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Approved-By:  Laurel Hopwood <[log in to unmask]>
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Date:         Fri, 4 Jun 2010 17:41:44 -0400
Reply-To:     Biotech Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender:       Biotech Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From:         Laurel Hopwood <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Wall Street Journal:  GM crops accelerating the use of toxic pesticides
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Here's an expose from high profile media. Genetically manipulated 
(GM) crops are not only keeping us on the pesticide treadmill - they 
are accelerating it!! 
(So much for the agricultural biotech industry PR line that GM crops 
would reduce the use of pesticides.)
laurel hopwood, sierra club genetic engineering action team chair

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704025304575284390777746822.html
Wall Street Journal
June 4, 2010
By Scott Kilman
Superweed outbreak triggers arms race
EDITED

Hardy superweeds immune to the Farm Belt's most effective weedkiller 
are invading fields, prompting a counterattack from agribusiness that 
could leave farmers using greater amounts of harsh old-line 
herbicides.

The flagging weedkiller is Monsanto's Roundup, used on GM corn, 
soybean and cotton plants.

Dow, DuPont, Bayer, BASF, and Syngenta  are spending hundreds of 
millions of dollars to develop GM soybean, corn and cotton plants 
that can survive a dousing by their herbicides, many decades old.

Some of the old pesticides-in particular, those called 2,4-D and 
dicamba-have a history of posing more risks for the environment than 
the chemical in Roundup. That's partly because they have more of a 
tendency to drift on the wind onto neighboring farms or wild 
vegetation. Roundup tends to adhere better to the ground.

Ron Holthouse grows GM cotton and soybeans, but after 10 years of use 
on his land, Roundup no longer controls pigweed, which ran rampant in 
his fields last year. The weed, which can grow six feet high on a 
stalk like a baseball bat, is tough enough to damage delicate parts 
of his cotton-picking equipment. For the first time in years, Mr. 
Holthouse used an older, highly poisonous weedkiller called paraquat.

Chemical companies are tight-lipped about their development of crops 
that can tolerate the spraying of herbicides other than Roundup.

Dow manufactures 2,4-D, a powerful herbicide. Within the next few 
years, Dow hopes to sell seeds for corn, soybeans and cotton that 
will be unaffected if farmers spray 2,4-D on their fields.

Some winery owners are concerned that such efforts will renew farmer 
demand for 2,4-D, to which grapes are highly sensitive if the 
herbicide drifts from a farm sprayer onto vines. "A neighbor could 
take me out in one night." said winery owner Neal Newsom.

The Natural Resources Defense Council petitioned the EPA in 2008 to 
ban 2,4-D, citing research that suggests it disrupts hormones in 
trout, rodents and sheep.

Monsanto is developing a dicamba-tolerant soybean.


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<!doctype html public "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN">
<html><head><style type="text/css"><!--blockquote, dl, ul, ol, li { padding-top: 0 ; padding-bottom: 0 } --></style><title>Wall Street Journal:  GM crops accelerating the use
of tox</title></head><body>
<div><font face="Arial">Here's an expose from high profile media.
Genetically manipulated (GM) crops are not only keeping us on the
pesticide treadmill - they are accelerating it!!&nbsp;</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial">(So much for the agricultural biotech industry
PR line that GM crops would reduce the use of pesticides.)<br>
laurel hopwood, sierra club genetic engineering action team chair<br>
<br>
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870402530457528439077774<span ></span>6822.html<br>
Wall Street Journal<br>
June 4, 2010<br>
By Scott Kilman<br>
Superweed outbreak triggers arms race<br>
EDITED<br>
<br>
Hardy superweeds immune to the Farm Belt's most effective weedkiller
are invading fields, prompting a counterattack from agribusiness that
could leave farmers using greater amounts of harsh old-line
herbicides.<br>
<br>
The flagging weedkiller is Monsanto's Roundup, used on GM corn,
soybean and cotton plants.</font><br>
</div>
<div><font face="Arial">Dow, DuPont, Bayer, BASF, and Syngenta&nbsp;
are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to develop GM soybean,
corn and cotton plants that can survive a dousing by their herbicides,
many decades old.</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial"><br>
Some of the old pesticides-in particular, those called 2,4-D and
dicamba-have a history of posing more risks for the environment than
the chemical in Roundup. That's partly because they have more of a
tendency to drift on the wind onto neighboring farms or wild
vegetation. Roundup tends to adhere better to the ground.<br>
<br>
Ron Holthouse grows GM cotton and soybeans, but after 10 years of use
on his land, Roundup no longer controls pigweed, which ran rampant in
his fields last year. The weed, which can grow six feet high on a
stalk like a baseball bat, is tough enough to damage delicate parts of
his cotton-picking equipment. For the first time in years, Mr.
Holthouse used an older, highly poisonous weedkiller called
paraquat.<br>
<br>
Chemical companies are tight-lipped about their development of crops
that can tolerate the spraying of herbicides other than
Roundup.</font><br>
</div>
<div><font face="Arial">Dow manufactures 2,4-D, a powerful herbicide.
Within the next few years, Dow hopes to sell seeds for corn, soybeans
and cotton that will be unaffected if farmers spray 2,4-D on their
fields.</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial"><br>
Some winery owners are concerned that such efforts will renew farmer
demand for 2,4-D, to which grapes are highly sensitive if the
herbicide drifts from a farm sprayer onto vines. &quot;A neighbor
could take me out in one night.&quot; said winery owner Neal
Newsom.<br>
<br>
The Natural Resources Defense Council petitioned the EPA in 2008 to
ban 2,4-D, citing research that suggests it disrupts hormones in
trout, rodents and sheep.</font><br>
</div>
<div><font face="Arial">Monsanto is developing a dicamba-tolerant
soybean.</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial">&nbsp;</font><br>
</div>
</body>
</html>
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