> PA sustainable farmer is looking for the regulatory procedures and a
> qualfied lab to test and certify a no-spray, ie: no herbicides, no
> pesticides, no fungicides, small fruit crop.
>
> Has this been done before and how costly is the procedure?
>
> Will this be legal once the USDA organic standards are passed?
>
> If you have any input please respond to kiwikrnr@ptd.net
>
> Thank you.
>
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I was hoping someone would say something about this (besides me). However,
I find it hard to leave a question unanswered, even if I don't have all the
facts. I'm not sure about the regulatory possibilities associated with
"proving" no-spray, but many environmental laboratories (in fact, probably
any lab with a GC and someone who knows how to run it) have the ability to
test for pesticides, and can often see _well_ below residual levels. Most
tests are run on soil and water samples, but I'm sure that fruit samples
would also be acceptable. I used to work in and environmental testing lab
(in the Metals Department), and we saw some pretty weird stuff come
through. (We once had an ash sample with a description like John Doe. They
were looking for Lead, Arsenic, Selenium, and a few other metals, and may
have sent the sample to other departments for analysis.)
The price for analysis will vary with the Lab, what tests are being
conducted, how many tests are being conducted, how quickly you need it done,
etc. I hope this helps. I realize that I haven't given you much to work
with. Check your local yelow pages under Laboratories, and give them a call
for pricing.
Russ
-- The soil population is so complex that it manifestly cannot be dealt with as a whole with any detail by any one person, and at the same time it plays so important a part in the soil economy that it must be studied. --Sir E. John Russell The Micro-organisms of the Soil, 1923
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