The Year the Monarch Didn't Appear
Yeah, GMO are good for human, who gives a shit about other things ?
I just saw a good presentation by a potato farmer from Colorado talking about using alternatives to spraying and he is having good results while still not being "organic". He deals with aphids by planting flowers along with his potatoes to attract predator insects for example. There are a lot of good ideas in all branches of farming, but the organic and anti-GMO people turn it into a religious argument. Because monocultures are detrimental to one kind of insect, then we should conclude that pesticides and GMOs are evil and should be banned? Of course not, but that's what the dialog devolves to, and usually the loudest voices are the most ignorant.
Mainstream agriculture is learning that biodiversity and less reliance on chemicals/tillage can be very beneficial and many of us are moving in that direction, but don't try to tell that to the drooling idiots that love to scream about Monsanto and factory farms and how the evil corporations are poisoning the childrens. I planted 4 hay fields to a mixture of 3 grasses and 3 flowering legumes last spring where we had been doing small grain hay using tillage and chem fallow. Before I planted them, I sprayed them with Roundup to give the stuff I planted a chance vs. the weeds that were already established. This should improve soil health, reduce erosion, provide better environment for wildlife and insects, and hopefully increase forage production. I plan to do the same with 3 more fields next spring. Am I evil or good? Neither one, but people shouldn't assume that there only two kinds of farmers, the benevolent, loving organic farmer and the evil, environment hating factory farming bastards.
The idea that farmers and ranchers don't care about the environment is insane. As a farmer/rancher my land is all I have. If I do damage to it, I am cutting my own paycheck or perhaps putting myself out of business. I am more interested in keeping my land productive in a sustainable way than anyone.
Pesticides and GMOs are technology. It doesn't matter what type of technology you are talking about, it all has positive and negative effects. Some of the negatives you can foresee, some you can't. When an unexpected downside of a new technology becomes evident, you rethink the cost vs. benefit and adjust accordingly. What you don't do is pass an edict that technology will be frozen at 1950s levels and anything newer than that will be declared immoral, which is basically what these organic hippies are advocating. Can you imagine doing that with computers? Or automobiles? That would be retarded. It's the same with farming.
