Yetter Plays Critical Role in Award-Winning Ozone Protection Project

The US Environmental Protection Agency has awarded its 2002 Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award to a team comprising Yetter Manufacturing Company, government researchers and Dow AgroSciences. The team demonstrated how, as an alternative to methyl bromide, 1,3-dichloropropene (Telone®) could be an equally effective pesticide and less destructive of the Earth's protective ozone layer.

The project involved finding alternatives to methyl bromide fumigation. Making it work was difficult because the typical methyl bromide delivery mechanism wasn't appropriate with Telone in sandy soils and because of the differences in liquid versus gaseous pesticide application.

But, by using the Yetter Avenger® coulter system with a 30" blade, Mark Seipel, a Yetter Regional Sales Manager, and John Mirusso, of Mirusso Fumigation and Equipment in Delray Beach, Florida, solved both the sandy soil and liquid pesticide application problems.

As described by Seipel, the Avenger features unique knives with drop tubes on the trailing edge of the coulters that precisely place fumigants 12" deep. An exclusive Double Seal System™ then locks the fumigant in place, enhancing diffusion and maximizing pest control.

The EPA reported that, in real-world tests, the pest control effectiveness often exceeded that typical of methyl bromide and helped resolve worker-exposure concerns as well.

At the awards program in Washington, DC, Drusilla Hufford, Director of the EPA's Global Programs Division, said, "Methyl bromide is one of the most ozone-destructive chemicals currently manufactured in the world. Today's Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award winners have shown that alternatives are available and practical, and are leading the farming and food industries through their environmental stewardship."

Established in 1930 and based in Colchester, Illinois, Yetter Manufacturing Company is the industry leader in planter attachments that boost productivity and profitability. Yetter makes a variety of coulters, residue managers, precision fertilizer placement products, markers and bulk seed handling devices.

Jerry Nance, left, of Dow AgroSciences, and John Mirusso, representing Yetter and Mirusso Fumigation and Equipment, accept the US Environmental Protection Agency's 2002 Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award from Drusilla Hufford, Director of the EPA's Global Programs Division. The award is for a project that demonstrated how 1,3-dichloropropene (Telone®) could be used as an alternative to methyl bromide - one that is equally effective as a pesticide and less destructive of the Earth's protective ozone layer. The Yetter Avenger® with 30" blades was the equipment that helped solve the problem of safely and effectively placing a liquid fumigant like Telone in Florida's sandy soils.