On Tuesday, October 25, 2005, at 02:34 AM, Lynnet Bannion wrote:
> Most of the GM crops are engineered to tolerate
> a heavy dose of herbicide (such as Roundup) that would kill a non-GM
> crop.
> More pesticides on our crops rather than less, and thus more expense
> to the farmer from the pesticide and the more expensive seed.
>
This statement is at best partially true. Farmers use what they can. I
grew up on a farm and saw the many different kinds of pesticides in use
thirty years ago. One thing for this crop and another for that. There
are reasons to argue against GM crops, but that isn't one of them.
Being able to use fewer different chemicals is a big help to farmers,
who have to learn the precautions for each different kind they use. It
reduces costs, not increases them, and allows farmers to stop using
older, more toxic or other more expensive chemicals that they had to
use in the past. Roundup isn't perfect, but it is a LOT less dangerous
to use than some of the older herbicides. I don't like using
pesticides, and never have. I even worked a year applying pesticides,
many years ago. Learned a lot. But the modern trend, at least in the
US, is to use fewer and less pesticides, not more. GM is one of the
reasons for this.
GM seeds are a lot more expensive. My Dad tried GM corn a few years and
stopped using it, and the cost was one reason. The other was he wasn't
happy with the results, the GM variety of corn he grew wasn't as robust
as other modern non-GM corn varieties he uses. I believe that he is
using Roundup-Ready soybeans though.
Farmers are not all stupid hicks, contrary to what many non-farmers
seem to believe. They don't just spray any old chemical willy-nilly in
a vague hope that it will do some good. Chemical applications are
expensive, and some are dangerous. It is a real science to use them
correctly, and farmers are always looking for ways to cut the amount
they use. You should read agriculture magazines for a while, you can
find them on the web. There are always articles about how to reduce
pesticide use when possible.
Sorry for the rant, it is a sore spot for me.
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