The Rural Voice, 1986-02, Page 43FARM NEWS
Last look
at Lasso?
"It looks like Lasso is just about
dead in Canada," said Dr. Bob
Forrest of Centralia College, to
soybean growers at their District 8
meeting in Brodhagen. Because
registration for the chemical has
lapsed, it is illegal to sell or use the
product in this country.
Sales of Lasso increased in 1985
with a surplus of the product still
on Ontario farms. "Farmers will
be taking the law into their own
hands if they use it," says Bruce
Lobb, pesticide control officer,
Ministry of the Environment
(MOE).
A farmer, for the first offence,
can be fined $5,000 for using an
unregistered chemical. MOE
regulations call for a fine of up to
$10,000 for a second offence. A
farmer can receive an additional
fine from Agriculture Canada's
Plant Health and Plant Products
Division, according to Lobb.
More prosecutions are going to
be made against offenders of MOE
regulations. About 18 new en-
vironment "cops," as Forrest calls
them, are coming on duty soon.
The new employees of the In-
vestigations and Enforcements
Branch will be dealing with en-
forcement of regulations which
were formerly part of the job of
the pesticide officers, like Lobb.
Both groups will identify of-
fenders, but the new branch is
responsible for carrying out court
actions.
In the U.S., the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) has seiz-
ed crops where illegal chemicals
were used. Minister of Agriculture
and Food Jack Riddell says he
doesn't expect as severe a punish-
ment here.
Although temporary registration
for Lasso, a product of Monsanto,
expired December 31, a review
board set up by Agriculture
Minister John Wise is still examin-
ing the product. Still, general con-
sensus in the industry is that the
chemical will be re -registered.
John Heard, Huron -Perth soil
and crop specialist notes that
Publication 75 Guide to Chemical
Week Control includes Lasso in-
formation but he emphasizes that
this doesn't justify a farmer using
it.
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FEBRUARY 1986 41