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GM alfalfa

T

ted regentin

Member
I just read that the USDA has issued an enviromental impact statement on genetically modified alfalfa that says that there is nothing wrong with it. While I was born and raised on a farm, I haven't been involved in farming other than raising a few cattle and goats, for many years. I would be interested in some real farmers comments on the subject. Just so everyone knows my bias, I raise as much of my own food as possible, and try to avoid chemicals as much as I can. Lets keep it civil, please!
 
Good for you, Animal. I"m afraid I am hugely biased against anything GM. Natural mutations involving wind, birds and insects are fine but a bunch of scientists fiddling with things in a lab scare the crap out of me, because in a generation or two, they have no idea what"s going to happen. Biotech firms claim everything is fine, but the people who review this stuff came from the biotech firms and will go back to those same companies. No objective views.
 
I've noticed that GM corn and soybeans have killed off all insects and birds in the fields where planted. Just yesteday I walked out in a couple corn fields and looked and looked and I never saw one bug...and not a peep from any bird.
My neighbor said I can't see them in the daytime, but need to go out at night as they glow in the dark.
LA in WI
 
***I've noticed that GM corn and soybeans have killed off all insects and birds in the fields where planted. Just yesteday I walked out in a couple corn fields and looked and looked and I never saw one bug...and not a peep from any bird.***

Are you sure that isn't from using iron plow shares? My grand daddy warned me the they would poison the soil.
 
Agronomically, I cant see anything wrong with it. Economically, I"m not paying 7 bucks a pound for it. I"ve got too much trouble curing alfalfa without some grass in it so I cant see how its going to help me much, at least r.r. Now leaf hopper resistant, that I like.

For farms feeding the dairy trade I can certainly see the benefits. As to using GM crops, I"ve used r.r. soybeans and r.r. and triple stack corn. The amount of pesticides the reduce is phenominal. I"d a lot rather see corn treated twice with glyphosate which is cheap, safe, effective, and has a small footprint in the environment rather than see the gallons and gallons of triazines leaching into the ground water and gallons and gallons of highly toxic insecticides to control corn borers and worms. I"ve never seen an accident with roundup kill cows but I"ve seen lots of disasters with diazinon, lorsban, and furidan.
 
Yup.

The safety of RR alfalfa isn't even the point of the deal. It's whether it will affect growers of non-GMO alfalfa. That is the point of the current action.

What will get a bit far out is when GMO animals start appearing. That's gonna be freaky deal. China has done more research than the rest of the world - some strange things out there......

--->Paul
 
When I was still farming I would not use anything GM modified, Have no use for anything RR ready, corn or beans. Few years ago I ordered bean seed and said I wanted conventional seed, not RR ready. Had a death in family and friends picked up seed and planted it and only after it was in the ground did I find out it was RR ready. Gave the seed dealer an earfull, told them I would not have bought seed from them if it was all they could supply. Only place I will use roundup is in non crop area, will not use it on fields.
 
If I remember right the only reason RR alfalfa was pulled off the market a few years ago was because of the miniscule amount of alfalfa that is eaten by humans. I was going to plant some of it but decided against it cause I don't have much of a weed problem on my farm. Jim
 
It seems to me that we have been messing with the genetics of plants and critters ever since agriculture started. Personally, I'm ok with it. The only way a mutation would continue through several generations is if it is beneficial to the organism...

The thing I would think about is the marketing and social pressures. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the European Union stop importing flax from Canada because they found a few GM seeds? Thus collapsing our flaxseed industry for several years to come? I thought I read something about that recently.

Troy Boyd
 
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