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03-09-2003, 02:12 AM
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New problems with GM corn? (Was: GM crop farms filled with weeds)
Dean Hoffman wrote:
On 9/2/03 7:20 AM, in article , "Brian Sandle" wrote: DH: There were some weeds that weren't controlled very well at all before Roundup. Common dog bane is one example. It's tough to control even with Roundup. There are chemicals other than Roundup that can be used in most cases. How often does the RR farmer have to buy those extras? I don't know. A heavy dose of Roundup will control dogbane. The Roundup has to be applied in doses that are over the label limit for corn. I think the trick is to spray toward the end of the growing season to minimize the impact on the corn crop. DH: Crop and chemical rotation is accepted practice as far as I know. Not as simple as just RR. True. There are other reasons to rotate. One is soybeans will leave behind about 45# of nitrogen per acre for the next year's corn crop. Was this done so much before days of GM? Anything like that needs to be looked into in comparing yields. Another is insect control. There something showing up locally that has no treatment except rotation. I don't remember what it is. It isn't the traditional bugs or weeds. The seed corn companies here won't put their crop into a field that had corn the previous year. So I hope the people here in NZ who are supporting the end of the GM moratorium have got some figures on how that sort of thing affects their whole profit scenario. Or are they going to whimper that they could not have forseen such problems and get a govt tax hand out for more research and or trying to keep up standard of living of farmers who may be suffering. Otherwise how can the govt keep on god terms with their mates in biotech? At cost of what? The plant has to make the RR detoxifier which takes some of its energy. So where is that made up? I don't know. DH: The farmers would rotate RR beans into corn fields to help control the weeds that multiply in continuous corn. RR corn? I think RR beans were introduced here before the RR corn. I was probaly thinking back to that time. And were they rotated to corn as much as to RR corn? DH: Roundup ready beans have made a big change in my area, (Nebraska, USA). Weeds used to be a real problem. Whole families of Latinos used to hand weed the fields to get the weeds not killed by other chemicals or normal tillage. So what is their work now? I don't know. Most were migrant workers. I suppose some back to Mexico, others to other farm work. It was quite a sight, at times. Grandma and almost down to toddler stage would be out working. So what is happening to standards of health? DH: It's not necessary to rogue beans anymore. Dog bane may be escaping Roundup control. Now Roundup has killed other weeds which used to compete with it is it not taking over more? Probably in some fields. I really haven't noticed a big increase overall. I don't pay real close attention. I'm in fields working on irrigation. Rogueing wasn't too effective for dog bane. It spreads through risones (sp?) on the roots. Roundup can control it. So you grow your RR corn, then towards the end of its season apply a heavy dose of Roundup, and next year grow RR soy. Is this extra Roundup in our food computed? Estrogenic. My dad had a real bad problem in one field years ago. This was before Roundup. I think he put winter wheat in that field. He disced the field following harvest the next summer. Then he used a heavy doses of something like 2-4D plus something else. Whatever he did helped a lot although I don't remember the details. Which is not actually on the food he was going to sell. DH: Hybrid corn came into use decades ago. Apparently, it's a good deal for them and the seed companies. Several farmers in my area raise seed corn for the seed companies. It's a hassle but it pays better than commercial corn. I spend a lot of time in corn and bean fields. The fields are much cleaner now than in the past due to better chemicals and farming practices. Though the resistant weeds have fewer competitors and over some years must be more of a problem. It's a constant battle. Companies develop and farmers use new sprays. Rotating chemicals from year to year helps keep each more effective longer. As we see they are getting back to the rotation and probably other old practices and it would be interesting to know how things would have developed if all the money which has been put into GM had gone into working with nature in the first place. DH: Some farmers here no till their crops in. More are switching to no or minimum till each year. Some don't cultivate at all. They just use spray to control the weeds. That helps keep the organic matter up and the soil erosion down. But as I posted no till has been happening here without GM, GM being illegal still. Sorry, I missed that post. Here in New Zealand we do not have commercial genetically modified crops. But we do have no-tillage. `Living Here' (Canterbury Regional Council newsletter) August 2003: `No tillage is a method of directly sowing new crop or grass seeds into paddocks without ploughing or cultivating the soil. Thosae using this method say it uses less msachinery and cuts fuel, time and machinery costs by up to 70%.' `The no-tillage method sees Simon leaving harvest residues on the ground, which improves the soil's organic composition and structure. "Because of our soil's high organic matter, it has better water holding capacity than soil under a culitivated system." Simon irrigates less than many of his cultivating neighbourts, but still retains good soil moisture levels. Moist soil is less likely to be picked up by the wind, he says.' |
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