Page 11 - CFAN_Jun2014

Commissioner’s

THE ‘HOW’

AND ‘WHY’ OF

TREATING YOUR
AgriCorner
LAWN IN JUNE

WHY SHOULD YOU treat your yard

in June? Because now is the best time

to plant new lawns and patch up old
ones. During the rainy season, you can
Proposed EPA Rule will Redeine ‘Waters’ of the U.S.
use Palmetto plugs to ill those empty
spots.

In the month of May, mole crick-
ets (one of our worst lawn pests) have by COMMISSIONER ADAM H. PUTNAM
D
hatched, making June the best month of
the year to treat your Bahia lawn. As you
DESPITE THE FEDERAL
focus on your lawn, you can use sprays,
baits, and granular controls. Remember government’s long history of egregious

to water heavily before you apply them, overreach and land grabs, it recently

and watch for chinch bugs, caterpillars, outdid itself.
and other insects.

You’ll also want to give that all-impor-
tant second feeding to azaleas, camellias,
In April, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
ixoras, and gardenias. How, you ask? released proposed rules that have the potential to slow—if
Well, be sure you use an acid-forming
not reverse—America’s fragile economic recovery. he
fertilizer heavy in essential minor ele- proposed rules redeine the term “water” in the Clean
ments. It’s also good for crape myrtle,
Water Act, fundamentally changing the intent of the act
crotons, dogwood, blue hydrangeas,
while dramatically expanding the EPA’s jurisdiction and
magnolias, American holly, and podo- control over untold bodies of water in the United States and
carpus. Don’t forget to prune those aza-
subjecting them to further regulation.
leas!
You can treat scale insects, spider Previously, the deinition of water was generally deined future
as navigable waters—and waters closely associated with
mites, and white lies— which peak dur- THIS puts the of
ing the summer— with Malathion or them. hese waters were important for commerce and Florida’s businesses at the
mercy
Acephate. You also will need to contin- transportation of America’s goods and people. he new of the federal
ue feeding annuals and vegetables.
deinition of water, however, removes “navigable” and government and on the
timeline
As you honor Dad for Father’s Day, adds “other waters” that may have a “signiicant nexus” to of the
waters already under the EPA’s jurisdiction. In addition, the Army Corps of Engineers
why not help him with his lawn and .
garden needs? Help him knock out the proposed deinition includes terms which would expand
federal jurisdiction to isolated wetlands far removed from And neither are shining examples of eiciency or common
to-do list this month, and if you have any
questions, you can stop any navigable water and even captures many shallow ditches
sense. his is the most signiicant expansion of federal
and ponds that only occasionally hold any water at all.
government regulation on Florida in a quarter of a century,
by Doty’s Farm and
Garden Supply in and one that is not based on sound science and has not been
As you can imagine, with our unique topography and adequately studied. And it will be a drain on our state’s
Winter Haven.
hydrological makeup, Florida stands to sufer more
economy at a time when we have just recovered from the
than any other state by this expansion of federal inancial crisis and Great Recession.
government authority. hink about how many parts
Even members of Congress—who can rarely come
of Florida are occasionally or seasonally wet, especially
in agriculture—Florida’s second largest industry. together on an issue—have partnered to ight this crippling
overreach. More than half of the members of the U.S. House
Millions of acres of the Florida landscape will fall under
federal jurisdiction if the rule as drated goes into efect. of Representatives have called for the proposed rule to be
repealed, and 84 organizations representing farmers and
Landowners such as developers, foresters, farmers, and
ranchers across the country endorsed their letter calling on
by WILLIAM "BILL" DOTY
industrial dischargers will be subject to new and increased
the rule to be withdrawn. Despite the chorus of objections,
regulations.
the EPA intends to inalize this rule before the end of the
BIO: William R. “Bill” Doty is owner of Doty Farm and If the proposed changes go into efect, every one of these president’s term. For the sake of Florida agriculture, and
Garden Supply Inc., founded in Winter Haven in 1954. Bill
graduated from Winter Haven High School and Florida landowners will be required to obtain a permit from the Florida’s economy in general, we must work together to
State University. Growing up, he learned valuable lessons Army Corps of Engineers to build the simplest of structures.
convince the EPA to ditch the rule. ag
in listening and asking questions and was a student of
the family business. Bill shares his knowledge with his
customers daily and with our readers monthly.

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