USDA ignores
farmer opposition, approves Monsanto’s dicamba-resistant seed
Mon 16 January 2015.
The USDA has approved Monsanto’s
soybean and cotton varieties genetically engineered to withstand applications —
and drive up sales of – the company’s drift-prone herbicide, dicamba
EXCERPT: Steve Smith, Director of Agriculture for Red Gold, one of the nation’s largest full-line tomato processing companies, testified before Congress in 2010: "I am convinced that in all of my years serving the agriculture industry, the widespread use of dicamba herbicide [poses] the single most serious threat to the future of the specialty crop industry in the Midwest."
EXCERPT: Steve Smith, Director of Agriculture for Red Gold, one of the nation’s largest full-line tomato processing companies, testified before Congress in 2010: "I am convinced that in all of my years serving the agriculture industry, the widespread use of dicamba herbicide [poses] the single most serious threat to the future of the specialty crop industry in the Midwest."
USDA ignores farmer opposition, approves
Monsanto’s dicamba-resistant seed
Pesticide Action Network North America,
January 15, 2015
http://www.panna.org/usda-
http://www.panna.org/usda-
Despite receiving thousands of comments
in opposition, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) today
approved Monsanto’s newest seed products — soybean and cotton varieties
genetically engineered to withstand applications — and drive up sales of the
company’s drift-prone herbicide, dicamba.
With USDA’s approval, growers can expect
use of dicamba to increase dramatically in both crops. According to USDA data
and Monsanto projections, dicamba use in cotton is expected to increase by 14
times current levels, while use in soybeans is expected to surge by up to 500
times current levels.* Farmers predict that such a dramatic increase in use of
dicamba — a highly drift-prone chemical known to be extremely toxic to most
plants — will result in more frequent and devastating damage to vulnerable
crops and increased pesticide exposure for rural families.
Most at risk are fruit, nut, and
vegetable growers in the Midwest. As Steve Smith, Director of Agriculture for
Red Gold, one of the nation’s largest full-line tomato processing companies,
testified before Congress in 2010:
"I am convinced that in all of my
years serving the agriculture industry, the widespread use of dicamba herbicide
[poses] the single most serious threat to the future of the specialty crop
industry in the Midwest."
Meanwhile, Monsanto’s response to
farmers’ concerns about crop damage has been to develop exceedingly complex and
demanding protocols for applying and disposing of the herbicide cocktail,
including a ten-step triple rinse of sprayers that is likely to take more than
an hour and then entails proper disposal of the contaminated rinse water. This
‘solution’ puts all responsibility on farmers, and sets up the company to
escape liability for crop damage.
As PAN’s Dr. Marcia Ishii-Eiteman says,
“Monsanto’s newest product is the latest
in a slew of bad ideas — bad for farmers, bad for rural communities, bad for American
agriculture. USDA’s approval today signals their continued contempt of farmers’
concerns, and their allegiance to the largest pesticide corporations. We stand
with farm families in opposing this decision and call instead for public policy
that protects rural communities and promotes agroecology.”
***
* Projected increases of dicamba use in soybeans are based on current use levels (USDA-NASS 2013 published data, referenced in EIS Appendix Table 4-1, p. 4-4) and Monsanto’s anticipated use patterns (EIS Appendix Table 4-9, page 4-17).
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