Ontario farmers will now have a place to dispose of unused or obsolete farm pesticides, with a two-year project initiated by the Crop Protection Institute of Canada (CPIC).

     The Healthy Futures for Ontario Agriculture project, to be held November 1 to 3 at select locations across southern and southwestern Ontario, will accept unused, outdated or no longer registered pesticides for disposal, at no cost to the farmer. In 2001, those farmers in eastern and northern Ontario will be able to drop off their pesticide products at select industry-certified locations. Domestic products will not be accepted.

     Obsolete farm pesticides will be accepted at participating dealers in the following areas: Alliston, Beamsville, Blenheim, Bolton, Brussels, Brodhagen, Clinton, Courtland, Dorchester, Dresden, Dundalk, Elmvale, Glencoe, Guelph, Hanover, Harriston, Harrow, Hensall, Jarvis, Lucknow, Millgrove, Norwich, Orangeville, Paincourt, Parkhill, Princeton, Sarnia, Stratford, Strathroy, St. Thomas, Tara, Tilbury, Vienna, Wellandport and Wheatley.

     The Obsolete Farm Pesticide Collection & Disposal Program is part of a cross-Canada plan to safely clear out “outdated” and unusable and/or no longer registered agricultural crop protection products. To date, pesticide return programs were already held in Saskatchewan, British Columbia and the Maritimes, with Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec currently discussing delivery and stewardship of this program with the CPIC.

     For more information on this initiative, call 1-888-588-4111 or visit the OMAFRA web site at www.gov.on.ca/omafra.