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© UnknownHurry boys! Start bailing!
What a shame. Weed resistance to glyphosate (Roundup) is getting so bad, that Monsanto is offering to PAY soybean farmers to use herbicides other than Glyphosate...
Monsanto Co. is paying farmers to increase the number of herbicides they're using. The rebate program is designed to prevent more acrage from getting infested with weeds that are resistant to one particularly popular herbicide, Roundup.
What a beautiful system: 1) A magical chemical that magically kills all plant life. 2) A crop genetically engineered to be resistant to the magical chemical. 3) A wise and powerful corporation who manufactured the magic chemical and controlled the genetically engineered seed. Profits abounded (for the wise and powerful corporation). Farmers enjoyed fields so perfectly clear of weeds, as to be unimaginable before the term, "Roundup Ready" hit the late night TV commercial airwaves.

The future looked so bright.

Then the cracks started to appear. Instead of one application of the magic chemical, two and three became necessary to keep the crop perfectly clean of all weeds (the new industry standard). The warnings of resistance developing in weeds went out early. In 2000, I organized a conference and brought in Chuck Benbrook. He warned about resistance. The "experts" scoffed. I had one weed scientist tell me he didn't think resistance COULD develop because of the mode of action of Glyphosate. Smart guy. Problem is, weeds are smarter.

Now it's clear. Even the wise and powerful corporation sees it. Nature really does bat last.

One of the great selling points of Roundup Ready was that is was going to REDUCE the amount herbicide used on major crops in agriculture. Reduce! Numerous studies showed this wasn't the case, and now Monsanto is paying farmers to use more herbicide, to save the effectiveness of the herbicide that was going to reduce herbicide use. Brilliant. And many farmers will line up and do it because they'll believe this...
The use of additional herbicides will not only control Roundup-resistant weeds but add to farmers' profits by increasing their soybean yields, said Michael Owen, an Iowa State University weed specialist who has been working on a multi-state study on the weed resistance issue funded by Monsanto. One recent analysis in Iowa found that weeds early in the growing season could cut soybean yields 6 to 8 bushels per acre, he said.
The whole thing reminds me of 1912. Human endeavor and achievement had reached a pinnacle of impressive proportion. Was there anything man couldn't do? The staggering hubris was "unsinkable." Then, on her maiden voyage Titanic hit an iceberg. Three hours later she was sitting on the bottom of the Atlantic. 100 years later, things haven't changed much. The more spectacular our mastery of nature, the more monumental the failures.