An Overview of Pesticide Use on US Army Agricultural Outleases Zia Mehr USAEC Pest Management Consultant 10 February 2010 Our Mission: Lead and execute environmental programs and provide expertise that enables Army training, operations, acquisition and sustainable military communities. ENABLING MISSION READINESS ZIA MEHR/IMAE-EQ/(401) 436-1213 (DSN 584)/Zia.Mehr@us.army.mil

BACKGROUND There are 31 Army installations/training sites with Agricultural Outlease programs: 8 IMCOM Installations 12 AMC Installations 11 ARNG Installations/Training Sites   ZIA MEHR/IMAE-EQ/(401) 436-1213 (DSN 584)/Zia.Mehr@us.army.mil

BACKGROUND Authority – Federal Law (Title 10) Involves Leasing of Army Lands The Army Agricultural Outlease Program is one of the most effective tools for enhancing and maintaining training lands for the installation with limited or no OMA Dollars. Program Used to Reduce Maintenance Costs (i.e., maintain DZs) Program Can Not Hinder Mission; Use as a Mission Enabler   ZIA MEHR/IMAE-EQ/(401) 436-1213 (DSN 584)/Zia.Mehr@us.army.mil

REIMBURSIBLE PROGRAM   ZIA MEHR/IMAE-EQ/(401) 436-1213 (DSN 584)/Zia.Mehr@us.army.mil

Hay Lease on a Drop Zone, Fort Campbell   This particular field at Fort Campbell had been out of the Ag program for several years and had grown up with trees and brush. You can see the stump pile where we cleared some invading trees prior to mowing the remainder. ZIA MEHR/IMAE-EQ/(401) 436-1213 (DSN 584)/Zia.Mehr@us.army.mil

PESTICIDE USE Based on review of installations’ annual Measure of Merit for pounds of active ingredients (p.a.i.), we found: Pesticide usage on installations with Agricultural Outleases are much higher than we expected Increased trends We examined FY05-FY09 data for the 31 installations/training sites with Agricultural Outleases ZIA MEHR/IMAE-EQ/(401) 436-1213 (DSN 584)/Zia.Mehr@us.army.mil

PESTICIDE USE ( p.a.i) ZIA MEHR/IMAE-EQ/(401) 436-1213 (DSN 584)/Zia.Mehr@us.army.mil

PESTICIDE USE (p.a.i) In fact, in one of the Commands, the total pai used on Agricultural Outleases is more than twice of total pai for the rest of installations in that Command. ZIA MEHR/IMAE-EQ/(401) 436-1213 (DSN 584)/Zia.Mehr@us.army.mil

Challenges for Pest Management PESTICIDE USE Challenges for Pest Management Little control over selection and quantities of pesticides used on Agricultural Outleases Some IPMCs provide us a proposed list of products for their Agricultural Outlease program No involvement in Agricultural Outlease contract reviews ZIA MEHR/IMAE-EQ/(401) 436-1213 (DSN 584)/Zia.Mehr@us.army.mil

PESTICIDE USE REDUCTION Proposed Mitigation Strategies Promote IPM on Agricultural Outleases Implement programs like the one at Ft Riley with incentives to reduce p.a.i. Get involved in the Agricultural Outlease review process by promoting IPM implementation on Army Agricultural Outleases programs ZIA MEHR/IMAE-EQ/(401) 436-1213 (DSN 584)/Zia.Mehr@us.army.mil

FORT RILEY Firebreak Fields Currently 1270 Acres Along Installation Boundary Primarily Row Crops 5 Year Lease Cycle Entering 5th Year of Lease ZIA MEHR/IMAE-EQ/(401) 436-1213 (DSN 584)/Zia.Mehr@us.army.mil

HISTORICAL PESTICIDE USE Historical Pesticide Usage Fort Riley Agricultural Outlease ZIA MEHR/IMAE-EQ/(401) 436-1213 (DSN 584)/Zia.Mehr@us.army.mil

Land Use Regulation Extracted from “LAND-USE REGULATIONS (Firebreak Areas), Fort Riley Military Reservation , Kansas, 1 January 2006 revised 1 May 2007” 4. Use of Pesticides a. Pesticides (herbicides, insecticides, and other such chemicals) may be used on the leasehold. All chemicals shall be applied in accordance with label directions and in accordance with paragraphs b and c of this section. b. The lessee shall utilize pesticides which minimize pounds of active ingredient (PAI) applied per acre. The total quantity of pesticides used shall not exceed 2.0 PAI per acre (averaged across the leasehold) per year. The lessee is encouraged to keep the total PAI below an average of 1.5 PAI per acre per year. A 2% reduction of the annual consideration will be allowed for maintaining an average of 1.5 PAI per year or less, a 5% reduction of the annual consideration will be allowed for maintaining an average of 1.25 PAI per year or less, and a 10% reduction of the annual consideration will be allowed for maintaining an average of 1.0 PAI per year or less. The reduction of annual consideration will be provided to the lessee through rental abatement of the following year’s consideration. The Chief, Conservation Branch will arrange for this abatement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. c. Herbicides containing Atrazine may NOT be used. d. Lessees shall complete a "Pesticide Report Form" each year and provide the completed form to the Chief, Conservation Branch, no later than 1 October of each year. This report shall cover all pesticides applied to Fort Riley lands by the lessee and the lessee’s agents during the previous 12-month period. A copy of the chemical label for each pesticide used shall be provided with the pesticide report. Spray orders may not be used in lieu of the Pesticide Report Form but may accompany the form. If the lessee fails to provide this report the lessee shall be considered to be in default with the terms of this lease and may be subject to revocation of the lease. ZIA MEHR/IMAE-EQ/(401) 436-1213 (DSN 584)/Zia.Mehr@us.army.mil

Historical Pesticide Usage Fort Riley Agricultural Outlease Current Lease Period Historical Pesticide Usage Fort Riley Agricultural Outlease Lease Number 2006 2007 2008 2009 1 1.78 1.75 1.36 2 1.80 1.61 1.20 1.11 3 1.86 1.18 1.21 1.89 4 0.73 0.95 0.99 1.00 5 0.97 0.96 0.88 6 0.74 1.74 1.52 7 1.04 0.79 1.39 0.87 8 1.49 9 1.17 0.51 Total 1.35 1.15 1.10 ZIA MEHR/IMAE-EQ/(401) 436-1213 (DSN 584)/Zia.Mehr@us.army.mil

Updated Historical Pesticide Usage ZIA MEHR/IMAE-EQ/(401) 436-1213 (DSN 584)/Zia.Mehr@us.army.mil

Future Agricultural Pesticide Usage Continue Incentive Aim to reduce allowable from 2.0 PAI per A to 1.75 PAI per A in 2016 Investigate other ways to reduce pesticide usage on Agricultural Outlease area ZIA MEHR/IMAE-EQ/(401) 436-1213 (DSN 584)/Zia.Mehr@us.army.mil

Questions Questions? Fort Riley POC: Jerold Spohn, Agronomist Installation Pest Management Coordinator Agricultural Outlease Coordinator Jerold.w.spohn@us.army.mil 785-239-2006 DSN 856-2006 USAC POC: Zia Mehr, Entomologist Pest Management Consultant Zia.Mehr@us.army.mil 410-436-1213 DSN 584-1213 ZIA MEHR/IMAE-EQ/(401) 436-1213 (DSN 584)/Zia.Mehr@us.army.mil

INSTALLATION MANAGEMENT COMMAND “Sustain, Support and Defend” “Sustain, Support, and Defend” ZIA MEHR/IMAE-EQ/(401) 436-1213 (DSN 584)/Zia.Mehr@us.army.mil