10 Glossary

Acclimate - To adapt to a new chemical, physical, or biological environment.

Active ingredients - The main inhibitory substance found in a pesticide.

Adsorption - The retention of solids, liquids, or gasses at an interface.

Aestivation - A period of inactivity during the summer months

Biosynthesis - The process by which living cells make molecules, tissues, or organs.

Bulk density- The mass of soil per unit volume.

Cation exchange capacity - The sum total of all exchangeable positively charged ions that a soil can adsorb. Expressed as milli equivalents per gram of soil.

Contact fungicide - Those fungicides that are active only on the external parts of plants.

Degree-day - A measure of how high the average daily temperature is relative to some reference temperature such as the minimum threshold required for insect development to proceed.

Disclosing solution - A liquid irritant that drives certain soil insects to the surface when the soil is drenched, such as a dilute soap or pyrethroid solution.

Disease trading - Increases in severity of nontarget diseases following fungicide applications.

Emulsion - Suspension of liquid droplets within another immiscible liquid.

Endophyte - A group of fungi that live within the plant and produce toxins detrimental to some plant-feeding insects.

Entomopathogenic - Causing disease in insects, such as certain fungi and nematodes.

Formulation - All of the ingredients and additives making up a given pesticide product.

Fungicidal - Treatments that kill fungal pathogens.

Fungistatic - Treatments that prevent fungal pathogens from growing or producing spores or prevent spores from germinating.

Habitat - The area or environment where an organism typically occurs, which provides the food, shelter and other requirements to reproduce and develop.

Half-life - The time required for half of the original amount of applied pesticide to disappear.

Immobilization - The reduction in movement of pesticides.

Inert ingredients - Those components of a formulation that have no pesticidal activity.

Inoculum - The pathogen or parts of the pathogen that can cause infection. Inoculum consists of spores, mycelium, sclerotia, etc.

Instar - The developmental stage of an insect between two successive molts.

Label - All of the written information that accompanies a pesticide. This includes the information affixed to the container as well as any other written material associated with the product.

Larva - The immature stage of an insect between egg and pupa for those groups with complete metamorphosis (egg, larva, pupa, adult), e.g. white grubs.

Leaching - The removal of pesticides dissolved in water from upper soil layers to the ground water.

Localized penetrant - Those fungicides that pass into the tissue underlying the point of application.

Metabolites - Products of microbial metabolism.

Microbial community - Interacting populations of microorganisms.

Mutualistic - A close association between two different species of organisms in which each derives a benefit.

Non-polar molecules - Molecules with no electrical charge.

Nymph - The immature stage of an insect between egg and adult for those groups with incomplete metamorphosis (egg, nymph, adult), e.g. hairy chinch bug.

Penetrant fungicide - Those fungicides that enter plant tissues.

Pheromone - A chemical secreted externally by an insect or other animal to communicate information to members of the same species.

Phloem - Food conducting tissue in a plant that moves sugar from the leaves down to the root system.

Photosynthate - The product of photosynthesis: carbohydrates.

Polar molecules - Molecules possessing two equal and opposite electrical charges.

Prepupa - A non-feeding and relatively inactive stage of an insect after the last larval molt and before the pupa.

Stomata - Pores in the surface of the foliar parts of plants that allow for gas and water exchange. (Stomate = singular).

Systemic penetrant - Those fungicides that pass into the plant tissues and are moved through the xylem and phloem to distant parts of the plant.

Translocation - The transfer and movement of pesticides through the plant.

Transpiration - The loss of water from the surface of leaves.

Vapor pressure - The pressure exerted by a pesticide in its gaseous state in equilibrium with that in the liquid state. A measure of the potential of a pesticide to convert to a gas.

Vascular system - The water and nutrient-conducting tissues of a plant.

Volatilization - The conversion of a pesticide from a liquid to a gaseous state and subsequent escape from soil.

Xylem - Nutrient- and water-conducting tissue in a plant that moves water and nutrients from the root system up to the above-ground portions of the plant.

 

Recycling Ag Plastics Project

Life Cycle Stewardship of Agricultural Plastics

 

WHAT CAN FARMERS DO WITH ALL THAT PLASTIC?

What are Agricultural Plastics?

Plastics have taken the place of the longer lasting and/or natural materials that used to be widely used on farms. Many of these substitutions make good sense: Plastics are often safer to use, improve production efficiency, cost less, and permit more flexibility in management than the concrete silos, glass greenhouses, sisal twine and other products and packaging they replace.

How Do Farmers Get Rid of Ag Plastics?

Getting rid of these short-lived products after their useful life on-the-farm has been a problem.

Some are hauled to a solid waste transfer station (a landfill or “dump”). Much of the rest is either left in the fields, plowed into the ground, or burned in an open fire.

Burning “ag plastics” in an open fire generates high levels of dangerous, polluting emissions (including particulates that settle in the lungs) and extremely toxic dioxins that can deposit on foodand feed and enter the food chain. Stashing waste plastic on the farm can clog water channels, be achoking hazard for livestock and wildlife, and create mosquito breeding habitat. And it is not pretty.

Prospects for Recycling

Recycling is the goal of the Recycling Ag Plastics Project (RAPP). It’s not an easy goal to achieve because ag plastics are typically dirtier than other used plastics. They are also bulky and widely dispersed across the rural landscape, adding complexity and cost to the collection process.

To jump these hurdles, RAPP is (i) promoting adoption of Best Management Practices (BMPs) to keep ag plastics in condition to be recycled, (ii) acquiring special baling equipment to compact used plastic for cost-efficient transport from farms to recyclers,^* and (iii) cultivating appropriate markets to process used plastic and make it into new products ( e.g., plastic lumber or garbage bags).^**

RAPP is implementing recycling projects in three regions of New York, with plans to expand into three other areas. To find out how to be involved, contact regional project leaders:

Capital District. David Cox, Schoharie Co CCE (dgc23@cornell, 518-234-4303).

Lake Champlain Watershed District. Steve Mahoney, SWCD Clinton Co (518-561-4616, steve.mahoney@ny.nacdnet.net) or Anne Barlow, CCE Clinton Co (alb326@cornell.edu, 518-561-7450).

North Country West (St. Lawrence, Jefferson, Lewis Counties). Chanda Lindsay, St Lawrence/Black River RC&D (Chanda.Lindsay@ny.usda.gov, 315-782-7289 x129).

Western NY (Cattaraugus, Chatauqua). Wendy Sanfillippo, CCE Chautauqua (wes33@cornell.edu, 716-­450-8309)

RAPP Statewide Staff. Lois Levitan, Project Leader (lcl3@cornell.edu, 607-255-4765) and Blake Putman, Field Coordinator (blp26@cornell.edu, 315-528-7050).

Department of Communication • 311 Kennedy Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853

<environmentalrisk.cornell.edu/AgPlastics>

RECYCLING HORTICULTURAL MULCH FILM, GREENHOUSE COVERS etc.

BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

• SHAKE OFF soil & debris

Split mulch film down the middle and roll away from plants. Brush or shake off stones, clumps of soil, and plant matter.

•     CUT into pieces that one person can handle (≤30 lb).

•     ROLL or FOLD DRY FILM into bundles

the size of a BEACH BALL (or FOLD to ~1.5’x2.5’). Tie with strips of the same plastic, if necessary. Stuff bags into a bag of same type.

• SEPARATE different types

Do not mix products in the same bale (e.g. separate drip tape from mulch film). Separate clean films from dirtier (e.g., bale mulch film separately from greenhouse/hoophouse covers). No PVC accepted.

• STACK nursery pots & trays

Knock out loose soil. Stack and tie onto a pallet.

•     CHEMICAL CONTAINERS: triple rinse to clean

•     LABEL BALES & PALLETS: write the type of material, date and contact name/phone/location.

• STORE UNDER COVER: clean, dry & out of sun, e.g., in a barn, trailer or under a tarp.

 

Life Cycle Stewardship of Agricultural Plastics

Developing infrastructure and markets for waste film and rigid plastics from dairy, livestock & horticulture. A collaboration of Cornell University with agriculture producers and agricultural, environmental, economic development and solid waste/recycling agencies, organizations and businesses. Major funding from the New York Farm Viability Institute, NYS DEC, and the US EPA Region 2 Pollution Prevention Program.

http://environmentalrisk.cornell.edu/AgPlastics