Standing amongst a half-dozen other vendors in a quiet parking lot on Vermont Street on a Tuesday afternoon, Avery Lominska is in his element. This is the second of many sessions of this year’s incarnation of the Downtown Lawrence Farmers' Market Proudly displayed on Lominska’s white plastic table are various vegetables grown organically at Hoyland Farm, located five miles north of Lawrence and owned by Lominska and his father, Bob. Customer turnout is low on this day, along with the varieties of vegetables Lominska has for sale. When a patron saunters over to the table, Lominska methodically eases into talking up some of his spinach for sale.
“This is all from the greenhouse, that last bit of cold weather slowed everything outside down,” Lominska said. Cold weather isn’t the only threat to Lominska’s outdoor crops; across the road from one of Lominska’s fields sits a neighboring farmer’s land. This farmer does not grow organically, meaning that the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, growth hormones or other chemicals may be present.
Last summer, the farmer grew corn in the field, which is outside the 30 foot buffer zone that the United States Department of Agriculture requires for close quartered organic and traditional fields.
“Corn is one of the worst, it uses lots of herbicides. Some of it got onto some of our stuff and discolored it. Luckily the damage was pretty minor because we didn’t have a lot planted in that field.” Lominska said. The herbicide entered Lominska’s delicate organic crop field because of a problem known as spray drift.
Dr. Robert Wolf, associate professor of biological and agricultural engineering at Kansas State University, specializes in the study of drifting and says that there are two different ways that it can occur.
“Vapor drift is associated with evaporation of a [chemical] product. This is more of a concern when it is applied on hot, dry days,” Wolf said. The other form, particle drift, is created by the mechanics of the applicator nozzle.
“It has to do with droplets created during the spray process. Larger droplets go onto the target area, while smaller droplets can be picked up by the wind on the way to the ground,” Wolf said. Chemical drifting has the potential to travel much farther distances than across a road like it did in Lominska’s case.
“If conditions like temperature, wind speed and air moisture are right, chemicals can drift up to a few miles,” Wolf said. Drifting can be more detrimental to an organic crop than just the discoloration of a product as in the case of Lominska.
“Exposure to minute concentrations of some of the more commonly used hormone type herbicides can result in crop damage or failure. Organic growers could lose their Department of Agriculture certified organic status if any types of pesticides are detected in their crops,” Jana Beckman, coordinator for the Kansas Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Alternative Crops said.
For buyers of organic produce who may be concerned about the quality of products, Beckman points out that the likelihood of tainted produce reaching a market is small.
“Organic certification goes far beyond the farm. Third party certifiers are required to inspect and determine if a producer is meeting the organic standards. Also, the Environmental Protection Agency tests a sampling of food and products sold for pesticides and other toxins,” Beckman said. One of these other toxins which has been difficult to detect in organic foods is synthetic nitrogen fertilizers.
Now, a new testing technique discovered by British researchers at the Institute of Food Research is making the detection of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers easier. The study, published April 4 in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, compared nitrogen isotopes of both traditional and organic produce. Researchers found that synthetic nitrogen fertilizers leave a distinctive signature visible on both organic and traditional produce isotopes.
Another innovation that has been developed to protect consumers and to aid organic producers is the development of a registry on the Kansas Department of Agriculture Website. The registry, allows producers of sensitive and organic crops to register their land locations that the crops are grown on. The database, entering its third year, enables those who apply chemicals to realize the exact location of sensitive crops in order to avoid contamination and a possible fine.
“It’s a good visual means for the applicators to see where they should exercise caution,” Lisa Taylor, Director of Communications for Kansas Department of Agriculture, said. The registry has about 175 registered sensitive crop sites and was the first of its kind in the country.
Despite being on registry, Lominska still encountered the problem of drifting and says that eventually it may be necessary to take legal action against the neighbor. In the meantime however, Lominska is more focused though on what to do with the land this season.
“I’m still deciding if I’ll be planting a lot in those fields,” Lominska said.