Farm Journal Editor Resigns After Story Cites Use of Banned Chemical
The managing editor of the California Farmer--the state’s oldest agriculture journal--has resigned in a controversy sparked by the magazine’s report that some table grape growers illegally use a growth-enhancing chemical in their vineyards.
Managing Editor Richard Smoley said he was pressured to resign. “The article was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Smoley said. Smoley, who had worked at the magazine for six years, assigned and edited the article, titled “The Big Fix.”
Publisher Michael Pickett denied that Smoley was forced out. “I personally don’t know the reasons for his resignation,” Pickett said. The publisher also denied reports that the magazine’s editor, Len Richardson, was also being pressured to quit.
Earlier Fines Cited
The article said the illegal use of the growth-regulating chemical 4-CPA was continuing despite a government crackdown after three grape growers were fined for using the product in 1985.
Anonymous growers quoted in the article contended that the chemical is still being used by other farmers. The magazine did not provide any specific evidence that the material was in use this season. Industry leaders and government regulators said they have no evidence that the material is still being applied in the vineyards.
Both Smoley and Richardson said they stand behind the article.
The chemical--also called Tomato Fix--is registered for use on tomatoes, but not grapes. It is used to increase the size and color of the fruit. Classed as a “pesticide,” government regulators say 4-CPA does not pose a threat to consumers or workers.
Reacting to the story and an editorial that ran in the magazine’s Sept. 3 issue, the California Table Grape Commission accused the farm magazine of using “distorted” facts and “fiction” to “indict an entire industry.”
Sharp Criticism
“With this one article California Farmer has condemned itself, destroying a reputation for professionalism that took 134 years to build,” wrote Kirk L. Barr, chairman of the commission, in a letter to the magazine’s editor.
Grape industry leaders acknowledge that in 1985 the state agriculture department investigated tips that table grape growers were using 4-CPA. Three Tulare County farmers were caught using the chemical illegally and fined.
“That was a 3-year-old piece of news,” said Bruce Obbink, the table grape commission president. He denied that the practice was widespread or continuing and said the story “shocked the industry.”
Smoley and Richardson both said the magazine had a responsibility to report any wrongdoing that came to their attention before agriculture’s enemies picked up such information and used it against the industry. In the editorial accompanying the article, Richardson wrote: “The blatant use of illegal products is a far bigger threat to the continued use of safe, properly applied chemicals than any article this magazine will ever publish.”
After Smoley’s resignation last week, Richardson was unavailable for comment about his own status as editor.
In a telephone interview after he resigned, Smoley said the article produced letters and phone calls from industry people who were either outraged by the article or supportive of the editors’ attempt to get agriculture to clean its own house.
“We wanted to look at agriculture clearly and honestly . . . (recognizing) that it is quite unusual in a trade magazine,” Smoley said. Speaking about the publisher’s reaction to the story, Smoley said, “I understand he felt the piece portrayed agriculture in a negative line. . . . I don’t feel it was anti-ag. It’s not in ag’s interest to shield anyone who is breaking the law.”
While publisher Pickett agreed that “the illegal use of any product is a problem,” he was critical of the way the article and the editorial were handled.
Pickett indicated that the article troubled him because it was probable that many growers “do not use the product illegally . . . (yet) the transgressions of a few can have a tendency to overstate and condemn a larger group by association.”
Grape industry officials said 4-CPA was once used legally on grapes 30 years ago, but that as use declined in the 1960s the manufacturers let its registration expire. Some growers wanted the product re-registered but the idea was dropped because of the product’s chemical similarity to Agent Orange. Although 4-CPA does not contain the same dangerous dioxins as Agent Orange, industry officials said they were afraid that it would be impossible to assure the public about that difference.
