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Farmers and health experts clash at hearing over proposed paraquat ban
Summary
At a legislative hearing on H.739, apple and strawberry growers told lawmakers paraquat (marketed as Gramoxone) is a critical tool for young orchards and tree nurseries, while a public-health expert cited new EPA modeling and studies linking paraquat exposure to brain damage and increased Parkinson's risk and urged restrictions or phase-outs.
Chair opened a continuation of public testimony on H.739, a bill proposing limits on the sale and use of the herbicide paraquat, and invited rural growers and health experts to speak.
Eugenie Doyle, co-owner of Last Resort Farm in Moncton, told the committee she has grown strawberries organically since the early 1990s without using paraquat. Doyle described a system of cover cropping (buckwheat and winter rye), timely mechanical cultivation and targeted hand-weeding to control weeds and runners and said organic methods are labor-intensive but commercially viable on a diversified 265-acre farm that sells through a farmstand, CSA, farmers markets and local retailers. "Cover cropping is pretty much the key," she said, adding that the operation provides seasonal work and that the farm now produces 2–3 acres of strawberries managed by her son.
Bill Shure, who manages about 380 acres of orchard and maintains a…
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