DES MOINES — Iowa Secretary of Agriculture and Land Stewardship Bill Northey encourage Iowans with pesticide sensitive crops and apiaries to register their locations using the Department’s new sensitive crop registry through FieldWatch, Inc. FieldWatch is a nonprofit company that was created by Purdue University in collaboration with interested agricultural stakeholder groups.
The new registry offers two online platforms that provide state of the art mapping features. DriftWatch is a registry site for use by producers of commercial crops sensitive to pesticides and includes the online capacity to map boundaries around production fields. BeeCheck is a registry site for beekeepers that designates one-mile radius boundaries around apiaries. Sensitive crop producers with apiaries may enter hive locations using either the DriftWatch or BeeCheck registries.
“We’re excited to offer this new directory with all of its capabilities. The mapping features, streamlined data entry, and increased accuracy of the information presented will promote better communication of sensitive site data between farmers and pesticide applicators,” Northey said. “By improving our Sensitive Crop Registry we hope to make sure Iowa continues to be a great place for all types of agriculture.”
Commercial pesticide applicators are also encouraged to register through FieldWatch™ to gain increased access to mapping features and e-mail notifications about new sensitive sites in their spray areas. Applicators can also access downloadable files including shapefiles, Excel, csv or live stream through a software provider for a $100 per year fee. Also, agriculture retailers can join for a $500 fee and $100 per location to give multiple applicators access to the downloadable files.
An information session for applicators will be held during the FieldWatch annual meeting on February 15 as part of the Agribusiness Showcase and Conference at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. More information about this session is available online at www.agribizshowcase.com.
The new registry was made possible by a monetary award presented to IDALS by the Agribusiness Association of Iowa Foundation. Donors included the Iowa Agriculture Aviation Association, Syngenta Crop Protection, Dow AgroScience, GROWMARK Foundation, Monsanto, BASF, Bayer CropScience, Iowa Wine Growers Association, Crop Production Services, Inc., Helena Chemical and Meridian Agriculture.
Along with apiary sites, half an acre or larger commercial vineyards, orchards, fruit and vegetable grow sites, nursery and Christmas tree production sites, and certified organic crops are included in the registry.
"No Spray" signs will still be provided at cost by IDALS. FieldWatch also offers signage on their website. Links to the FieldWatch site and the Department's "No Spray" signs can be found at www.iowaagriculture.gov/Horticulture_and_FarmersMarkets/sensitiveCropDirectory.asp Questions can be directed to IDALS State Horticulturist, Paul Ovrom, at paul.ovrom@iowaagriculture.gov or 515-242-6239.