Alan Scheiber is one organic farmer who would have never applied so-called 鈥淎gro Gold WS鈥� to about a dozen acres if he鈥檇 known it contained synthetic herbicides.
鈥淚t is just beyond the pale of acceptability,鈥� said. 鈥淣o legitimate organic grower would ever use Glyphosate or 鈥� the products that were found in this organic herbicide in an organic farm 鈥� no person would ever do that.鈥�
Regulators in , and recently issued a "stop use" order for the popular herbicide product that's been widely used on organic crops.
Now, the state of Idaho is investigating, and the federal Environmental Protection Agency is 鈥渓ooking at it more closely,鈥� according to an agency spokesperson.
Schreiber said he was studying the organic substance and its uses because it was so effective. Organic growers were fond of it.
The product wasn't labeled as a conventional herbicide, and that could have endangered farmworkers, Schreiber said. They might have not been wearing enough protective gear or taking extra precautions when mixing or applying the chemicals because they didn't know what was really in it. Glyphosate was the key ingredient in Roundup. The patent for it has expired.
For its part, the Florida-based company denies it adds chemicals to its organic mixture.
CEO Marc Lajeunesse told the public media Northwest News Network that he鈥檚 fighting back against the investigations.
鈥淲e decided to put this co-pack [of two products 鈥� Agro Gold and Weed Slayer] together. It鈥檚 been working well for many years,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 know we don鈥檛 use chemicals.鈥�
And, he said, he鈥檚 not too worried about the investigations.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like an intruder comes to your house at night: If you have ammunition to defend yourself, you shouldn鈥檛 worry.鈥�
