Post by colburg on Sept 29, 2014 14:45:31 GMT -5
sheepherder, after I wrote this, I realized that I wrote "you" in here a lot. "you" does not mean you specifically, I used that term to denote anyone that's not me. Please hang around this thread so we can debate and educate each other, and who knows, I may possibly eat crow. I come from a family of cotton farmers and there's no corn grown in these parts. Your input and rebuttals are appreciated.
Wow, I didn't get on a computer at all over the weekend and was surprised to see this. There are a few pros and cons of GMO that I wrestle with in my brain quite often.
Weeds - GMO Roundup Ready crops have made weeds manageable without intensive labor. And trust me, good trustworthy labor in the farming sector is getting hard to come by. In cattle, hog, chicken, and orchard operations, managing weeds is fairly easy. Either the livestock grazes it, or it gets shredded or disced. The answer to weeds in row crops is a few special plows that'll take out the weeds in the middles, but you still have to remove the ones in the rows by hand. On the other hand, GMO cotton seed is about 6 times the cost of traditional seed. With the lower cost of seed and near $0 for chemical, some of the labor cost can be offset.
Bugs - Another plus for GMO is bug resistance, however, some simple management techniques can reduce the bug load in crops. Crop rotation is the biggest one I know of. A rotation of corn, soybeans, and a legume over 3 growing seasons keeps the nematodes and BT rootworn in check. On the other hand, if you only have corn, you only need 1 set of planting and harvest equipment. When you switch it up to 3 different crops, there's more equipment to buy for planting, managing, and harvest. Trust me, harvest equipment ain't cheap.
Cross contamination - There's no brain debate on this one. If your pollen contimates my field, you should be liable for all damages and profit loss. PERIOD.
Labeling - Why are GMO proponents against labeling? Can I know what's in that package? Please? Sure, if there are labels, people will probably tend to buy non-GMO. But think of the organic market that will open up. Organic is much easier to sell locally, which cuts out several middle-men, which puts more $$$ in your pocket.
Logistics - One of the downsides of labeling will be the logistics of keeping GMO seperated from Organic on these larger farms. And, who's going to ensure that the labels are correct and that the crops stay seperated? Mr. Big Gubmint will surely be the one to step in those shoes. I would trust any independent over Uncle Sam and day of the week.
For anyone who doesn't want the GMO's be prepared to pay higher prices, or you can start breeding and inventing. Just look at the following.
Cross-Bred Crops Trump the Failing GMO-Created Techniques
If you like to play with various varieties of seeds in your garden, start breeding the things that commercial farmers need. The person that naturally selects bug resistant seeds that kill all weeds(if it's possible) will put Monsanto out of business the next day and end the GMO debate.
If you have a creative bone in your body, and some free time, please help us farmers with inventions and plows that are affordable and will allow us to resolve the issues we have without the GMO's. I think that most farmers would gladly cut out the GMO's if they felt they had a viable alternative.
Sheepherder, what are your thoughts about mechanical weed control, or hoe hands? What about crop rotation? I would also like to hear your thoughts on labeling.
Cheers,
Wow, I didn't get on a computer at all over the weekend and was surprised to see this. There are a few pros and cons of GMO that I wrestle with in my brain quite often.
Weeds - GMO Roundup Ready crops have made weeds manageable without intensive labor. And trust me, good trustworthy labor in the farming sector is getting hard to come by. In cattle, hog, chicken, and orchard operations, managing weeds is fairly easy. Either the livestock grazes it, or it gets shredded or disced. The answer to weeds in row crops is a few special plows that'll take out the weeds in the middles, but you still have to remove the ones in the rows by hand. On the other hand, GMO cotton seed is about 6 times the cost of traditional seed. With the lower cost of seed and near $0 for chemical, some of the labor cost can be offset.
Bugs - Another plus for GMO is bug resistance, however, some simple management techniques can reduce the bug load in crops. Crop rotation is the biggest one I know of. A rotation of corn, soybeans, and a legume over 3 growing seasons keeps the nematodes and BT rootworn in check. On the other hand, if you only have corn, you only need 1 set of planting and harvest equipment. When you switch it up to 3 different crops, there's more equipment to buy for planting, managing, and harvest. Trust me, harvest equipment ain't cheap.
Cross contamination - There's no brain debate on this one. If your pollen contimates my field, you should be liable for all damages and profit loss. PERIOD.
Labeling - Why are GMO proponents against labeling? Can I know what's in that package? Please? Sure, if there are labels, people will probably tend to buy non-GMO. But think of the organic market that will open up. Organic is much easier to sell locally, which cuts out several middle-men, which puts more $$$ in your pocket.
Logistics - One of the downsides of labeling will be the logistics of keeping GMO seperated from Organic on these larger farms. And, who's going to ensure that the labels are correct and that the crops stay seperated? Mr. Big Gubmint will surely be the one to step in those shoes. I would trust any independent over Uncle Sam and day of the week.
For anyone who doesn't want the GMO's be prepared to pay higher prices, or you can start breeding and inventing. Just look at the following.
Cross-Bred Crops Trump the Failing GMO-Created Techniques
If you like to play with various varieties of seeds in your garden, start breeding the things that commercial farmers need. The person that naturally selects bug resistant seeds that kill all weeds(if it's possible) will put Monsanto out of business the next day and end the GMO debate.
If you have a creative bone in your body, and some free time, please help us farmers with inventions and plows that are affordable and will allow us to resolve the issues we have without the GMO's. I think that most farmers would gladly cut out the GMO's if they felt they had a viable alternative.
Sheepherder, what are your thoughts about mechanical weed control, or hoe hands? What about crop rotation? I would also like to hear your thoughts on labeling.
Cheers,