Posted on 05/08/2010 7:12:26 PM PDT by Clint Williams
Finxray writes
"Years of heavy use of the broad spectrum herbicide Roundup has led to the rapid growth of superweeds. They are spreading throughout North America, creating headaches for farmers and posing 'the single largest threat to production agriculture that we have ever seen,' according to Andrew Wargo III, the president of the Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts. From the article: 'The first resistant species to pose a serious threat to agriculture was spotted in a Delaware soybean field in 2000. Since then, the problem has spread, with 10 resistant species in at least 22 states infesting millions of acres, predominantly soybeans, cotton and corn. The superweeds could temper American agriculture’s enthusiasm for some genetically modified crops. Soybeans, corn and cotton that are engineered to survive spraying with Roundup have become standard in American fields. However, if Roundup doesn’t kill the weeds, farmers have little incentive to spend the extra money for the special seeds."
This should make the environmental wackos happy, if the GM seeds are not effective, then farmers won’t use them...whoops, the problem is, if we go back to where we were 20 years ago, I guess the farmers will just use those nasty pesticides that will kill all weeds, but at least we won’t have that evil Roundup around!
Paving the way...
Don’t gloat. Enviros would rather let humans die than allow them to use DDT inside their homes. Haven’t you heard, we have too many humans anyway. If all humans would just do the right thing and die, the earth could return to her pristine and natural state.
So, I’ve done a GOOD THING by just pulling weeds instead of spending money on RoundUp? WOW (doesn’t mean I don’t have weeds - some of them are perennials!)
So this is the end result of no-till farming...
Oh wait, you are probably not talking about Marijuana.
Nevermind
Ahhh, the Devil is in the details. Could this just be an anti-GM propaganda piece?
Thought you might like to comment on this M.
Evolution in action.
I’ve got some tough weeds that Roundup won’t kill. For them, Goal usually works. For the ones that Goal won’t kill, there’s a couple of other things, but they get pretty expensive. I just picked up some new stuff that’s supposed to kill Marestail and Fleabane. We’ll see how it goes...
Weed chemistry is expensive!
Honestly I just figured that Roundup was starting to water down the mix. It just doesn’t work as well any more. The dang weeds don’t die, all I seem to do is cripple them a little.....
Better living through chemistry.
Doesn't 2,4-D still kill weeds?
Actually the article is correct that some weeds have developed an immunity to Roundup. I am a hazelnut farmer and we have some Rye grass in our orchards that have developed an immunity to roundup. Its been very annoying, but fortunately Paraquat will still kill it so I just had to change my spraying program.
2,4-D will work great on any woody weeds. However, it doesn’t do anything to grasses and other broadleaves. For that I would recommend Goal (if you have warm weather right after the application and even then it doesn’t always work) or Gramoxone (which uses Paraquat as its active ingredient). However, only use Gramoxone if you have a pesticide applicators license and are very very carefull because it carries a danger label and can be very fatal if you inhale any of the spray droplets.
I don’t doubt that at all, I just thought it curious that GM foods got worked into the storyline
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