If you farm wheat commercially

Then I soooo want to buy Kansas wheat.

Thanks Pretty Paisley for this post!!!

I hate to be a nit-picker but this needs to be said since you are partially incorrect, pesticides include a broad range of pests and are not just for insects.

http://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topi...ts/pesticides/

"A pesticide is any substance used to kill, repel, or control certain forms of plant or animal life that are considered to be pests.

Pesticides include:

herbicides for destroying weeds and other unwanted vegetation, insecticides for controlling a wide variety of insects, fungicides used to prevent the growth of molds and mildew, disinfectants for preventing the spread of bacteria, and compounds used to control mice and rats.

Because of the widespread use of agricultural chemicals in food production, people are exposed to low levels of pesticide residues through their diets. Scientists do not yet have a clear understanding of the health effects of these pesticide residues...... "

Show up around the end of June and you can get it for around 6 bucks a bushel straight from the combine. A bushel is around 58 lbs.

Lots of times Wheat is drilled right after Soy Beans doing away with the weeds. Ok I'll admit it's been over 20 years can't remember if we had problem with Morning Glory in Wheat or Soy Beans not Big problem unless used for Seed, but not hard to clean out because of its shape. Seen Night Shade in Soy Beans, only one time I tried to clean it out while it was Green, couldn't because it was too close to same Weight and Shape as Soy Beans.

We would treat Wheat with Vitavax which is a Fungicide. I would say I would have more trouble with it than anyone around the Wheat coming from this seed. Vitavax is some Bad stuff and I never used any precautions keeping it out of my system.

big rockpile

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Occasionally winter wheat will be sprayed 3 weeks or so before harvest (label interval on gly is two weeks here) It has nothing to do with drying down the grain, more to clean up the straw for people who need clean bedding. Most of that wheat gets fed to livestock too. Most winter wheat here gets sprayed early in the spring with something like Buctril

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Ah that would be lovely!!!

Yes, we raise wheat commercially and no, we do not spray it with anything. Nothing, nada.

How many times do we have to beat this dead horse?

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Re:am1too's 18 inch wheat by December in OK, I'm in SC and if wheat here grew that tall by December, it would be winterkilled back to the roots by the end of Feb. Conditions vary greatly with location. Farther East in the state nearer the coast, farmers have often drilled wheat or rye into Coastal Bermuda sod so as to have winter grazing for cattle. (Fescue doesn't grow well in the sandy soil there especially in hot dry weather in the summer.

COWS

I've been around awhile, poked around in most threads that pertain to GMO/Monstanto/RR and I've not seen discussions on this. Of course I could have overlooked it but this isn't something that gets tossed around on a frequent basis.

Since this blogger posted her info my news feed is being bombarded with lots of information. Yep - she is very much a sensationalized "reporter" but she is smart and she knows her stuff. She's been into traditional foods long before the WWW was all the rage.

So no one here seems to practice this but like geo mentioned, Monsanto encourages it.
As I find more info like this: http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2012/0...n-wheat-belly/ I'll share it. For the folks who care about how they feed their family, for full disclosure, for thoughts to ponder and info to research. Wanting to know what is in your food is *not* a crime, no matter how hard some try to make it one.

Our wheat does not see a drop of glyphosate, Our wheat typically ripens evenly in late June or Early July so we don't need to take advantage of the approved use of glyphosate. Of course out wheat os destined for pastries, doughnuts, and exported as livestock feed.

I've lived in Kansas over 8 years and have asked farmers questions like this. They were patient with me and have told me repeatedly that it's not worth it spending $$ to spray anything on wheat when they have miles and miles of it.

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I will repost the article you put up, Pretty Paisley, and fill in a few holes. I hope I help, not hinder. I will bold and bracket my thoughts at various points.

I have been a wheat farmer for 50 yrs and one wheat production practice that is very common (Actually not very common in the least) is applying the herbicide Roundup(Or Credit, or Startup, or vantage, or touchdown, or any of the other glyphosates made by COMPANIES OTHER THAN THE GREAT SATAN, Monsanto) (glyposate) just prior(If one does practice this, there are wait times that have legal and market implications ) to harvest. Roundup is licensed for preharvest weed control. (This is indeed the reason why the few farmers who use this method, use this method. For perennial weed control. Canada Thistle being the main culprit they are after) Monsanto, the manufacturer of Roundup ( Along with the MANY other makers of glyphosate, but who cares, Monsanto is the only one that rings a bell with un-informed people) claims that application to plants at over 30% kernel moisture result in roundup uptake by the plant into the kernels. (Which is why no one sprays un-ripe wheat. If you do, the wheat shrivels up, the germination is cooked, and you LOSE MONEY!) Farmers (A few, maybe???) like this practice because Roundup kills the wheat (Again, the wheat is already dead, any greener patches WILL uptake the glyphosate, but the general field is dead, so little uptake occurs. Farmers are doing this to kill the green weeds, either to make harvest easier, (ever try combining green weeds?) or for very long term, VERY effective perennial weed control of weeds that tillage does not control) plant allowing an earlier harvest.

A wheat field often ripens unevenly, (Not really. It is my most evenly ripening crop I grow, actually) thus applying Roundup preharvest evens up the greener parts of the field with the more mature. (To an extent, but again, if you apply to green wheat, you are applying FAR too early, you WILL lose yield, you WILL lose germination.)The result is on the less mature areas Roundup is translocated into the kernels and eventually harvested as such. ( But if you have wheat that is immature enough to suck in the glyphosate, you are going to hurt yield, and have shrivelled kernels and poor quality, and low germination)

This practice is not licensed. ( Yes, it is. Glyphosate is licensed as a per-harvest app. for WEED CONTROL. It is NOT licensed to speed up harvest, IE as a dessicant, because as a dessicant, it does a VERY poor job. It is NOT a dessicant) Farmers(The dumb ones, I guess )mistakenly call it “dessication.” Consumers eating products made from wheat flour are undoubtedly consuming minute amounts of Roundup.(If you go and buy it from a farmer who has sprayed his wheat at too immature a stage, sure. But again, ripe wheat does not uptake the herby. Also, the amount applied is so miniscule, FAR below anything remotely found to be dangerous) An interesting aside, malt barley which is made into beer is not acceptable in the marketplace if it has been sprayed with preharvest Roundup.(This is because to make malt, the barley is germinated, and as I said, there is a risk if applied too early, that the germination will be affected, it has NOTHING to do with safety, and EVERYTHING to do with GERMINATION) Lentils and peas are not accepted in the market place if it was sprayed with preharvest roundup…..(This is false. Peas and lentils can be sprayed with glyphosate at ripe stages FOR WEED CONTROL) but wheat is ok.. This farming practice greatly concerns me and it should further concern consumers of wheat products.

Even I, a Monsanto Schill would be concerned with this practice, if it were actually used on wheat extensively, WHICH IS NOT THE CASE!!! The authors act as though all wheat sees this practice, and again, after talking to many american friends, and being in a large wheat growing region, it looks as though the practice is not common as a whole, so IMO this is one of those things again. A mountain called, Big Scary Issue, made from a mole hill, in order to I dunno, sell books? It is one of those things. If there are several certifiable lies in an article, one must wonder how much of the article is the truth. I read a book once about native life in Western Canada. There were enough lies in it that are demonstrably false, I set the book down, because how could I trust it in its entirety, with all of the lies put forth? Just be aware; this article has lies in it. And that should cause us all pause for reflection...

I find threads like this interesting. I think there is too much fear mongering and I have learned a lot over the years from talking to farmers about what they really do as opposed to the absolute worst case extremes touted in articles and such trying to make a point. If you can't make your point being completely honest and without spinning things you need to really think about what you are trying to spread.

Personally I eat organic and free range and my own stuff as much as I can. I don't buy specialty feed though and so discussions like this are good so I can see what grains will be the least likely to have heavy applications of pesticides or herbicides and I can make better choices.

I think this probably would have gotten off on a better footing if the article in question (I have not seen it) had been shared and then the facts on what farmers around here happen to do had been asked for. Asking in a vacuum tends to put people on the defensive.

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It has been a good, civil discussion, hasn't it? It does not always turn out this way. I enjoy threads like this as well.

I think farmerdale offeres a great explanation. My only quibble with it is I belive Monsanto as the patent holder of roundup and original promoter of glyphosate deserves to take the majority of the heat on any glyphosate issues.

I'd be interested if anyone has any information on the wheat farmer (Keith Lewis) who supposedly wrote that. Anybody know him or read anything about where he farms? I almost suspect that he is a fictional character.

Who knows, hey? He may well be real. But if he quite eating wheat, why did he keep growing it when he could have grown any other crop on the planet?

But it is like food inc. you know? If you search hard enough, you can find the characters you need to make a story get legs...

Monsanto WAS the first patent holder of glyphosate, which they called Round-up, which is their version of glyphosate. But to be honest, most farmers I know use generic glyphosate made by other companies. It is usually much cheaper, and now with competition, Monsanto has brought their prices in line. Nothing like a little competition to keep prices in check.

I do concede your point: Monsanto was first, and is what most think of when talking glyphosate.

On further reading the comments at the link, I found that he claims to be retired from grain farming now and he's in Saskatchewan...I know it's a huge place with lots of wheat farmers so it's a long shot that somebody might know him.