Chemicals--Agricultural

Agricultural chemicals consist of any type of chemical that is used for agricultural purposes. In Australia these chemicals are commonly known as agricultural and veterinary chemicals – or AgVet chemicals.

AgVet chemicals include the broad range of pesticides such as insecticides, fungicides and herbicides, inorganic and concentrated organic fertilisers, animal hormones, drenches and inoculations, and growth agents. A pesticide will deter, render harmless, or exert a controlling effect on any harmful biological organism. The most common use of pesticides is to protect plants, and particularly crops, from damaging influences such as weeds, diseases or insects. A fertiliser is any organic or inorganic material, whether natural or synthetic, that is added to a soil to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants. Globally from 30 to 50 percent of crops are attributed to the use of natural or synthetic commercial fertilisers.

Animal hormone growth promotants (HGPs) help farmers increase the productivity of certain types of beef cattle. Deworming – also known as worming or drenching, is the giving of an anthelmintic drug to an animal to rid it of intestinal parasites, such as roundworm and tapeworm. Drenches are used to treat most forms of livestock. Various other inoculations are used individually for sheep, horses, pigs and cattle.

On farms, proper chemical storage facilities and labelling, emergency clean-up equipment and procedures, and safety equipment and procedures for handling, application and disposal are subject to mandatory standards and regulations. In Australia, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry oversees the regulation of agricultural and veterinary chemicals to ensure that the pesticides and veterinary medicines used in Australia are both safe and of the highest quality.