This is an anti-GMO post

I third that! This thread has morphed into actual information instead of supposition. Not usually the way a thread drifts.

Since this is kinda morphing into a modern farming thread, and so as not to get too heavy on the old topic, a slight break:

The past 10 years, us farmers have started adding sulfur to our fertilizer. Takes about 10-15 lbs per acre to make happy corn.

Years ago, no one ever had to do that. We got enough sulfur in the rain - acid rain. Some of the pollutants in the air were actually good for the crops.

Times change, and we cleaned up the air - a good thing - bit now we have to spend money on extra fertilizer. Seems grass crops especially need a little bit of sulfur, but now they see an improvement in soybean crops as well.

Seems ironic, we clean up the air, and then need to add more fertilizer to the crops.

Also with all the wet weather around me, a lot of farm acres have not been planted. They are talking maybe 4 million acres of good farmland so wet all spring it won't get planted!

One of the hottest topics on the farm press and farm forums is cover crops. If it ever does dry out later in summer, they want to plant cover crops to hold the soil, save the fertilizer in it, and improve the soil.

Lot of intrest in that, by the big time farmers.

Paul

Also to get slightly off subject.....I have some really old garden books, 20's, 30's etc...and even a few before that. We always seem to assume that this pesticide subject we try to deal with is a modern dilemma, which isn't the case. The list of pesticides that were used back then could make your hair curl. A very common one was lead arsenate, which was used extensively first on apple crops and then seems like everyone else jumped on the bandwagon. Most people could assume by the name of this chemical that either is not necessarily good for you!

We're dealing with a really old subject here. Are we learning anything from past mistakes? Yea, I think we are. The general public has become more aware, although we still have a ways to go, we're slowly getting there...the farmer, from what we have been hearing on here and hopefully this is not isolated, seems to be learning and applying that knowledge the most and hopefully will wisely be good caretakers of the soil and food for the masses. Chemical companies? I guess I'll give them that they appear to be trying to create better, more selective pesticides....we just need to be vigilant and insist on better standards instead of what is easy or cheap.

I guess my point is that people that grow food have been using something for eons to get better yields out of their gardens or farms...whether it's organic, which can still be harmful, or inorganic, which can still be harmful. It's all in the application and attention to the process and outcomes. If we can keep communicating instead of finger pointing maybe we can reach a healthy balance for us and nature. Be nice, wouldn't it?

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"Being normal is not necessarily a virtue...rather, it denotes a lack of courage".