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Today's Top News
Local Seeds vs. Big Guns
It was April 18 -- a warm and sunny day, weather completely unlike we had seen for some time.
I must confess, I didn't have a chance to buy those not-so-fancy farming overalls like I had hoped. But, I did manage to plant my grains -- inch by inch, (or thereabouts) crooked row by crooked row.
Red Fife, a hard wheat variety, emmer and hulless oats made up my crop -- and by crop I mean whatever I could jam into my 200-square foot plot, which, incidentally, feels a whole lot bigger when you have to pull the weeds out.
The day began with a short session with Metchosin's Tom Henry, the editor of Small Farm Canada, and Mike Doehnel, a presenter of backyard grains workshops, and a guy well known for producing his own beer from seeds through to suds.
It took a couple hours in total, to get the plot primed and those little seeds into the ground and now what's left is to wait -- and ultimately see if I've got any kind of green thumb at all.
And while my grains percolate close to home, I've decided to turn my attention to the bigger picture.
It's been more than 10 years since agribusiness giant Monsanto applied to both the U.S. and Canadian governments for approval to grow commercial yields of their genetically modified (GM) products.
The GM seeds were engineered to resist glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto's herbicide Roundup®.
Monsanto claims that with these seeds a farmer can spray the herbicide over a planted field, kill all the weeds growing there, but not hurt the crop -- as long as Monsanto seeds were used.
While it seems like an easy solution to their weed problems, some farmers say all it has done is created havoc throughout the agricultural community, forcing them to buy Monsanto seed every year and use Monsanto herbicides.
The issue came to a head in Canada in 1998 with Monsanto v. Schmeiser.
In 1997 long-time Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser did what he did every other year. He took the seeds saved from the year before and planted them.
Little did he know more than 791 acres of his 1,400-acre canola farm had been contaminated by Monsanto's GM canola.
Monsanto sued the farmer claiming he illegally planted the firm's canola without paying a $37-per-hectare fee for the privilege.
Schmeiser insists any Monsanto products growing on his land were scattered there by wind or flooding, pollen movement, or by grain trucks travelling on roads that run parallel to his fields.
He countersued for libel, among other things.
Schmeiser wasn't the first Canadian farmer to do battle with Monsanto, but he was the first to stand up to the agri-giant, believing he was the victim, not Monsanto.
The landmark case heard by the Federal Court of Canada, attracted international attention because it could help determine how much control a handful of powerful biotech companies can exert over farmers.
The trial was heard June 5-20, 2000 in a Federal courtroom in Saskatoon.
By most accounts, it was a draw and further legal action was taken.
In March of last year Schmeiser and Monsanto settled out of court.
Monsanto agreed to pay for the cleanup costs of the canola that contaminated Schmeiser's fields and the farmer retained the right to sue Monsanto again should his fields become re-contaminated.
Schmeiser is still paying off his legal bills.
The debacle raised and furthers the issue of just how much control farmers ought to be able to have over their crops. For many hundreds of years farmers have saved seeds from plants with the most desirable traits and planted them the following year. These practices have led to the gradual bettering of all crops around the world. Many farmers see GM crops as a threat to that process.
Island Grains is helping create a new generation of seed savers, given that Monsanto and other agri-food giants are trying to eliminate seed savers so farmers are dependent on their GM seeds.
Makaria Farm's Brock McLeod said what he finds interesting about the Monsanto case is that Schmeiser was not simply a farmer who planted the seed he had saved, but was also a seed developer.
"Schmeiser was one of the farmers who would develop new varieties of grains adapted to the local growing area and sell the seed to fellow farmers. In targeting Schmeiser, Monsanto was striking at its competition -- the farmer who sells naturally developed seed," said McLeod.
He says what's cool about the Island Grains project is that a new generation of seed savers and potential developers is being cultivated.
"While we're not on a scale that would threaten or interest the Monsanto's of the world, we are a small part of keeping alive the tradition of developing and discovering varieties of grain adapted to our local growing conditions," he said. "Our efforts as Grainies, and others like us across Canada, could be a vital part of re-establishing the natural seed stock should Monsanto succeed in eliminating commercial-scale growers like Percy Schmeiser."
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20 Comments so far
Show AllOnce again, the fault lies with our pols unfairly subsidizing Big Agri and further choking the small farmers who used to be the backbone of agriculture and even our way of life. Thank GOD for a few remaining local farmers' markets and organic stores. LAW AND ORDER needs to be enforced against Big Agri, not against the small farmers !
It makes no sense to mix up comments about commercial agriculture, which is doing a good job of feeding the world, with small organic farms which are also doing a fine job of supplying local farmers markets. They are totally different concepts and should be discussed separately.
There has always been resistance to new developments in all business areas, some is warranted, other is not. In time, if a new idea does not make sense, it will be discontinued, but new methods take some time to prove their value or lack of any.
Horse farmers thought the automobile and first trains were going to wreck the country, but eventually they proved their worth. It would be impossible to farm the entire country the way it was when the rural population was a large percent of our people.
Contrary to the article, most farmers are putting in their orders early to obtain the seed they want, instead of complaining about being forced to buy seed from some company.
They did wreck the country, dimwit. What? You need 50 MORE years of this shit (global scale fascism, unprecedented levels of repression and bigotry, destruction and laying waste to naturally healthy sustainable environments, techno-totalitarianism) to figure that out????
Good luck in 50 years!
I won't be seeing you then...
GOD BLESS AMERIKA, THE CIA AND WALL STREET HEY?
Commercial agriculture is doing a terrible job of feeding the world. It's vulnerable to all kinds of speculators, warfare, peak oil, global warming, geo-politics, requires heavy subsidies, is extremely damaging to the environment, creates mass dependency, steals rights to self-sufficiency, is unsustainable, poor nutritional quality, and doesn't even hold up to many ultra-high value alternatives including for example carob, which protects soil, supports surface ecosystem, thrives with almost no inputs in arid climates, and beats petro-fried corn in yield/acre by a factor of three.
Kernelz, you are labeling the people's resistance to elite theft of the people's livelihoods "resistance to new concepts". Innovation!
> In time, if a new idea does not make
> sense, it will be discontinued
Kernelz you mean that in time after the elites have stolen a mountain of booty from the people, the racket may be folded to demonstrate "good faith", then on to the next racket.
Kernelz,
Read "Who Benefits from GM crops? feeding the biotech giants, not the world's poor", available at:
http://www.foei.org/en/publications/pdfs/gmcrops2009full.pdf
Excerpts from the summary:
"• Firstly, hunger is chiefly attributable to poverty, not to a lack of food production. For small farmers, this means a lack of access to credit, land, inputs and technical support as well as declining investment in agriculture by governments. For urban dwellers, it means not having enough money to purchase increasingly expensive food.
• Secondly, the vast majority of GM crops are not grown by, or destined for, the world’s poor. They are used for animal feed, biofuels, or highly processed food products in rich countries.
Most commercial GM crops are grown by large farmers in a
handful of countries (Brazil, Argentina and the US) with
industrialised, export-oriented agricultural sectors.
• Thirdly, it is widely accepted that GM crops do not increase yield, and in some cases yield less than conventional crops.
• Fourthly, official data from major producer countries – US,
Argentina and Brazil – confirms that pesticide use increases
with GM crops, including the use of toxic chemicals banned in
some European countries. This raises costs for farmers and also causes agronomic, environmental and health problems, mostly affecting poor communities who live near intensive GM farms.
• Fifthly, the real beneficiaries of the GM system are biotech companies which profit from patents, expensive GM seeds, and increased pesticide sales. Poor farmers in contrast are squeezed by escalating costs."
Saving and improving the seed stock naturally. Though it has been the regular order of things for hundreds of years, it has now become a subversive and revolutionary act. Viva La Revolucion! y gracias
Kernelz, Agribusiness does not increase the production of food.
The small farmer, with fields of grain, chickens, goats, cattle, pigs, garden products (truck farming), produces a vastly superior product.
The farmer thought the tractor would help end some of his back breaking work. It was really the beginning of the end of the family farm.
Wars are not the only inhumane butchery carried on in the name of necessity. Ever see pigs in cages stacked three cages high? The pig on the bottom eats the shit of the two pigs above him.
Ever see three chickens crowded into a cage built for one? These animals are tortured their whole lives.
If you want to eat meat from factory farms you are also putting pain and suffering, unspeakable agony, into your body.
Maybe it's just a coincidence that we have so many people in prison and still think capital punishment is a good idea.
Maybe it's just a coincidence that we have numerous wars going at once, foreign and domestic.
War. Pain. Torture. Money. Profit. Drugs. Booze. Overworked and underpaid at jobs we hate, and the money evaporates. The banks get it and nobody knows where it went.
It's almost like we are living in a cage, working as hard as we can but receiving none of the benefits. And am I the only one with the taste of shit in my mouth?
Maybe it's all just coincidence.
The pig in the bottom cage may believe that. I'm afraid I don't.
I grew up on a small diversified farm using our own open pollinated seed, no herbicides or insecticides, and worked my butt off for practically nothing. Now, with irrigation, fertilizer, and hybrid seed (yes,GMO), and using modern machinery, our land is producing many times what it did previously with much less labor. Anyone that wants to go back 50 years in farming has evidently not tried the old ways as some of us did.
It is also very nice to not have to handle poisons when planting, no spraying is needed, no cultivation needed, so consequently the soil is improving with more residue and less compaction. Talk to a real farmer and you will get another view of what is going on besides worrying about Monsanto.
If our country goes down the tube, maybe then we will see a return to the land and away from the city life. Until that happens, do not expect to see much change.
Wait till GM seeds are the only kind you can get, Monsanto is the only company you can buy them from, and . . . you will work your butt off for practically nothing once again. I understand that GM seeds cost from two to over four times as much as conventional, non-GM seeds, and the price is increasing. They'll do what Walmart does after they eliminate competition and conventional seeds become unavailable - raise prices.
Exploitation of the food crisis has been extremely profitable for Monsanto, by far the dominant player in GM seeds. Goldman Sachs recently projected that Monsanto’s net income (after taxes) would triple from $984 million to $2.96 billion from 2007 to 2010.
You say that you don't have to spray your crops - I thought they need to be sprayed with Round-up. Or is it just some crops that have to be sprayed?
I know all that. It was back breaking and the profit margin was barely enough to survive on---sometimes it was even less than that. But I don't need to tell you we were happier.
You also know that mining fossil water will end, poisons will eventually poison the soil, as will irrigation.
This planet is overcrowded. There is no remedy for that---not one which we are prepared to implement.
I know all that. It was back breaking and the profit margin was barely enough to survive on---sometimes it was even less than that. But I don't need to tell you we were happier.
You also know that mining fossil water will end, poisons will eventually poison the soil, as will irrigation.
This planet is overcrowded. There is no remedy for that---not one which we are prepared to implement.
I know all that. It was back breaking and the profit margin was barely enough to survive on---sometimes it was even less than that. But I don't need to tell you we were happier.
You also know that mining fossil water will end, poisons will eventually poison the soil, as will irrigation.
This planet is overcrowded. There is no remedy for that---not one which we are prepared to implement.
Well, I finished planting my gm beans a couple of hours ago. You should have seen all the birds flying around my tractor, attracted by the earthworms my floating row-cleaners bring to the surface. I sometimes feel a little bad checking the depth of my planted seeds, cause I disturb so many earthworms and sometimes damage a few. My land has had pesticides and commercial fertilizers applied for many decades, and gm seed for about as long as there's been gm seed. Some of you anti-gm seed folks might enjoy the fact that the front tire of my tractor broke off 2 days ago and took an entire day of hard work to jack up, tear apart, find new parts, file and smooth damaged surfaces and finally get put together again. Actually, as annoying as it was, it does give one a nice sense of accomplishment.
Your land? I believe it was you, Greg R, that said the government props up you conventional grain farmers nicely through subsidies and so on...I've heard of that. I've heard if you grow big enough and muscle out enough of the others in your neighborhood over the years, you prove to THEM that you have become the most 'fit', the most 'competitive' and thus the most eligible for THEIR federal racket money.
Follow THEIR rules and THEIR ideas and THEIR programs and you get rewarded. Nevermind who might be being hurt elsewhere and how bad, so long as it isn't you!
Your land? YOUR LAND?!?
You seem to care more about earthworms than you do people.
My friend...
nedlud
Go read 'Work Is Hell', by Michael D. Yates, it appears on counterpunch.org. And realize when you purchase and grow GMO seeds, manufactured by the likes of Monsanto, you sir are contibuting mightily to this massive abuse.
Ahh, but the earthworms...and the smell of fresh soil, isn't it all grand?
Hypocrite!!
My point with the earthworms is that conventional fertilizers and pesticides and gm seem to me to treat the earth just fine. I CHOOSE to give money to Monsanto. Next year I may choose differently. I do find it 'troubling' that so much money goes into gm research and now so little into conventional varieties, but this is the way of the world and personally I think hundreds of other things are much more important.
"I CHOOSE to give money to Monsanto." You might be able to choose now, but once non-GM seeds become unavailable, you won't be able to choose, and you'll have to pay whatever the monopolists will charge you.
If nothing else, it seems stupid and short-sighted to give away the ownership of seeds.
"Conventional fertilizers and pesticides and gm seem to me to treat the earth just fine." What?! You mean that kind of agriculture hasn't killed the earthworms or . . . you . . . yet? It's devastating the environment, harming people and animals, eliminating biodiversity . . . The list is long, books have been written on the subject, and frankly, this statement is pretty outrageous.
I suggest that you don't listen to Monsanto ALONE. It's all hype and marketing, but you have to decide for yourself. Do some research, look at what GMO critics have to say, and then, if you still decide to use GMO, that's your choice, obviously. But at least you'll be making an informed decision.
Look, Monsanto is far from a favorite of mine. I don't give a crap about their 'hype and marketing'. The technology simply works well for farmers. Do you think the vast majority of America's farmers are stupid? I realize there are risks. There are risks everywhere we look. I and most farmers think these risks are small. I have seen a lot of research that shows potential problems. But if we choose to not use any products that are found to possibly have negative consequences, the list of 'banned' substances would be miles long. I think it's wonderful that people worry about technology and health, and study the heck out of it all. The truly bad stuff will usually show up quickly and we can generally reverse course.
I actually think that farmers, are the most sensible group of people left in the United States, with their common sense left fairly intact. That's why I am puzzled by their embrace of GM technology. Most farmers apparently do think that the risks are small, but not all the scientists (or European lawmakers for that matter) agree with that.
I know a few organic farmers, and they say that the only way for a small farmer to have a decent income is to go organic. Some people do it, because they believe it's right, others do it for the money.
Most likely it won't be an issue in your lifetime, but by choosing GM seeds right now, it is possible that you are eliminating the choice for non-GM seeds for the future generations. If there are any future generations - sometimes it seems too me that this world is too screwed up to keep going, the way things are.
". . . if we choose to not use any products that are found to possibly have negative consequences, the list of 'banned' substances would be miles long" - and - to finish your sentence - we would be much better for it. Instead, we are inundated with harmful products with token safety testing, if any. Corporations earn their profits, individuals, and/or sometimes the taxpayers suffer the consequences and do the cleanup.
Happy farming, Greg.
Maybe I'll see you at a farmer's market with ORGANIC beans, a few years from now? I hope so.
Glyphosate is toxic to Rhizobium bacteria (yup, that works well for farmers), toxic to amphibians, toxic to mycorrhizal fungi,toxic to fish when it gets into water systems - which it does (none of your tosh you read from Monsanto's literature about it binding soil particles), decreases local bird populations do to overall effects on the ecosystem despite your anecdote here, and is linked to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Now go make up some excuse or say "Oh pishah" so you can sleep at night.