REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio — As part of its Clean Sweep program, the Ohio Department of Agriculture is sponsoring a series of three farm pesticide disposal drop-offs this month. The pesticide collections are sponsored by the department in conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“The Clean Sweep program is designed to protect consumers and the environment,” ODA Director Fred Dailey said. “Ohio farmers can protect the environment by properly disposing of unusable and out-of-date pesticides.”

Pesticide disposal collections have been conducted since 1993 with more than 1 million total pounds collected and more than 24,500 pounds collected last year.

“At the collection point, we inventory the product name, product volume/weight and the county of origin,” said Bill Pound, program manager for the ODA’s Pesticide and Fertilizer Regulation Section. “Nothing else is requested. This program is free of charge to farmers.”

Pound said this is an opportunity for safe disposal of pesticide, because alternative, environmentally friendly disposal options for farmers are limited.

The first collection will be Aug. 16 at the Fayette County Airport in Washington Court House from 9:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. This event will take place in conjunction with the Southwest Ohio Corn Growers Field Day. Last year, this site collected more than 2,300 pounds of pesticide.

The second collection will be Aug. 24 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Putnam County Ohio State University Extension Office in Ottawa. More than 9,000 pounds were collected at the Putnam County event last year.

The final collection will take place Aug. 31 at the Wooster campus of the Ohio Agricul-tural Research and Development Center. Wayne County was last year’s largest collection site with more than 12,600 pounds collected.

The pesticide collection and disposal service is free of charge, but only farm chemicals will be accepted. Paint, antifreeze, solvents and household and non-farm pesticides will not be accepted.

To pre-register or for more information, call the ODA’s Pesticide Section at 614-728-6987. Pre-registration is not required for participation, but helps the ODA in planning for the collection.