Pesticide residue prohibited in organic compost

A federal judge has thrown out a USDA policy that allowed organic farmers to fertilize crops with compost containing the residues of prohibited pesticides. At this point, one certainty of the ruling is that organic farmers will not be allowed to use contaminated compost beginning on Aug. 22. The order’s impact is otherwise murky.  The plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit against USDA’s controversial “guidance” say the ruling won’t cause serious economic disruption, but some groups representing organic farmers fear major upheaval.  “We are overturning the existing system. We are replacing it with nothing,” said Dennis Nuxoll, vice president of federal government affairs for the Western Growers Association, whose members grow roughly half of U.S. organic produce.