Posted: 4/23/2010 2:02:17 PM EDT
|
For those of you who are farmers or familiar with the chemicals they use, I have a question for you. I went out shooting today in a state game area, and was in one of the farm fields the state of Michigan leases to farmers. The locals there said that people target shoot in there sometimes and that I was fine. So I setup and shot for several hours. Besides the dead deer in the middle of the field, I noticed that there were small white particles all over the ground in between the rows of crops that were growing. It looks almost like the salt pellets that one would put on driveways to melt ice in the winter. Are these particles fertilizer or pesticides? If so are they dangerous to ones health? Next time I go out there I will try to get some pictures of the stuff, I forgot my camera today 
|
|
Quoted:
Could be lime. Farmer's do this every year to raise soil pH. The lime farmers use is orange and looks a lot like dirt. Trust me, I have put out enough of the damn stuff growing up. OP, sounds like fertilizer. I wouldn't worry much about anything solid. If they are spraying, you might want to move upwind. 
|
| I am not sure what kind of crops were in the field, the rows were about 8-12" apart and the crops growing were about 8-10" high and looked like grass. The particles I was concerned about were in fact white, again they looked a lot like driveway salt or the stuff that comes in potting soil. I was sitting down in the field and shooting prone. I didn't have anything to clean my hands off with so I dusted them off on my shirt and proceeded to eat the sandwhich I packed for myself. So there is a possibility I ingested some of the stuff. Do you think it is still an issue in the situation I discribed? |
|
Sounds like a nitrate fertilizer. No worries, not gonna hurt you unless you eat it or rub it all over your skin or something.
Edited to add: I wouldn't worry about it at all. Not that I'd recommend not washing before handling food after touching fertilizer, but I've had enough exposure to make me feel funny (nitrates) and have suffered no lasting issues from it. |
|
Quoted:
I am not sure what kind of crops were in the field, the rows were about 8-12" apart and the crops growing were about 8-10" high and looked like grass. The particles I was concerned about were in fact white, again they looked a lot like driveway salt or the stuff that comes in potting soil. I was sitting down in the field and shooting prone. I didn't have anything to clean my hands off with so I dusted them off on my shirt and proceeded to eat the sandwhich I packed for myself. So there is a possibility I ingested some of the stuff. Do you think it is still an issue in the situation I discribed? Corn or milo, maybe? Naw, that stuff won't hurt you. I have breathed a lot of dust from it over the years. It does make your chest hairy, all the way down to both your dicks. 
|
