THE WIDESPREAD USE OF CROP-DESSICANTS MEANS BIG TROUBLE FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY. Here is the third part in this series about ENORMOUS problems with crop-drying chemical desiccants.
Organic farmers have figured out that the crops we grow must be – first and foremost – good for the families we feed and good for the planet's environment.
Industrial Ag lost its way long ago and is wrong to self-servingly pooh-pooh deadly toxins credentialed by a broken revolving-door "regulatory" system.
Using Oats as an example, since there is no such thing as a GMO Oat, that "probable human carcinogen" Glyphosate is getting into oat products, like Cheerios, via illegitimate late-season spraying of toxic herbicides being used to chemically dry down crops prior to harvest.
This article from 'Salon' lays out the problem of a broken food system moulded for maximum corporate profit. Caleb, Megan & Jim

"A recent study by the Environmental Working Group revealed something horrifying: Glyphosate, the active ingredient in the popular weedkiller Roundup, was present in 17 of the 21 oat-based cereal and snack products at levels considered unsafe for children. That includes six different brands of Cheerios, one of the most popular American cereals…

"…The safe glyphosate limit for children is 160 parts per billion (ppb), yet Honey Nut Cheerios Medley Crunch has 833 parts per billion and regular Cheerios has 729 ppb. While the potential risks of glyphosate are fiercely debated, many scientists believe that it is linked to cancer…

"Monsanto has waged a sophisticated PR campaign to bully scientists and undermine findings that glyphosate is cancerous. In addition Monsanto and agribusiness leaders protecting the company's interests have a revolving door relationship with many agencies that are supposed to be overseeing and regulating the corporation. Monsanto and agribusiness associations have also made significant political contributions to Congressmembers…"

Why corporations can legally poison us

Cheerios has so much glyphosate in it, it should be labeled as toxic. Corporate free speech precedents prevent that.


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"DIQUAT" DESICCANT BAN UNDERWAY IN EUROPE. Today's post compliments yesterday's coverage about dubious chemical desiccants making their way into your family's food.
Syngenta's Diquat hebicide ("Reglone") – cousin to infamous Paraquat – has been used extensively for decades by conventional potato farmers as "Topkill." Killing or removal of potato tops is required to set the skin on tubers so they will survive the rigors of harvest.
The European Commission is banning Diquat use on farms in Europe. However, Diquat will still be broadly used on potatoes here in the USA, especially in the East. In the West, it's common for potatoes killed with Sulfuric Acid.
Alternatives to chemical Topkill for potatoes are rotary flail mowers and mechanical haulm (top) removers (holds hill in place and yanks away green potato tops).
On our organic Certified Seed Potato farm we use propane flame to singe-kill tops. We have also experimented with wilting tops by applying concentrated vinegar.
Other monumental changes are in the wind for how modern potatoes are grown. Europe has now also banned CIPC, a herbicide commonly applied to process and tablestock potatoes (and onions) to prevent sprouting in storage.
Additionally, Canada has moved to limit the application of Chlorothalonil ("Bravo"), one of the most widely used chemical fungicides for potatoes, to three times per season.
Just to be crystal clear, tough regulations prevent honest Certified Organic family farmers from using persistent, synthetic inputs such as chemical herbicides and fungicides. Caleb, Megan & Jim

Diquat dates for sale and use up confirmed | Syngenta

The EU Commission has confirmed its decision to withdraw the approval of diquat, the active ingredient in Reglone and Retro. Final date for order and delivery of diquat containing products onto farm:Final date for use up or authorised disposal of diquat containing products:31 July 2019


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GOOD PRIMER ON THE HIDDEN-FROM-VIEW PRE-HARVEST DESSICATION ISSUE. As the challenging economics of farming have driven farm operations to get substantially larger, pre-harvest crop desiccation (drying) has increasingly become a prominent practice.
In most cases crops are desiccated by the late season application of a herbicide including Monsanto's notorious "probable human carcinogen" Roundup (active ingredient Glyphosate).
As you can easily imagine, that' a problem.
Of course,synthetic, persistent herbicides are NEVER, EVER used on Certified Organic farms. Caleb, Megan & Jim

"It is harvest season, and the high-clearance sprayer is on its way to desiccate a field. Desiccation may be the most widespread farming practice you’ve never heard of. Farmers desiccate by applying herbicide to their crops; this kills all the plants at the same time, making them uniformly dry and easier to cut. In essence, desiccation speeds up plant aging. Before desiccation, crops would have to dry out naturally at the end of the season. Today, there are examples of desiccation being applied to every type of conventional crop in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.1 Chances are that most of what you ate today was harvested using a desiccant, but you’d never know…

"I asked Sheri Roberts, a crop specialist with Agriculture and Agrifood Canada in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, whether she thought desiccation was safe. She was reluctant to make the call, but said she wished it was not so commonly used. 'The timing’s really tight,' she said. 'If you don’t get it just right, that herbicide ends up in the grain.' If farmers apply a non-contact herbicide (like glyphosate) too early, it will be taken up by the growing plant and end up inside the seed. Non-contact herbicides are taken up by the living plant and incorporated into still growing tissues, while contact herbicides kill the tissues they touch."

Herbicide Is What’s for Dinner – Nautilus – Pocket

How the biggest farming practice you’ve never heard of is changing your food.


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A WISE CHALLENGE TO INDUSTRIAL AG BIOTECH LOBBYISTS RELENTLESS PUSH TO WATER DOWN EURO GMO REGS. Molecular geneticist Dr. Michael Antinou has the highest integrity and is fully informed on the matter of GMOs. His defense of the public interest is welcome and insightful.
This common sense article by Dr. Antinou warns of the risky situation being pushed hard by the powerful and self-serving Biotech lobby. Jim

"Some members of the outgoing European Commission want to change the EU legislation on genetically modified (GM) foods and crops to accommodate the products of new gene-editing techniques, often called 'new plant breeding techniques' or NBTs…

"It appears that these Commissioners are supporting a years-long lobbying push by the agbiotech lobby to remove or weaken the usual safeguards applied to genetically modified organisms (GMOs) when it comes to products from new gene-editing techniques.

"If the lobby gets its way, gene-edited crops and products could be rushed to market with no safety checks and potentially no labelling…

"But the truth is that gene-editing tools are still far from perfect. Research shows that they are not as precise as is claimed, nor are their outcomes predictable. They produce many unintended effects, not only at “off-target” sites but also at the intended gene-edited site…

"This is the reasonable 'middle way' that the new Commission should embrace. It’s not a ban on these technologies, but equally, it is not the extreme free-for-all that the agbiotech lobby wants. Crucially, it is true to science and puts public and environmental safety before company profits."

The EU must not de-regulate gene-edited crops and foods

Some members of the outgoing EU Commission and the agbiotech lobby want the regulations governing genetically modified crops and foods relaxed or scrapped to open markets for gene-edited products. But this goes against the science underpinning the technology and could put the public and environment….


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YOSEMITE PARK, CALIFORNIA. Circa 1885. Remarkable painting of Yosemite Valley by Albert Bierstadt.

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BAD BOSSES IN FRANCE. Wow. Jim

35 Employees Committed Suicide. Will Their Bosses Go to Jail?

After a wave of worker suicides under their management, former executives at France Télécom have been charged with the crime of “moral harassment.”


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FARMERS IN BRAZIL TO CHALLENGE MONSANTO'S COTTON SEED PATENTS. In order for a patent to be valid it must be "useful, novel and non-obvious."
In the USA, fully 50% of all patents challenged in court are found to be invalid (the US Patent and Trademark Office makes money on each patent they approve so it has motivation to go easy on patent applications filed by corporations. Jim

"Brazilian cotton producers in the state of Mato Grosso plan to file a lawsuit requesting cancellation of a patent protection related to Bayer AG’s Bollgard II RR Flex genetically modified cotton seed, newspaper Valor Econômico reported on Thursday.

"The news report said farmers in the Mato Grosso Cotton Producers Association (AMPA) will allege that the genetically modified seed does not constitute a de facto technological innovation. Mato Grosso soybean farmers used a similar argument when they sued in Brazil to cancel patent rights over the widely used Intacta RR2 PRO seed…

"Bollgard II RR Flex combines resistance to insects and weed-killers. The technology was developed by U.S.-based Monsanto, a company taken over by Germany’s Bayer in a $63 billion transaction."

Brazil cotton farmers to challenge patent rights of Bayer GMO seed…

Brazilian cotton producers in the state of Mato Grosso plan to file a lawsuit re…


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LUXEMBOURG SETS SIGHTS ON CONVERTING TO 100% ORGANIC PRODUCTION. Five leading members of Parliament were successful last week in moving forward with their plan to convert 100% of Luxembourg's ag production to organic.
National policy is already in place that will see 20% of farm production organic by 2025.
Where there's a will, there's a way. Jim

"The MPS recognise that there are numerous barriers to making the switch and calls on the government to analyse these obstacles and develop a new action plan. The motion says that farming subsidies should delivered in a way that incentivises farmers to make the change. Further investment would also be needed for research into organic farming is, they add, and organic practices should also be taught as part of the basic and ongoing training available to people working in the sector.

"Finally, the MPs call on canteens and caterers working in the public sector to use a compulsory minimum amount of organic products."

MPs calls for 100% organic farming by 2050 – Delano – Luxembourg in English

A group of MPs has presented a motion calling for all farming practices and production to become 100% organic.


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MORE GLYPHOSATE-FOREST-SPRAYING GOING ON – WITHOUT PERMISSION – IN NORTHERN ONTARIO. Today's post is a compliment to yesterday's piece about an ethical opponent of forest Glyphosate herbicide spraying "mysteriously" losing his job as a scientist in New Brunswick, Canada.
Now it turns out Glyphosate forest spraying is going on in the forests of Northern Ontario, much to the surprise of local First Nation stewards and other residents. Jim

"For Gerry Vautour it started with complaints from his customers.

"'I had bear hunters up here at the time and these helicopters flew over top of them and were spraying on them,' remembers the owner of East Bull Lake Wilderness Resort north of Massey…

"Vautour, now 75, has prostate cancer and doctors are worried it might be spreading to his thyroid.

"He wonders if it's related to the spraying, but he doesn't know…

"When he first heard about the spraying all those years ago, one of the first people Vautour told was his friend Raymond Owl, an elder from Sagamok First Nation.

"Both men have heard stories about trees and blueberries suddenly dying in the bush and have noticed a disturbing absence of animal life in areas that have been sprayed with glyphosate.

"The 76-year-old Owl has been lobbying both governments through the Traditional Ecological Knowledge Elders group.

"After not getting anywhere with federal and provincial bureaucrats, Owl says his group is planning to file a lawsuit against Canada for violating the Robinson-Huron Treaty of 1850…

"He says the government did not consult First Nations living along the North Shore of Lake Huron before it began spraying this chemical on their forests.

"'It's still our land. We never sold it. We just gave you a right to live here. That's all you got. But you don't have authority what you do to our land,' says Owl.

"'First Nations doesn't want any chemical at all. If it kills one little bug, one blade of grass, that's too much.'"

Timber company moving away from spraying herbicide on northern forests, but insists it’s safe | CBC News

The debate over the aerial spraying of a herbicide called glyphosate is heating up this summer in northern Ontario. Some believe it's killing more than plants and it seems their lobbying is starting to pay off.


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WAS THE FIRING OF A NEW BRUNSWICK SCIENTIST DUE TO HIS VOCIFEROUS OPPOSITION TO FOREST SPRAYING OF GLYPHOSATE HERBICIDE? It sure looks that way.
The entire Province of New Brunswick (just east of Maine) is under the extraordinary influence of the powerful JD Irving family empire. The Irvings are deeply involved in Maritime Canada's forestry. The Irvings pride themselves as modern forestry visionaries and their industrial forest vision is heavily loaded with the spraying of chemical herbicides including Glyphosate.
Coincidentally, during this legislative session, the Maine legislature considered LD 1691, which would have banned the aerial spraying of Glyphosate on Maine forestland. That bill, was authored by our friend, Allagash logger and Senate President Sen Troy Jackson. LD 1691 was morphed into a "study" and was then passed. It should be noted, the Irvings are the largest private landowner in Maine with over 1 Million acres.
Thanks to Tom Day for sharing this article. Caleb, Megan & Jim

"Why was Rod Cumberland, New Brunswick’s most prominent critic of the herbicide glyphosate, fired from his job as a college wildlife instructor?…

"'The Rod Cumberland I know is a genuine father, scientist, researcher and educator,' says Lois Corbett, executive director of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick. Corbett explains that Cumberland opposed industry practices such as the clear-cutting of forests and planting of monocultures that impact biodiversity…

"Consequently, Cumberland became a primary target of the forest industry and its supporters. Since at least 2014, J.D. Irving and other forest companies, along with provincial and federal government officials, have tried to discredit Cumberland. In 2014, for example, J.D. Irving issued a strongly worded letter from the company’s chief wildlife biologist, John Gilbert, focusing on Cumberland and his research. “The most recent attacks on forest management in New Brunswick by Rod Cumberland are irresponsible and are not supported by current data and scientific research,” Gilbert wrote in a letter posted on the company’s website.

"The governments and industry even set up a website to defend the herbicide, and paid scientists who support glyphosate to tour cities and towns across New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and conduct seminars designed to address public concerns."

New Brunswick college instructor fired after taking on Irvings over controversial herbicide

Rod Cumberland was a longtime critic of the use of glyphosate — and was terminated by a New Brunswick college that included an Irving rep on its board.


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