U.S. Farmers Cope With Roundup-Resistant Weeds

[rrneck]

Just as the heavy use of antibiotics contributed to the rise of drug-resistant supergerms, American farmers’ near-ubiquitous use of the weedkiller Roundup has led to the rapid growth of tenacious new superweeds.

....

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.

....

Sales took off in the late 1990s, after Monsanto created its brand of Roundup Ready crops that were genetically modified to tolerate the chemical, allowing farmers to spray their fields to kill the weeds while leaving the crop unharmed. Today, Roundup Ready crops account for about 90 percent of the soybeans and 70 percent of the corn and cotton grown in the United States.

....

“The biotech industry is taking us into a more pesticide-dependent agriculture when they’ve always promised, and we need to be going in, the opposite direction,” said Bill Freese, a science policy analyst for the Center for Food Safety in Washington.



http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_59777.shtml

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Twenty years ago we used a "rope wick" gadget for Roundup. It would just put a smear of the chemical about the size of your pinky finger on Johnson grass and kill the whole thing right down to the rhizome. Now they have soybeans designed to work with the chemical. Just keep piling eggs in that one basket guys, we'll get somebody else to pay for the disaster later...

[era veteran]

1. Monsanto, the Evil Empire

There will be consequences to using this poison. Bee Colony Collapse may be one. Go organic, feed your head.

[zbiker]

3. was roundup actually considered

and end all for all species of weeds. i am unsure whether it was ever promoted that way, i could be wrong thou, it just makes sense that no one weedkiller would kill every variety of weed known to man

[rrneck]

5. As I recall,

it'll kill damn near anything. But I don't know if that matters. Monsanto would have you putting it on your cornflakes if they could.

It seems to me to be more about resource concentration as a result of an ongoing program of economic concentration. They are trying to corner the market on herbicide in any way they can, and that effort stifles innovation in a variety of ways not limited to weeds.

[era veteran]

6. Roundup kills almost everything/ Monsanto has genetically modified seed

that is resistant, hence Evil Empire. Their seeds will be the kind that are available. We could have human society collapse if anything goes wrong like bee colony collapse. This has not been proven but it more than just speculation. Regardless, their are too many chemicals that haven't been tested well and what kind of problems this seed will cause. I am afraid they will fuck up agriculture for money. We should hope Silent Spring doesn't turn into silent forever. Peace, Richard

[w4rma]

2. Back to pulling them up by the roots. (nt)

[femrap]

4. I've read

that it lowers sperm counts. But since we have too many people, maybe that's not so bad.