10 ms·

The funny thing is we have less herbicides because of Roundup. The option is we starve the world, because we will not be able to product enough wheat etc. or we

by baldfat 10y ago

The funny thing is we have less herbicides because of Roundup. The option is we starve the world, because we will not be able to product enough wheat etc. or we use stronger herbicides. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/organic-farming-yields-and-feeding-the-world-under-climate-change/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/organic-farming-y...

anigbrowl 10y ago
The issue is not the existence of Roundup but Monsanto's apparent failure to inform people of its known dangers.
- cholantesh 10y ago
  /s/apparent/alleged
- nicksergeant 10y ago
  "known" dangers is debatable, that's what the issue is. As posted elsewhere in these comments: http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/does-glyphosate-cause-cancer/ http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/does-glyphosate...
  - baldfat 10y ago
    I would think if this was an issue wouldn't we see epidemic health issues already its been going strong for over 20 years.
  - beautifulfreak 10y ago
    http://people.csail.mit.edu/seneff/ITX_2013_06_04_Seneff.pdf http://people.csail.mit.edu/seneff/ITX_2013_06_04_Seneff.pdf
    - drakonandor 10y ago
      Is Seneff an expert on whatever sub-field of biology this is?
      - jnordwick 10y ago
        CS grads think they are experts on everything. Does that count?
mikekchar 10y ago
There is actually another option -- especially with respect to herbicides: manual labour. Herbicides don't increase yield. They decrease cost. Wheat is currently $4.35 a bushel. A bushel of wheat is about 60 lbs. So, we're paying just over 7 cents a pound for wheat. Fix the distribution side, not the production side. There's a lot more fat there. And in the mean time, research ways of reducing labour on physical methods of weed control.
- baldfat 10y ago
  Have you ever been on a wheat farm? I actually have been and even got to help around the farm for fun. My friend had 4.5 squares. That is a square equals 1 square mile. How would we increase labor for weed control? I also lived in Imperial Valley, California. The back breaking work that the migrant workers did was amazing difficult. It would take double or triple the workers to pick through and weed a farm then pick fruits and vegetables. I don't think Kansas nor Manitoba have the population to do that seasonal work.
  - pfarnsworth 10y ago
    As someone mentioned above, that's where robots come in.
    - grogenaut 10y ago
      On gantrys? on wheels between the wheat rows? driving over the wheat on that even ground? combine sized? How much placement / spacing do they need?
      - pbhjpbhj 10y ago
        A drone does a fly past mapping the field, then cockroach-sized robots crawl the field locating and cutting weed roots with mechanical jaws. A spike-footed walker then vacuums up the loose weeds and feeds turn to a digester that makes the fuel to run the robots ... simples! It's all good until they get a taste for blood.
  - 10y ago

by baldfat 10y ago

anigbrowl 10y ago

The issue is not the existence of Roundup but Monsanto's apparent failure to inform people of its known dangers.

cholantesh 10y ago
/s/apparent/alleged
nicksergeant 10y ago
"known" dangers is debatable, that's what the issue is. As posted elsewhere in these comments: http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/does-glyphosate-cause-cancer/ http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/does-glyphosate...
- baldfat 10y ago
  I would think if this was an issue wouldn't we see epidemic health issues already its been going strong for over 20 years.
- beautifulfreak 10y ago
  http://people.csail.mit.edu/seneff/ITX_2013_06_04_Seneff.pdf http://people.csail.mit.edu/seneff/ITX_2013_06_04_Seneff.pdf
  - drakonandor 10y ago
    Is Seneff an expert on whatever sub-field of biology this is?
    - jnordwick 10y ago
      CS grads think they are experts on everything. Does that count?

mikekchar 10y ago

There is actually another option -- especially with respect to herbicides: manual labour. Herbicides don't increase yield. They decrease cost. Wheat is currently $4.35 a bushel. A bushel of wheat is about 60 lbs. So, we're paying just over 7 cents a pound for wheat. Fix the distribution side, not the production side. There's a lot more fat there. And in the mean time, research ways of reducing labour on physical methods of weed control.

baldfat 10y ago
Have you ever been on a wheat farm? I actually have been and even got to help around the farm for fun. My friend had 4.5 squares. That is a square equals 1 square mile. How would we increase labor for weed control? I also lived in Imperial Valley, California. The back breaking work that the migrant workers did was amazing difficult. It would take double or triple the workers to pick through and weed a farm then pick fruits and vegetables. I don't think Kansas nor Manitoba have the population to do that seasonal work.
- pfarnsworth 10y ago
  As someone mentioned above, that's where robots come in.
  - grogenaut 10y ago
    On gantrys? on wheels between the wheat rows? driving over the wheat on that even ground? combine sized? How much placement / spacing do they need?
    - pbhjpbhj 10y ago
      A drone does a fly past mapping the field, then cockroach-sized robots crawl the field locating and cutting weed roots with mechanical jaws. A spike-footed walker then vacuums up the loose weeds and feeds turn to a digester that makes the fuel to run the robots ... simples! It's all good until they get a taste for blood.
- 10y ago