Many farmers share positive experiences about using Roundup, despite possible links to cancer - Entrepreneur Generations

Many U.S. farmers still favor glyphosate as an effective
and affordable herbicide. (Photo by Gabriel, Unsplash)

Many American farmers have favorable opinions on Roundup, a herbicide that remains a global favorite despite some studies linking its active ingredient, glyphosate, to human cancer. Many U.S. farmers say they still plan to use glyphosate, even if its current maker, Bayer, stops producing it. They shared their views on Roundup and weed-mitigation experiences with Lena Nargi of Offrange, formally known as Ambrook Research. 

Brent Searle, an organic raspberry, tomato, garlic, and winter squash farmer in eastern Idaho, “expressed a strain of ‘meh.’ He uses OMRI-approved herbicides on his crops but glyphosate on his three acres of driveway,” Nargi writes. Organic chemicals, he said, ‘hit you with a six-times cost’ that is ‘astronomical’ for small-scale growers, ‘and honestly, they don’t work as well.’”

Rick Machado, who breeds seeds for experimental crops in California, despised Roundup and its original maker, Monsanto, but ended up using glyphosate when “he got hit with bindweed,” Nargi writes. He told her, “I used it [Roundup], I kicked myself, but there was nothing I could do."

Jeff Stoltzfus believes glyphosate is the key to his successful no-till farming practice. Nargi adds, “The conservation plan for his 45 acres connected to the Chesapeake Bay watershed, which is plagued by sediment issues, requires that he use no-till practices." He told Nargi, “There’s no herbicide I’d rather use.”

Jimmy Tosh agrees with Stoltzfus. “On his 17,000-row crop and hog acres in Henry, Tennessee, the use of glyphosate is 100% a given,” Nargi writes. “It’s helped him control Johnson grass. . . . He believes claims that Roundup causes health issues are ‘ridiculous,’ he said. ‘Most studies show it to be a safe and effective chemical.’”

Mark Nussbaum will continue to use glyphosate “on his 800 acres of hardwood trees,” Nargi writes. “And he said he’ll continue to do so until ‘there becomes scientifically based, peer-reviewed evidence that glyphosate is harmful.’”

Many farmers agreed that while Bayer may stop making Roundup, they will purchase glyphosate from another producer. Nargi explains, “Since its patent expired in 2000 — and with it, Monsanto’s exclusive right to use it in products sold here — off-brand formulations for agricultural use, with names like Buccaneer and Killzall, have been widely available at the local farm supply."

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/ZIGWU6l Many farmers share positive experiences about using Roundup, despite possible links to cancer - Entrepreneur Generations

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