Pesticides and Herbicides

[white cloud]

In the mid 60's the data I read had wheat yeilds at about 16-18 bushel per irrigated acre in SE Idaho. Current production with "improved" varieties run closer to 25 bushel dry land and 60+ for irrigated. A lot more people are intolerant of the new varities but they are the only thing keeping the world fed. We have build over so much prime farm ground it is embarrassing. Love them or hate them without pesticides and genetic modifications our diet or our population would dramatically change.

This is the truth. If they get rid of these evil chemicals, a lot of people are going to get very hungry.

Me? I love glyphosate(Roundup) and purchase the concentrate in five gallon bottles. My wife and I own a decent sized timber tract. Glyphosate really helps when I start another food plot on a thinning row.

[shaune509]

My father started with a 35 acre row crop field in '57, hand line irrigation and all hand weeded by kids and woman 10 t0 20 people in the field 8hrs a day all summer weeding 1000' rows of carrots. In '68 with better weed killers he leased 160 acres, installed 2 center pivot systems and had 2 year round hands and the packing house crew of 10-12 for 60 days. Still made under $ 20000 after expenses, stopped farming in '78.
My point is that without chemicals with the work ethic of the currant generation the fields would be nothing but weeds, no one will work in those old time labor intensive jobs when they want $15/hr to flip hamburgers.
Shaune509

[firefly1957]

Thanks for reminding me I found a small patch of poison ivy the other day I was working on the boat (tune up) in garage that day and looked in rafter to see Carpenter ants in the eve so I sprayed them and some other areas with the latest available poison I liked the older poisons better but it works . Forgot about the ivy until I read this thread !

[Hardcast]

As a man who has been fighting stage 4 non Hodgkins Lymphoma for the last 2.5 years, I read this thread with interest. My father died from Lymphoma 22 years ago at age 65, and a 62 year old first cousin on my Dad's side also died from Lymphoma in January of 2017. I cannot say for sure living on this farm and using weed killer has had anything to due my cancer or not, but it makes me wonder.

[MrWolf]

Sometimes just being near can cause problems. My Mom and Uncle both had thyroid issues. Both our families lived near a super fund site that we were never told was there.