Butler County farmers have a chance this year to safely dispose of expired or unwanted pesticides for no charge.

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture hosts a program called Chemsweep that collects pesticides from farms in different counties on a staggered four-year cycle in order to dispose of them safely and legally.

While the program is helpful and free to farmers, several in Butler County have not needed it in recent years because crop dusting has become more efficient.

“We had jars picked up, but that was years ago,” said Ken Metrick, owner of Metrick’s Harvest View Farm on Eagle Mill Road. “We still spray, but we use it up. Everything we have here is not more than a couple years old.”

Metrick had to have pesticides taken by Chemsweep when his family purchased the farm in the 1990s because some left by the previous owner had no labels or had expired. Justin Brackenrich, agronomy educator with Penn State Extension, said pesticide labels are legal documents that specify not only how the product should be used, but also how long it is good to be used.

“Sometimes a label will change,” he said. “If someone buys a farm, and they find a bunch of chemicals and they don’t know what they are, and we don’t even know what they are, it’s a great way for people to get rid of those.”

James Cunningham, pesticide specialist with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, said farmers have to register with the Environmental Protection Agency when they purchase pesticides, and the cost for licensing pays for Chemsweep. He said about 500 farms apply for pickup through Chemsweep each year, and average a 400-pound drop off, although the organization will collect any amount of unwanted pesticide.

“We’ll stop by, even if it’s just five pounds,” he said. “There is no minimum, no matter what, we’ll stop out and pick up.”

Bill Huffman, owner of Huffman Farms in Valencia, said he has not had to use the services of Chemsweep, but he appreciates that it is available in case he needs to dispose of chemicals.

“If we would switch what we grow and have leftover product, we would use Chemsweep,” Huffman said. “It’s so regulated that you plan for the minimum amount required.”

Metrick and Huffman said they have other organic methods of protecting their crops that have cut the need for large amounts of pesticides. Brackenrich said this is an overall positive because pesticides can be harmful when not used properly.

“I think that through education we’re getting better at targeting the things we need,” Brackenrich said. “Instead of blanket applications, we’re getting much better at focusing on, ‘This is the type we need for this type of weed or this kind of system.’”