Aminopyralid breakdown

[Melody GillespieParticipant]

Charles,

My husband and I recently moved from the city (tiny garden) to the country (huge garden) and we were so happy to be able to make compost instead of buying it. We’ve spent the last 8 months working intensely on our new garden and greenhouse, most of which we had to dig out this week because of Aminopyralid contamination. In addition to the contaminated soil/compost/manure mix, we have a large (+4 cu yds) pile of horse manure (different source) that we planned on using after it aged for a couple of years. If this manure is contaminated as well, how long before we can be absolutely certain the Aminopyralid has broken down? I’m not sure I would trust any test I ran because of the termendous amount of work if I missed something. This is heartbreaking and certainly makes creating enough compost for a large, new garden much more difficult. We live in the Pacific Northwest (US) and as far as I can tell, there’s very little regulation of persistent herbicides here.

I also want to thank you so much for the wonderful videos, books, and web site. I’ve learned so much from all of them.

Melody

[charlesModerator]

Hello Melody

Thanks for writing, glad you like the videos.
So sorry to hear of the contamination. It’s shameful that such a poison is allowed.
It does not break down in heaps but does on soil, after affecting plants for a year or so. Bit of a lose-lose situation.
I would trust a bean test, sow broad beans in manure from different parts of your heap.
If growth is normal it’s ok, but any contamination will show as curled leaves etc.
Sow a few beans in normal compost at the same time to match growth visually. Growth is not always ‘perfect’ in uncontaminated compost or soil.

I wish you well in your new garden!

[Author]

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