business Law ; Del UMkmith. third in Accounting II; and Jeff Coldren. secArin Computer Programming. Behind them are teachSjohn Hosford left, and James Ridgway. W

Chamber Nominates

AVALON - Da til een of Keen Pharmacy was nominated for a second term as president of the Chamber of Commerce at its meeting in the Whitebrier Inn last Thursday night The nominating committee also nominated Miriam Kauterman for first vice president. James McStravick. second vice president, and Irene Matthews. secretarytreasurer William Leahy headed the nominations committee which also included Robert Moore, Eugene Kline. Ernest Yarborough and Owen Quinn Nominations from the floor and election will be held at the June 21 meeting at a place to be announced Cindy O'Connor, trustee at the Wetlands Institute on Stone Harbor Boulevard, presented a slide program on the institute She described the Wings 'n Water Festival slated for Sept. 15-16, which will include such Avalon events as a Coast Guard air-sea rescue demonstration, a performance on the boardwalk by the Coast Guard band, four Garden Club

tours, a dune walk, trolley I rides, etc

Telephone Co. Retiree WEST CAPE MAY - I William C. Clark, a plant I cleaner for New Jersey Bell Telephone Co. in Wildwood, has retired after I 38 years' service with the company. Clark, who lives on Pearl Avenue here, joined the company in 1945. He is member of the Atlantic City Council.

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