Rural Routes/Margot Ford McMillen

The Weeds Fight Back. What’s Next?

As spring dawns, we are reminded that some farmers will soon be unleashing ungodly amounts of chemicals — weed killers and pesticides — into the environment. Glyphosate, sold as Roundup, is sprayed repeatedly through the season on glyphosate-resistant crops. When that doesn’t work, there are new resistant crops and their companion sprays. Dicamba and 2,4D are two of the most popular, manufactured by BASF, Bayer and Syngenta. These deadly sprays are wreaking havoc with the environment.

The escalation started when genetically altered “Roundup-Ready” crops were introduced back in 1996. We have to be clear on the difference between ordinary hybrids and genetically-altered seeds, also called GMO or GE seeds. Hybrids are crosses between two standard varieties, such as two corn varieties with slightly different qualities. Genetically altered crops come from seeds that scientists have actually changed by adding a gene or taking one away. The change means that the plants have a different nature than their parents.

I was at the introductory meeting about GMO seeds that can survive spraying by glyphosate. Soybeans. The meeting was hosted by the university extension service with a speaker provided by the seed company. Here, farmers asked the right questions. “What are you going to do about weeds that get resistant?” asked one smart elder. “We’re working on that,” answered the Mizzou extension agent.

Mostly, the extension agents stayed silent and let the chemical sales woman rattle on. The industry also offered big discounts on seeds and sprays those first few years so farmers got in line.

After about 30 years of spraying Roundup on soybeans, corn, canola, cotton and other crops, the weeds, indeed, became resistant. On the website for Pioneer seeds, there’s a map showing all the resistant weeds in your state. Altogether, 41 species are resistant around the world with 18 resistant in North America.

And here’s where the good news comes in. People are fighting back. According to the AP, costs to industry defending the side effects of glyphosate have gotten unsustainable to the corporate owners. Glyphosate users suffering from non-Hodgkin lymphoma are winning their court cases: ABC reported, “Corporate parent Bayer had set aside more than $10 billion in 2020 to settle about 125,000 cases … it won a string of nine individual lawsuits that started going to trial in 2021. But the tide changed last year when juries began handing down nine- and 10-figure awards …” Thousands of cases are awaiting trial. Cities in at least 15 states have banned glyphosate completely or in certain circumstances.

So, if someone with, say, 3,000 acres, needs to get rid of weeds, what will they use? How about a stronger chemical? Like Dicamba. But, finally, it’s losing its fan base.

In early February, the US District Court of Arizona ruled that dicamba was “unlawfully approved” by the EPA. EPA violated federal law by not providing opportunities for the public to weigh in before agency approval. The action was brought by National Family Farm Coalition, Pesticide Action Network, Center for Food Safety and the Center for Biological Diversity.

Dicamba is most volatile in mid-summer heat. If you live near fields where these chemicals have been sprayed, you’ve seen the damage. Trees on the borders of the fields have died, their leaves falling when the chemical vapors travel off-target. Neighboring crops that were not genetically altered have died, costing millions for responsible non-chemical farmers. Bees, deprived of blossoms, can’t store any honey. Pollinators are disappearing.

“Time and time again, the evidence has shown that dicamba cannot be used without causing massive and unprecedented harm to farms as well as endangering plants and pollinators … EPA’s and Monsanto’s claims of dicamba’s safety were irresponsible and unlawful,” said George Kimbrell, Center for Food Safety’s legal director.

What’s next? Up until 1996, it was common in the midwest for crews to “walk the beans” and pull weeds. “Walking the beans” sent groups of six to eight high school and college kids, each with a leader that knew their weeds, walking through the fields in teams and pulling weeds as the weeds grew tall. The crews started before dawn, quit when it got hot, collected their money and took off for the swimming pool to do what teenagers do.

These days, expecting people to walk beans is like suggesting that we cut off our electricity and live like the Amish. Today, to maximize yields, crops are planted too close together for walking between the rows. Unless there’s a national move to change big agriculture, chemical use on fields will continue.

Now the bad news: A few days after the court ruled against Dicamba, they amended the ruling so that folks who have purchased the chemical already can use it and retailers can sell the stocks they ordered before the ruling. This is a faulty decision. Dicamba is too volatile to be trusted.

Margot Ford McMillen farms near Fulton, Mo., and co-hosts “Farm and Fiddle” on sustainable ag issues on KOPN 89.5 FM in Columbia, Mo. Her latest book is “The Golden Lane: How Missouri Women Gained the Vote and Changed History.” Email: margotmcmillen@gmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, March 15, 2024

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