RESPONSIBLE stewardship of the chemistry we currently have, will be the key to future availability of pesticides according to the leading water companies.

Eight of them under the umbrella of Water UK aim to use this year’s Cereals Event to reiterate the importance that stewardship plays in preserving their future availability.

Dr Dinah Hillier, catchment control manager at Thames Water, explained: “We first came together as a group in 2013 when metaldehyde was becoming more frequently detected in raw surface water.

“The active ingredient is difficult to remove from water, and treatment costs are expensive, so we wanted to work with the agricultural industry to raise awareness and highlight ways to reduce pesticides reaching watercourses,” she said.

“With support from the Metaldehyde Stewardship Group (MSG), we set up a ‘one stop shop’ for farmers, spray operators and agronomists. We believe that on-going collaboration with the sector is key to reducing the risk of water supplies breaching statutory water quality standards, while protecting the availability of crop protection products.”

This year’s Water UK stand at Cereals (June 13 and 14) will see representatives from eight water companies coming together with the MSG and the Voluntary Initiative (VI) 'OSR herbicides? Think water' stewardship campaign.

The stand will also offer the opportunity to gain BASIS and/or NRoSO points by following this year’s ‘Slug trail’, which will be running between the Water UK and De Sangosse stands.

This requires participants to answer questions to update their knowledge of slug pellet stewardship practices. At key times throughout the two-day event, there will also be an opportunity to listen to a ‘calibration tech talk’, presented by representatives from SCS Spreader and Sprayer.