Published April 1972 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
Byrd's-Eye View By U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd Pollution and Pests Threaten Farms Pollution, which has long been considered a threat to the urban areas of the United States, is a danger to the nation's farmlands as well. And unless pollution is curbed and ecologically-safe methods of controlling pests are found, America could face a sharp decline in farm production. Air pollution alone causes about $500 million worth of crop damage annually, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And in 1970~-the last year for which figures are available-more than 1.1 million acres, representing 3.6 million tons of crops, were burned in an effort to reduce losses from plant diseases and pollution residues. The air pollution can be explained in terms of our sprawling population, where both housing developments and industrial parks have moved to the suburbs and beyond. Farms are no longer as rural as they once were, and their proximity to industry means that they are closer to the 30 million tons of industrial pollutants emitted each year. While the closeness of industry has added to pollution on the farm, so too has the policy of moving away from chemical insecticides added to the problems of the pest control in agricultural areas. The survival of crops is currently threatened by 30,000 species of fungi, and more than 10,000 kinds of insects. The banning of a number of chemical pest controls has hurt the crop disease prevention efforts, leaving farmers to depend heavily on the introduction of "friendly" insects. Some 520 species of "friendly" insects have been brought to farmlands in the past 80 years in the hopes that they would combat the already-present crop-destroying pests. However, only about 20 have been found to be significant control agents. In order to guarantee a pollution-free environment for our food and fiber crops, strict enforcement of our antipollution laws is needed. But in order to guarantee a pestfree environment for these crops, the U.S. Department of Agriculture must also intensify its research for safe chemicals to use on farmlands. APR 12 1972