next message in archive
next message in thread
previous message in archive
previous message in thread
Index of Subjects
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
------=_NextPart_000_037E_01D15F51.EF31C0E0
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="utf-8"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Hi David P. & All Feb 4, 2016
` I don't know how much or in what era you have farmed but the =
pre-herbicide days were very different.=20
A huge bank of weed seed and we were always two weeks too late, =
largely because weed control took an enormous amount of time and effort. =
Farming without herbicides now, on soils with a depleted seed bank is a =
piece of cake compared to the 'good old days' of trying to find inch =
high carrots in foot high pigweeds. Hobby farmers had no problem. They =
could afford to fallow till until the seed bank was depleted.=20
Yt. DW. Kentville
----- Original Message -----=20
From: David Patriquin=20
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca=20
Sent: Thursday, February 04, 2016 11:08 AM
Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Public consultation re use of pesticide... GMO =
crops and loss of weedy species
The weeds close to the crop are only problematical if you dont start =
with a clean seedbed and/or heavily fertilize the seedbed before =
planting the crop, which favours the weeds. Start with a clean seedbed =
and postpone fertilization, and ...OK
it's a treadmill. You start using herbicides and then you breed crops =
that are not competitive with weeds.. so yes those crops are very =
difficult to control mechanically although it can be done. Mechanical =
tillage can be very sophisticated. As well, we separate crops and =
livestock so we dont want straw, so shorter cereals are OK. Separated =
livestock and crops results in massive aquatic pollution-- we pay for =
that indirectly. Real cost accounting would not rate GMO crops more cost =
efficient today and their costs have gone up as more resistance =
develops.=20
We have created an industrial production system that is part of our =
social fabric... it's not easy to re-evaluate.. and pursue a new tack =
but we need to start looking at it. Those gigantic fields of GMO maize, =
soy and cannola may give us "cheaper food" but we are paying for it in =
many other ways.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-----
From: "rita.paul@ns.sympatico.ca" <rita.paul@ns.sympatico.ca>
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca=20
Sent: Thursday, February 4, 2016 9:35 AM
Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Public consultation re use of pesticide... GMO =
crops and loss of weedy species
The reason Herbicides are so much better from a farmers point of view =
David is that herbicides kill the weeds close to the planted crop.=20
The weeds in the middle of the rows are not very harmful and are easy=20
to control by cultivation.=20
However the weeds close to the plants cause the reduction in yields.=20
They rob moisture, nutrients sunlight and harbour insects but there=20
is no way a farmer can remove them by cultivation. short of the old =
hand hoe.=20
In addition they make harvesting more difficult by not allowing the =
crop=20
to dry out in the short days of fall.=20
Farmers tell me herbicides give the best return on investment of=20
all their inputs. But maybe we would like to pay more for food!=20
Enjoy the thaw=20
Paul=20
=20
On February 4, 2016 at 8:33 AM David Patriquin =
<davidgpatriquin@yahoo.ca> wrote:=20
=20
=20
Incororating resistance to Roundup & now a couple of other =
herbicides (because weeds also becoming resistant) in GMO crops has one =
huge effect on wildlife that I don't see discussed much or at all: the =
complete obliteration of weedy species over massive areas, not seen much =
in NS but go to Que and Ont where field after large field of GMO =
soybean, maize and cannola are grown, and they are virtually dead except =
for the crops; even after the crops are taken off they remain free of =
weedy species. Under traditional management, weeds were set back by =
tillage to allow crop to get established, then a diversity of weedy =
species grow up in the understory, flowering and providing food for =
pollinators, seeds for wildlife.. and after the crop is taken off, =
groundcover. No more so. The farmers like the GMO crops because of the =
simplified management, but with selection of appropriate cultivars, some =
mechanical management, reducing some types of tillage...weeds can be =
controlled without eliminating them and our farm fields can be more =
supportive of wildlife. =20
=20
Glyphosate is toxic to plants and bacteria, so has huge effects on =
the microbiotia also..=20
=20
Agreed, Nick: " As naturalists, impacts on natural world are our =
major responsibility."=20
-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
---
From: Nicholas Hill <fernhillns@gmail.com>
To: "naturens@chebucto.ns.ca" <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>=20
Sent: Thursday, February 4, 2016 7:32 AM
Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Public consultation re use of pesticide =
Atrazine in Canada: a re-evaluation
David,=20
no confusion here. Listserve focus is on nature not human safety. =
Atrazine article deals with human safety concerns not biodiversity.=20
If we want to take a stand on pesticides it would be for their =
biodiversity implications of which there are tons. Roundup is an example =
but there are many=20
showing impacts of other pesticides on native bees and other =
pollinators.=20
Nick=20
=20
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1890/04-1291/abstract=20
http://www.jstor.org/stable/40983228?seq=3D1#page_scan_tab_contents=20
=20
On Wed, Feb 3, 2016 at 9:02 PM, David & Alison Webster =
<dwebster@glinx.com> wrote:=20
Hi Nick,=20
The item dealt with Atrazine not Roundup. Best not to confuse =
matters. =20
Dave W =20
=20
----- Original Message -----=20
From: Nicholas Hill=20
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca=20
Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2016 8:12 PM=20
Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Public consultation re use of pesticide =
Atrazine in Canada: a re-evaluation=20
=20
Gyphosate (roundup) going under radar despite the lethal impacts =
of amphibian larvae (ca 98% kill) from the surfactant used to get the =
pesticide across the plant's cuticle.=20
Not supposed to be used near water courses but amphibians are in =
swampy woods.=20
As naturalists, impac