Shropshire dairy farmer winner of VI illegal pesticides campaign at Cereals
Shropshire dairy farmer Mike Heath was the winner of The Voluntary Initiative (VI) quiz run at Cereals 2015. He won a prize of £100 M&S vouchers.
A qualified sprayer operator and member of the National Register of Sprayer Operators (NRoSO), Mr Heath encourages livestock farmers who have yet to get certificated to do so before Grandfather Rights end this November: ‘It’s important that all farmers, weather livestock or arable, can show that they are using pesticides responsibly; one step towards this is to make sure you have the right certificates to use them’. As a member of NRoSO Mr Heath goes beyond this, displaying continued professional development annually. Mr Heath farms in Newport, Shropshire with his wife Eira and son Simon. He is responsible for pesticide applications on 1200 acres of forage maize, rye, fodder beet and grass on the family dairy farm.
The quiz, sponsored by the Agricultural Industries Confederation and the Crop Protection Association, asked entrants to identify what the campaign ‘Watch Out!’ was asking farmers and sprayer operators to Watch Out! for. Mr Heath was drawn from the many entrants who correctly identified ‘Illegal Pesticides’ as the right answer.
Richard Butler, VI Chairman said of the campaign ‘As we all know, best practice starts with using an approved product and following the information on the label. It is really important that farmers are aware of the danger posed by unscrupulous professional counterfeiters who want to undermine their farm businesses, putting the environment at risk as well as the professional reputation of our sector”.
