Farmers in the central west of New South Wales worry that pesticide exposure is endangering food production, but officials are taking their time to act.

Even though grazier Bruce Maynard has spent his entire life on the same farm between Trangie and Narromine, he doesn't see anything wrong with the trees. However, a tourist speeding along the central west's roadways might not detect anything amiss with the trees.

The barren peppercorn trees in the neighbourhood golf course are like the canaries in the mine. In Maynard's youth, he claims that they were so covered in vegeta....