Saturday, July 9, 2011

Time to get out the hoe....

In the realm of bad decisions, I think one I just read about ranks right up there. I was stunned to read just a few minutes ago that the USDA is going to allow the unregulated sale of glyphosate tolerant bluegrass. That's GMO bluegrass, for those not in the know.

If what I read is correct, then the *minor* issue here is that this has the potential to exacerbate glyphosate resistant weeds in a very big way by encouraging consumers to overspray glyphosate.

Up till now, the major GMO crops have all been annuals. What issues do we create for ourselves when we choose to release an untested perennial GMO into the world. Bluegrass spreads. Rapidly. And in the northern US, it's extremely difficult to get rid of, especially in fields of oh....let's say....corn or soybeans, much of which is already GMO of itself, but some of which....especially that which is intended for direct human consumption....is not. While I'm not saying this is environmental armageddon, isn't that what the USDA inspectors are supposed to prevent ?

Because we are about to release a spreading, naturalized perennial GMO grass, I think is a bigger deal than any previously released GMO. And I also think it has the potential to seriously derail a technology that with a little foresight had/has the potential to be a good thing for all of us.

8 comments:

Funder said...

Wow, that's awful :(

Jason said...

Exactly how close they are to releasing this product is in some dispute according to some background reading I did late this afternoon. Some articles are saying it's a done deal while others are saying it's close.

What's not in dispute, at least not from this farmer's perspective, is that this is a damn short sighted idea for a whole bunch of reasons I've only hinted at in this post.

Anonymous said...

I don't understand how they managed to fast track this sana a comment period.

Anonymous said...

sans sans not sana

Maybe I should turn on the light and hit the coffee?

Jason said...

Anonymous;

As I understand it, there was no comment period. USDA said there was nothing to enforce regarding the technology in question. Find a search engine and type in "glyphosate tolerant bluegrass" and read what comes up. I think you'll be surprised.

Bif said...

So, how would they get rid of it in a crop field??

Personally, I think something like this that is a perennial should be looked at with the same view as any not-native species, and . There are plenty of vining, pesky invaders that seemed to someone like a good idea at the time... Foresight is better than hindsight (you shortsighted greedy little b*$t*rd$!).(Sorry about the cursing, but this is a manly blog =)

Jason said...

They could use another non-selective herbicide designed to work on grasses or they could use mechanical weed control (cultivator and/or hoe) to get it out.

You've nailed the problem exactly. What might be good for the bottom line in the next quarter may not be so good for the bottom line (or the world) in the longer term.

No problem about the cussing. I've been known to get worked up enough to cuss a time or two myself. :)

Kristy said...

We in agriculture have an insane ability to trip over our own feet on a regular basis....

My example: sexed semen in the dairy industry.

What the hell are we going to do with all of these heifers? Oh yeah. Breed them. Make more milk. Drive prices down.

Technology is great. But there needs to be some control and forethought of outcomes before putting this stuff on the market.