Farms

Research-based information, education boost profitability

Commercial agriculture faculty in the Lane County office of the OSU Extension Service deliver educational programs to help commercial growers and small farmers achieve sustainable crop production and profitability.

Oregon Department of Agriculture - Pesticide Use Reporting System Suspended
July 8, 2009... As directed by the State Legislature, the Oregon Department of Agriculture has suspended its Pesticide Use Reporting System (PURS) until January 2013 at the earliest. Those required to report their pesticide use online will no longer need to file reports until further notice. The electronic reporting system will no longer allow reports to be filed. State budget constraints forced PURS to be suspended for the current biennium and beyond.

The requirement to report annual pesticide use applied to anyone using a registered pesticide or pest control product in the course of business, or for a government entity, or in a public place. PURS began collecting reports in January 2007. Even though some users had filed reports for 2009 pesticide use, there is no longer a requirement to continue reporting at this time. Those who had yet to report 2009 use will not need to and will not face any enforcement action for failing to report. Reports previously filed into PURS are not available to the pesticide users who filed those reports.

Requirements under federal and state laws to keep records of pesticide use are independent of PURS. Those record keeping requirements are still in place even while PURS is not available.

The 2009 Oregon Legislature adopted several amendments to PURS that suspends the requirement to report pesticide use information into PURS beginning July 1, 2009 and also suspends any enforcement action that could take place for failure to report. Other amendments that will result in changes to PURS are not expected to be in place until January 2013.

Meanwhile, ODA has released the 2008 Pesticide Use Reporting System annual report, summarizing the data collected last year. That report is available online on the ODA website http://oregon.gov/ODA/PEST/purs_index.shtml under "Annual Reports."

The commercial agriculture program provides:

• Educational field days and workshops for area growers
• Alternative crops development
• Technical assistance to help growers improve natural resources management
• Cooperation with countywide special projects such as the ongoing agricultural chemicals removal effort in Lane County

• Willamette Valley Tree Fruit Growers Summer Tour
• 2009 Filber Tour Plan
• Media Survey

Lane County agricultural producers and small farmers also have access to regional OSU Extension faculty in field crops, small farms, and livestock and forages.

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