15 Health Problems Linked To Monsanto's ROUNDUP.

[yellow dog]

I'm glad you told me you are a pesticide guy. Now I have a million questions yellow. I have a garden centre and we sell locally grown produce from niagara and southwestern Ontario. I am asked questions about pesticide use and organic designation all the time so I am always asking questions. If I may? What is an ipm? And in your knowledge is it widely used on food crops. I know that many growers of ornamental plant have opted for bio controls and they seem to be quite happy with the results so far. Thanks. J.

I would strongly encourage you to become a member of Landscape Ontario and take full advantage of the programs they offer. IPM designation is one of the many courses and designations they offer. I worked in the Agriculture, Horticulture Industry for most of my life in all aspects of hard and soft landscaping before landing a position with a number of Municipalities as Chief Horticulturist , Maintenance Technician and Property Manager. I encourage Bio where it works but sometimes a stronger product is needed when used correctly. An example was the creation of a 25 acre soccer field I was asked to be involved with from start to finish and maintenance schedule. The land was cleared, leveled ,correct slope for soccer pitch as well as a pond for irrigating. I took into consideration, soil type (sandy loam )and plant pest, diseases, native weeds. I was in a unique situation having much experience(training) with turf grass species and greenhouse management liquid fertilizer injection. The grass seed mixture I had made up was a drought tolerant and disease resistant fescue grass seed. I chose an endophyte enhanced fescue grass seed that is resistant to white crubs that ravage most lawns that are grown in sandy soil. So long story short after a couple of years the grass seed mixture grew extremely well with a liquid fertilizer being injected into the irrigation system watering the soccer field. The third year white crubs did appear in the majority of the lawns in that municipality i was working for but the soccer field was not affected because of the endophyte enhanced grass seed. If I had not used this grass seed mixture then the entire soccer field would have to be treated with a very potent chemical at a huge cost to tax payers.
I have not found a good cost effective Organic base selective herbicide sold off the shelf at garden centres, Home Depot, TSC etc. only Weed B Gone . I have done test plots with this product many times before the pesticide ban was enforced with very poor results. It does not even come close to such excellent products as Par 3. Large scale application such as a 25 acre soccer field using Weed B Gone would be in the $20,000.00 range but using a product such as Par 3 would cost in $2,600.00 range. Big difference ! Weed B Gone multiple applications are needed to possibly rid all broadleaf weeds. Par 3 usually one application does the trick.

Yes an IPM approach can be used on food crops but it takes allot of work gaining the knowledge and hands on experience needed to identify plant pest and weeds and organic solutions keeping cost in check and amount of applications needed.. Most food crop growers will use what works and opt for the sure thing ,chemical pesticides/herbicides most cost effective(spray application).

An organic soap base products work well on aphids, leaf hoppers and other sucking and chewing insects because these soaps are not harmful to the environment or ecosystem. I would choose this organic soap application rather than chemical application in this scenario . Having this organic/ chemical knowledge puts you in a better position deciding whats the best solution and less impact on the environment.

So the more knowledge you and your staff have at the garden centre the better for your business and it's reputation. I would not sell an organic product without knowing it truly is effective. Not many of them work well compared to the now banned chemical products that were once sold to homeowners. Insect traps are good such as the sticky traps but only on a very small scale in ones home.

[werner.reiche]

For comparison, lets bring in another " Wonder Drug ".
Lipitor, everyone has heard of it and perhaps many are using it , prescribed by your Doctor.
Lipitor the drug/chemical that was the highest selling prescription drug at the time till the patent ran out [ 1985 till 2011] it made billions for Phizer Pharmaceuticals.
Doctors were prescribing it left ,right , and center till many adverse effects were harming peoples health and lately it made the National News again , TV. Radio and the newspapers.
Lipitor is directly connected with Type 2 Diabetes in women, now there is a multi million dollar class action lawsuit initiated against Phizer Pharmaceuticals .
This has been brought to a head because it involves us humans directly, but is just another case where a chemical was DEEMED SAFE by the Food and DRUG Administration , and after many years of use and studies, has been found to have very sever consequences involving our health.
I still have serious doubts as to Who Do You Believe ? the big drug/chemical co.'s that are pushing for the big dollar or the people that are doing the research and are finding that these wonder drugs/chemicals are causing serious harm to the environment and consequently to us the final recipient.

The negative effects of Lipitor are no secret and people taking it are (or should be) advised of them by the doctor prescribing it.
Many, many people take Lipitor in spite of these because to them, its positive benefits in dealing with a severe and concrete problem outweigh the "possible" negative side effects.
Are we blaming the pharma cos now because they are unable to produce a drug with no side effects. The medical world didn't advance to where it is today by waiting until drugs are "perfect" before they are approved. The assertion that they should - well, I just don't know what to say about that.

Do we just abandon medical treatment, and if people get sick, let them die - after all, that's the most "natural" thing to do, and it presents zero risk.

[jaycee]

And what Monsanto is doing today is a world apart from DDT and agent orange. If anyone feels a need to bring that into the discussion - well it won't be a very intelligent discussion.

Did you forget that agent orange was used right here in Ontario ,approved by our Gov.

Hydro, road and forestry workers in Ontario were exposed to Agent Orange — the same weed-killing, disease-causing chemical used during the Vietnam War — in some cases by levels 700 times what is considered safe, a government-commissioned report confirms.

Agent Orange chemical exposure left Ontario workers prone to disease: study Link;http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2...ase_study.html

[werner.reiche]

Did you forget that agent orange was used right here in Ontario ,approved by our Gov.

Hydro, road and forestry workers in Ontario were exposed to Agent Orange — the same weed-killing, disease-causing chemical used during the Vietnam War — in some cases by levels 700 times what is considered safe, a government-commissioned report confirms.

Agent Orange chemical exposure left Ontario workers prone to disease: study Link;http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2...ase_study.html

I think its use was discontinued about 45 years ago.....so what I said "And what Monsanto is doing today is a world apart from DDT and agent orange. If anyone feels a need to bring that into the discussion - well it won't be a very intelligent discussion."

I'm done here.

[Roper]

Yellowdog - I appreciate reading your (what I consider) unbiased and knowledgable view of the GMO issue. As is most often the case, well intentioned and uniformed people love to jump on an environmental bandwagon - not aware of important mitigating circumstances.

[jaycee]

The negative effects of Lipitor are no secret and people taking it are (or should be) advised of them by the doctor prescribing it.
Many, many people take Lipitor in spite of these because to them, its positive benefits in dealing with a severe and concrete problem outweigh the "possible" negative side effects.
Are we blaming the pharma cos now because they are unable to produce a drug with no side effects. The medical world didn't advance to where it is today by waiting until drugs are "perfect" before they are approved. The assertion that they should - well, I just don't know what to say about that.

Do we just abandon medical treatment, and if people get sick, let them die - after all, that's the most "natural" thing to do, and it presents zero risk.

People should start questioning, reading more about all these chemicals that we are being introduced to , studies are done but very few are long term studies and we do not know their effects down the road.

Here is another wonder drug, remember VIOXX another wonder cure for arthritis and associated pain.
It was taken off the market because people were dying of heart attacks that it caused, up to 60,000 people died as a result of using it.

[By Dr. Mercola

What would you say if you knew someone had killed 60,000 people? Would you call it a felony of the worst kind, times 60,000? If you totaled up the value of all those lives in criminal court, what would you say they're worth? ]

Here is the link;By Dr. MercolaWhat would you say if you knew someone had killed 60,000 people? Would you call it a felony of the worst kind, times 60,000? If you totaled up the value of all those lives in criminal court, what would you say they're worth?http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...gs-unsafe.aspx

[flowerjohn]

I would strongly encourage you to become a member of Landscape Ontario and take full advantage of the programs they offer. IPM designation is one of the many courses and designations they offer. I worked in the Agriculture, Horticulture Industry for most of my life in all aspects of hard and soft landscaping before landing a position with a number of Municipalities as Chief Horticulturist , Maintenance Technician and Property Manager. I encourage Bio where it works but sometimes a stronger product is needed when used correctly. An example was the creation of a 25 acre soccer field I was asked to be involved with from start to finish and maintenance schedule. The land was cleared, leveled ,correct slope for soccer pitch as well as a pond for irrigating. I took into consideration, soil type (sandy loam )and plant pest, diseases, native weeds. I was in a unique situation having much experience(training) with turf grass species and greenhouse management liquid fertilizer injection. The grass seed mixture I had made up was a drought tolerant and disease resistant fescue grass seed. I chose an endophyte enhanced fescue grass seed that is resistant to white crubs that ravage most lawns that are grown in sandy soil. So long story short after a couple of years the grass seed mixture grew extremely well with a liquid fertilizer being injected into the irrigation system watering the soccer field. The third year white crubs did appear in the majority of the lawns in that municipality i was working for but the soccer field was not affected because of the endophyte enhanced grass seed. If I had not used this grass seed mixture then the entire soccer field would have to be treated with a very potent chemical at a huge cost to tax payers.
I have not found a good cost effective Organic base selective herbicide sold off the shelf at garden centres, Home Depot, TSC etc. only Weed B Gone . I have done test plots with this product many times before the pesticide ban was enforced with very poor results. It does not even come close to such excellent products as Par 3. Large scale application such as a 25 acre soccer field using Weed B Gone would be in the $20,000.00 range but using a product such as Par 3 would cost in $2,600.00 range. Big difference ! Weed B Gone multiple applications are needed to possibly rid all broadleaf weeds. Par 3 usually one application does the trick.

Yes an IPM approach can be used on food crops but it takes allot of work gaining the knowledge and hands on experience needed to identify plant pest and weeds and organic solutions keeping cost in check and amount of applications needed.. Most food crop growers will use what works and opt for the sure thing ,chemical pesticides/herbicides most cost effective(spray application).

An organic soap base products work well on aphids, leaf hoppers and other sucking and chewing insects because these soaps are not harmful to the environment or ecosystem. I would choose this organic soap application rather than chemical application in this scenario . Having this organic/ chemical knowledge puts you in a better position deciding whats the best solution and less impact on the environment.

So the more knowledge you and your staff have at the garden centre the better for your business and it's reputation. I would not sell an organic product without knowing it truly is effective. Not many of them work well compared to the now banned chemical products that were once sold to homeowners. Insect traps are good such as the sticky traps but only on a very small scale in ones home.

Yellow thank you for your tremendous post. I really appreciate it. Lots of great info. All we are allowed on our shelves at my store is safers now and repeated applications are not in the wheelhouse for many of my customers. I'm in a pretty well heeled neighbourhood and most would not risk breaking a manicured fingernail to even open the spray bottle. I deal extensively with those in the landscape trade and they have their hands tied. The best that they can do for lawns is to just get an early jump on spring overseeding and hope that the weather cooperates. Thanks again.