166, 376 Pounds of Pesticides Collected Through 2019 Agricultural Abandoned Pesticide Program

The Agricultural Abandoned Pesticide Program collected 166,376 pounds of unwanted pesticides in five counties during the 2019 collection events. Since 2005, the Agricultural Abandoned Pesticide Program has overseen the collection of 4,433,495 pounds of unwanted pesticides in counties across Arkansas.

“The Arkansas Department of Agriculture is proud to administer the Agricultural Abandoned Pesticide Program”, says Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture Wes Ward. “Events like these ensure safe and proper disposal of unwanted pesticides, preventing them from potentially polluting our environment.”

Participation in collection events is free and anonymous to farmers and other non-industrial landowners. The program is funded through pesticide registration fees. Pesticide collection events have taken place in every county in the state.

Commonly collected items include old or outdated pesticides such as calcium arsenate, 2,4,5-T, sodium cyanide, lindane, and chlordane. Registered pesticides, like glyphosate products and 2,4-D, that are unusable because they have been exposed to the elements or have been held over from previous growing seasons are also collected during the events.

The most recent collection program ran from October 28 to November 1 in five counties. A county breakdown of collections is as follows:

The Agricultural Abandoned Pesticide Program is conducted in cooperation with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, Arkansas Farm Bureau, and the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment. Representatives from these agencies make up the Abandoned Pesticide Advisory Board. This board selects county sites for collection events. Priority watersheds are a large consideration for the Advisory Board in choosing counties/regions for site collection.

Find more information about the Arkansas Department of Agriculture and its programs and services at https://www.aad.arkansas.gov/.