Going spraying!

Today we have been spraying. We have been applying headland polo to the grass strips we have on the edge of the fields for conservation purposes. When I looked it up on the PAN database I learnt that it although it is not one of the dirty dozen...it is still chemically related to Agent Orange, the defoliant used in the Vietnam war that still impacts today. However apparently as a rule it is low risk and has low toxicity to the soil, bees and many insects and animals (aside from amphibians for whom it seems pretty deadly). I assume it depends who you listen to.. Dad says the spray man said it won't do any harm... But he would! ( even though he is actually a really nice bloke I don't like the fact we are taking agronomy advice from the man who flogs the chemicals!) This is a job I am not too keen on... But I want to know how the farm is working nd why we do the things we do... We were spot hand spraying the pernicious weeds like docks, thistles and nettles to prevent them from taking over the grass intended for insects and encourage other wildlife as part of our higher level stewardship. Traditionally grasslands would have been managed on the farm by grazing animals. These days where specialisation and productivity is king, mixed farms are a bit of a rarity... So aside from pulling them all up, it seems that spraying a herbicide is the only way on a farm of our scale.. I am by default anti using any chemical on the farm. On top of all the potential impacts on the wider ecosystem.. Breathing it in, getting it in your clothes... Should not be something our food producers and their families should have to do. However I must say I am struggling to imagine a alternative on our farm or in the current political and economic climate for agriculture. There must be a way!