Pesticide Lawsuit Update

As reported in the Capitol Press on November 4, the ODA Pesticide Use Reporting System (PURS) startup has been delayed once again.   The mandatory reporting system is expected to be operational sometime in 2007.

Because of a lack of funding, the PURS was mothballed by the Oregon Department of Agriculture in the fall of 2002.  The system was 4-6 months from being operational at that time.

Among the changes to the system, the location of pesticide applications will be reported by watershed.  With the exception of the northeast corner of Gilliam County, most landowners will list the John Day watershed as the application location.  Farmland in the Willow Creek watershed will report location as the Middle Columbia.

Despite the status of PURS, landowners who keep pesticide application records will still find maintaining current records beneficial for several reasons.  The USDA Conservation Security Program (CSP) places a strong emphasis on cropland management recordkeeping, of which pesticide records are an important component. 

In addition to CSP, the identity-preserved (IP) grain marketing system under development in the Pacific Northwest will also require good farm management records to ensure grain quality and product traceability.  The Gilliam County Grain Quality Initiative IP recordkeeping requirements will be discussed during future grower meeting, with the system being implemented for the 2006 crop year.

<back