Texas A&M’s Renchie receives Pesticide Stewardship Alliance Award

The Pesticide Stewardship Alliance, TPSA, recently held its annual conference virtually and presented Don Renchie, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service pesticide safety program coordinator, Bryan-College Station, with the 2021 Program Excellence Award.

In 2018, AgriLife Extension and Renchie initiated a statewide pesticide collection program to provide producers with hazardous chemical disposal options. Due to the high cost of disposal and limited options, many producers had been stockpiling unwanted/unused pesticides. AgriLife Extension recognized the risk unused and unwanted pesticides posed to public health and the environment. 

Statewide collection program

According to the nomination, AgriLife Extension started Texas’ first pesticide collection program allowing producers, farmers and ranchers to properly dispose of unwanted and unused agricultural pesticides and herbicides since a state-run program ended in 2008. 

From 2018-2020, AgriLife Extension disposal events collected 512,000 pounds of pesticides. The largest event was in North Texas and collected 274,521 pounds.

The AgriLife Extension program validated the need for a permanent agricultural pesticide collection program in Texas, according to TSPA. Now the Texas Department of Agriculture is sponsoring a permanent collection program that will provide annual disposal opportunities for producers in Texas.

The Pesticide Stewardship Alliance

Founded in 2000, TSPA is an organization of federal, state and local governmental agencies, educational and research institutions, public organizations, private corporations, and individuals that are actively involved in different aspects of pesticide stewardship. The goals of TPSA are to increase the effectiveness, efficiency, and longevity of various pesticide stewardship efforts.

The original article was published by the The Pesticide Stewardship Alliance.