Marijuana

Pot Pesticide Contamination Worries Oregon Farmers

Concerns about pesticide drift are nothing new in agriculture, but the issue has taken on new gravity for Oregon farmers with marijuana-growing neighbors. Due to Oregon's pesticide testing regime for marijuana and its high value, growers of more conventional crops worry about getting blamed for contamination that renders the mind-altering flowers unsalable.

December 16, 2018 | Source: Statesman Journal | by Mateusz Perkowski

Concerns about pesticide drift are nothing new in agriculture, but the issue has taken on new gravity for Oregon farmers with marijuana-growing neighbors.

Due to Oregon’s pesticide testing regime for marijuana and its high value, growers of more conventional crops worry about getting blamed for contamination that renders the mind-altering flowers unsalable.

“I have neighbors growing marijuana, therefore I’m thinking about it,” said Tim Winn, who farms in Benton County.

The potential problem was recently discussed during the Oregon Farm Bureau’s annual convention, held Dec. 4-6 in Salem.

County representatives of the organization voted to request that its board of directors consider possible solutions with the Oregon Department of Agriculture, which is one of several state agencies involved in regulating the recreational marijuana since voters legalized it in 2014.

Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, so there are no pesticides specifically registered for use on the psychoactive crop.