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General Description of Fiesta Herbicide

Fiesta contains 4.43 per cent Fe ( iron present as FeHEDTA, a chelated iron ).

It is NOT a « natural » or « organic » product.

Professional Lawn Care Companies that have employed these inaccurate terms in their advertising campaigns have been instructed by Health Canada to DESIST.

Issues with Fiesta Herbicide

Efficacy

Fiesta may be ALMOST TOTALLY INEFFECTIVE on many weed species, and SLIGHTLY EFFECTIVE on DANDELION and BLACK MEDICK.

Weed species such as Clover, Broad & Narrow–Leaved Plantain, Chicory, Ground Ivy, Mallow, Oxalis, and Thistle respond to application with MINOR DAMAGE ONLY, and RECOVER RAPIDLY, even when the label rate is DOUBLED.

Many weed species recover from an application of Fiesta WITHIN TWO WEEKS. Consequently, TWO SUCCESSIVE APPLICATIONS will likely be necessary in most situations.

Additional applications are NOT permitted by the label, which allows a maximum limit of TWO APPLICATIONS PER SEASON with no less than four weeks between applications.

Input

Fiesta requires EXTREMELY–HIGH–INPUTS OF ACTIVE INGREDIENTS when compared to conventional pest control products.

The exceedingly high a.i. rate of Fiesta seems to fly in the face of the desired environmentalist objective of reducing the amount of active ingredient being applied in pest control product programs.

Skin Exposure

Fiesta may be QUESTIONABLY EQUAL OR HIGHER IN PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH SKIN EXPOSURE when compared to products like Killex, a three–way phenoxy herbicide used for conventional broad–leaved weed control.

According to the Fiesta label, prolonged or frequently repeated skin contact may cause ALLERGIC REACTIONS in some individuals.

According to Health Canada, the signal words for Fiesta are « potential skin sensitizer » and « may cause skin sensitization ».

Health Concerns

Since Fiesta contains a « metal ingredient », there will inevitably develop the same controversy that led to the demise of the fertilizer Milorganite in Canada in the 1980s and 1990s.

The « heavy metal » content of Milorganite was falsely alleged by Environmental–Maniac–Activists to lead to health problems like Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

Consequently, the product was withdrawn for several years.

June 7th, 2010

Pamela Charbonneau
Turfgrass Specialist

Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

Turfgrass Management Agriphone for June 7, 2010

Fiesta™, the new iron chelate has been available for several weeks now.

I have had a chance to do some weed counts this spring on plots that were treated with Fiesta™ last fall.

It appears with dandelions and black medick, that there is considerable re–growth of these weed species, back to similar levels before treatment.

In the fall, Fiesta™ was only applied once to the plots and it may be that at that time of year, two applications are necessary.

There are more research trials being conducted this spring at Guelph Turfgrass Institute to try to get a handle on the re–growth of broadleaf weeds after treatment with Fiesta™.