5 ms·

What? Why would a farmer spray roundup on their crop that's mostly not Roundup resistant? That makes no sense; it makes even less sense to do this season after

• hga 12y ago
  It would, in fact, result in so few survivors, unless of course started out in low concentrations, that it would be evidence of mens rea. As long as Monsanto is restricting their legal actions to those with "the intending mind", I'm not worried.
  • jacquesm 12y ago
    Roundup resistant crops are much more recent than widespread use of roundup.
• jacquesm 12y ago
  Farmers have been using roundup long before roundup resistant crops came along. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyphosate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyphosate
  • skosuri 12y ago
    Yes I know, but not to do what you are implying. Specifically, why would farmers spray their non-GMO corn, soybean, canola, etc with Roundup? It would kill most of their crop/harvest.
    • jacquesm 12y ago
      > Specifically, why would farmers spray their non-GMO corn, soybean, canola, etc with Roundup? Because it works even with non-GMO crops (always has). > It would kill most of their crop/harvest. No it would not. Not sure where you got that idea, but with Roundup-ready crops you can use more roundup without affecting the crops in a negative way. Roundup can - and routinely is - diluted before application. Crops will naturally tolerate some roundup, the pests it is working against can tolerate less (or so you hope). As pests become more resistant you need more roundup, so at some point roundup resistant crops will see a larger benefit.
      • hga 12y ago
        It's a question of timing and targets, not quantity. This is one reason my question about farming background is relevant, from what you've been saying you clearly don't have this background, let alone have ever used (generic) Roundup yourself. I've helped my father do so, in general weed killing applications, and he knows farmers who use the stuff for real, and just asked one, who said: You never let Roundup touch the plants you're growing---it only works when a plant is growing, BTW, in a "plantostatic" way, like bacteriostatic, it inhibits the synthesis of some critical amino acids. If you don't have Roundup Ready seeds, you spray before planting or after harvest, or you make sure the spray hits weeds, not your plants. That's because it's such a general killer of plants (assuming it can get inside, but that has no bearing on this discussion of genetics). And why it's so safe, animals cannot synthesize these amino acids (well, not without using one of the others as a precursor): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aromatic_amino_acids https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aromatic_amino_acids So, no selection pressure on the crops themselves, unless you really screw up.
        • jacquesm 12y ago
          Thanks! That's enlightening. So if I understood you right application of roundup on any non-resistant crop is in error, it is only to be used pre-emergence.
          • hga 12y ago
            One time you can use it is pre-emergence of your crops; the weeds have to have emerged and be actively growing. Post-emergence of your crops, you have to spray carefully, but that's possible in some circumstances.
        • ScottBurson 12y ago
          > And why it's so safe, animals cannot synthesize these amino acids "So safe"? Hmm. Okay, it's not as toxic as other herbicides that people had been using before glyphosate showed up. I think the question of long-term low-level toxicity is still open.