We Aren’t Bad Farmers If We Use Pesticides
Originally posted on Facebook
Yes, we use pesticides on our farm. I’m not shy or scared to tell you that. This canola crop has been sprayed with RoundUp.I get it too. It sounds scary to say the least. Activists have done a very good job at painting a frightening picture about some of the innovative tools we use on our farm. They are trying to destroy our credibility and the trust you have in us by creating and sharing myths… that fuel fear and anger.
Because of these myths, some may think we douse our fields with chemicals. You may think the food you eat is now poisonous because of pesticide residue. You may fear that we are destroying the land and the environment. Or think that we simply don’t care. And the worst – some point fingers and call us bad farmers and bad people because of our choices.
It’s simply not true.
I’m here to tell you that we are good farmers. We try to make the best choices for our land, environment, farm and family based on knowledge, science, experience and love.
RoundUp and Monsanto are not the devil. The food we eat every day like table salt, caffeine and chocolate is more toxic than RoundUp. We also don’t douse our crops with pesticides either. Farmers are very careful when using pesticides and we only apply them when necessary and at low rates. In fact, we only spray enough Round Up to fill a can on pop on an entire football field.
Our land is very fertile and pests thrive in good growing conditions. An insect can wipe out a crop in a matter of a couple days and aggressive weeds and diseases in just a couple weeks so we spray only when we need to. But because we spray, we can adopt other farming practices that improve the environment. Rather than plowing the land to manage weeds, we zero till to protect the land and top soil so our skies don’t become a dust bowl. There is less soil run off so now it is staying on our land instead of running off into the water. There is less pollution too. In fact, zero tilling helps decrease air pollution by storing carbon gases. When we don’t have to plow, we also use less fuel because our equipment doesn’t have to make multiple passes in the field throughout the season to manage the weeds.
Activists, who wouldn’t beable to tell you another pesticide we use on our farm, point fingers and raise their pitch forks at Monsanto because they are an easy target. They don’t tell you that Monsanto sells seeds and pesticides to all types of farms. Yes, both conventional and organic. They also don’t say that Monsanto is rated one of the most admired, best diversity and best adoption employers. Regular people, just like you and me work for companies like Monsanto.
All types of farms, whether organic or conventional, large or small care about the land and environment and shouldn’t be categorized as the “right” or “wrong” way to farm. That farming with these tools is a privilege and we take the responsibility of growing safe food very seriously and we are proud to do so. Because of innovative tools and our choices, we will leave our land in better condition for our children than when we farmed it. We want to keep on using these tools that help us grow food and be environmental stewards. We know we aren’t perfect and we are continually improving so we keep your trust, take care of our land and ensure our farm has a tomorrow.
Because this little guy in the picture is my farm’s tomorrow.
Sources:
https://camiryan.com/2014/
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http://www.monsanto.com/