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Thursday, February 7th, 2013

Nearly Half of All US Farms Now Have Superweeds

Author:     TOM PHILPOTT
Source:     Mother Jones
Publication Date:     Wed Feb. 6, 2013 3:06 AM PST
 Link: Nearly Half of All US Farms Now Have Superweeds
Stephan:   Superbugs, superweeds. There is an inherent problem with an approach to nature that is predicated on dominance as opposed to cooperation. Whether it is antibiotics or herbicides that approach never gets all the 'bugs' in a hospital, or the weeds in a farm field. The result: the survivors mutate and become resistant, so strong antibiotics, and stronger poisons are required in a future round until, eventually, the drugs and poisons no matter how strong just stop working. That's where we are in our hospitals, and now where we are in our fields. You'd think this progression would be obvious. But the corporate greed for short-term profit just overwhelms good sense.

Last year’s drought took a big bite out of the two most prodigious US crops, corn and soy. But it apparently didn’t slow down the spread of weeds that have developed resistance to Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup (glyphosate), used on crops engineered by Monsanto to resist it. More than 70 percent of all the the corn, soy, and cotton grown in the US is now genetically modified to withstand glyphosate.

Back in 2011, such weeds were already spreading fast. ‘Monsanto’s ‘Superweeds’ Gallop Through Midwest,’ declared the headline of a post I wrote then. What’s the word you use when an already-galloping horse speeds up? Because that’s what’s happening. Let’s try this: ‘Monsanto’s ‘Superweeds’ Stampede Through Midwest.’

That pretty much describes the situation last year, according to a new report from the agribusiness research consultancy Stratus. Since the 2010 growing season, the group has been polling ‘thousands of US farmers’ across 31 states about herbicide resistance. Here’s what they found in the 2012 season:

Superweeds: First they gallop, then they roar. Graph: Stratus

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