Did you know Roundup Ready sweet corn is now available?

[Jstpssng]

First of all may I say I'm impressed... 15 pages and several weeks before things started to get nasty. That's when I stopped reading though...

Used responsibly, Glyphosate and GMO's are two separate entities. If I spray Roundup or any other pesticide and it drifts onto your property, I can and should be held responsible for any damage... Short of fully enclosed growing area I know of no way to use a GMO product responsibly. If you plant Roundup ready corn and it pollinates with your neighbor's organic crop; he can, has been, and most likely will be sued again by Monsanto for copyright infringement... meanwhile he loses credibility with his customers who believe; right or wrong; that paying him extra for organic produce provides them with a healthier food product.

 

[DFB]

Pretty neat documentry on Monsanto. Interesting how the labeling has been changed on Roundup!

Hehe check it out @ 30 min...starts to discuss govt policy

The section on PCBS brought back old memories...my hometown mill town was severely contaminated by the electronics industry where I worked for 20 years. Houses all along the river were removed and the people relocated PCBS were being phased out when I started. I still remember my very first day on the job. It was to help a maintainance crew bury transformers and oil barrels only to see what was left of them dug up 35 years later.
Cancer rate on the generation of men that preceeded me was phenonemal. I don't think many ever lived to see 70.

The World According to Monsanto (FULL LENGTH) - YouTube

 

[dave1949]

Pretty neat documentry on Monsanto. Interesting how the labeling has been changed on Roundup!

Hehe check it out @ 30 min...starts to discuss govt policy

The section on PCBS brought back old memories...my hometown mill town was severely contaminated by the electronics industry where I worked for 20 years. Houses all along the river were removed and the people relocated PCBS were being phased out when I started. I still remember my very first day on the job. It was to help a maintainance crew bury transformers and oil barrels only to see what was left of them dug up 35 years later.
Cancer rate on the generation of men that preceeded me was phenonemal. I don't think many ever lived to see 70.

The World According to Monsanto (FULL LENGTH) - YouTube

Thanks for the video link. I found time to watch it today. It is long, but worth it for understanding the global implications, and the breadth of the deceit and corruption that has been playing out for many years now involving the government and industry.

Honestly, I think for those who believe I sound a bit nutty on the subject, watching this will give you a different perspective.

As for solutions versus rants, that is a hooey argument. The only solutions we need are putting an end to this sort of corporatism. These are not technical farming problems, these are social problems that will only be solved by awareness and involvement.

 

[DFB]

Well last Friday the FDA decided to postpone any approval of Dow or Monsanto's 2,4-D and dicamba tolerant corn, cotton, or soybean for the 2014 growing season

The USDA said it needed to conduct more detailed studies before approving the seeds because...

"they may significantly affect the quality of the human environment."

So far, Dow's 2,4-D crops have drawn the most vigorous opposition. During a public-comment period, the agency received a petition signed by more than 400,000 people

The new biotech crops are part of the industry's response to what critics have dubbed "superweeds"--weeds that have developed resistance to glyphosate

A spokeswoman for Midland, Mich.-based Dow, said "Those weed problems are getting worse every single year,"

Monsanto called the USDA's decision "unexpected"

Read more: Monsanto, Dow Chemical Crops Face Further Delay | Fox Business

Also: Monsanto | Monsanto to Cooperate With USDA on EIS for Next-Generation Dicamba Weed-Control Technologies, Remains Focused On Bringing New Benefits to U.S. Farmers

 

[daugen]

Well last Friday the FDA decided to postpone any approval of Dow or Monsanto's 2,4-D

yikes. Is this the same 2,4D I saw sixty years ago on my grandfather's shelf, in a cardboard two pound box?
We had an awful time getting rid of it, finding a safe place to put it. It was as welcome as anthrax at the return center.
So what now, we have dumped so many chemicals on the weeds that now we need to go back to the old tried and true killer?

I am utterly amazed this stuff is still around, though I'm sure if I look it up, which clearly I didn't, my bad, that a licensed applicator can still use it. Geez, I bet if they mixed some PCB's into it they'd get even better results.
What are we doing to ourselves?

 

[MikeFarm]

Hi all

And today the decision has come down in the case of Monsanto vs Bowman (court decision here: www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/11-796_c07d.pdf). New report here: Supreme Court Rules For Monsanto In Case Against Farmer : NPR

That will have significant flow-on implications for grain elevator companies and anyone using "second hand" or seed grown by anyone else. Farmers reap what they sow.

Mike

 

[DFB]

Hi all

And today the decision has come down in the case of Monsanto vs Bowman (court decision here: www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/11-796_c07d.pdf). New report here: Supreme Court Rules For Monsanto In Case Against Farmer : NPR

That will have significant flow-on implications for grain elevator companies and anyone using "second hand" or seed grown by anyone else. Farmers reap what they sow.

Mike

I also just read about that decision this morning

Its main focus is patent infringement. Bowman does seem to be in direct violation of the contracts he signed with Monsanto by regrowing legal to buy second hand gm seed knowingly aware of the limited or restricted use requirements but then reselling the additional crop for profit.

Since the patented gene is self replicating in succesive generations of seed crops it should be assumed there will be no time limit to future patent infrigement either. It seems that the only way to avoid potentional problems would be not to have contractural dealings with the companys product,


BUT that doesnt seem to be so easy to do. Cross pollination was recently mentioned in post #181 Jstpssng wrote

Short of fully enclosed growing area I know of no way to use a GMO product responsibly. If you plant Roundup ready corn and it pollinates with your neighbor's organic crop; he can, has been, and most likely will be sued again by Monsanto for copyright infringement...

This fact in itself may have seriously wide repercussions on the entire future of farming being that cross contamination by wind borne pollen is a real and difficult to control side effect of GM engineering

Probably the best know story concerning that is of Percy Schmieser The 70 year old Canadian farmer that went up against Monsanto in cross contamination claim. David vs Monsanto it was aptly called. Sadly he didnt prevail either.

That whole story can also be found on another you tube documentry Monsanto A Documentary on GMO a must watch - YouTube

 

[dave1949]

I don't understand this patent infringement issue as it applies to unintended cross pollination.

As an analogy, if I breed a specific dog with distinct characteristics, can I patent the dog breed? If my patented dog jumps the fence and impregnates the neighbors poodle, do I have a claim on the resulting litter? It is more likely the neighbor would sue me for not controlling my dog. What is the difference?

 

[DFB]

I don't understand this patent infringement issue as it applies to unintended cross pollination.

As an analogy, if I breed a specific dog with distinct characteristics, can I patent the dog breed? If my patented dog jumps the fence and impregnates the neighbors poodle, do I have a claim on the resulting litter? It is more likely the neighbor would sue me for not controlling my dog. What is the difference?

Wow you just had to ask that question didn't you

Dave I think you might find this link interesting

http://www.fni.no/doc&pdf/MWT-AASSA-2007.PDF

I dont think there is a totally clear answer to that....yet

Alot of that is new ground to be covered

But it is clear that genectic engineering is assuredly intellectual property

It seems most patenting of intellecual property today is given on the assumption that its new developed technology and hasn't been shown to have been documented in the public sector before. It also seems that seeking patents has increased tremendously over the past several decades. What techniques used to be practiced for the good of mankind to improve the industry in general such as specific animal breeding programs or expanded scientific research such as with creative plant breeding has mainly become a propriety investment of the for profit plans of private business enterprises

 

[Danno1]

It's not in use since 1/1/07:

Ethanol, Air Quality, Maine DEP
MtBE Ban. Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MtBE) was added to conventional gasoline to enhance combustion and octane levels and to meet the federal Clean Air Act mandate requiring 2% oxygen in Reformulated Gasoline (RFG). The Maine Legislature banned MtBE as a gasoline additive in the state after January 1, 2007. With the MtBE ban in Maine and other states ethanol has been blended with gasoline in place of MtBE.

In 1999, the formulation was reduced from 12% to 2% in Maine:

Research at the Mitchell Center - MtBE in Groundwater: The Maine Experiment
Maine alone there were over 2,000 fuel-storage tank leaks in 1999 (Maine DEP, 2000). Nationally, MtBE has been detected in 3.4% of rural wells and 16.9% of urban wells according to USGS NAWQA.
Maine opted out of reformulated gasoline (RFG) in 1999, reducing MtBE content from 12% v/v to 2% v/v. Maine is the first state to act on MtBE

I think there are contaminated areas where 100% or close to that, of the wells will show levels of MtBE. They probably share a common source of contamination - one of 2000 leaking tanks noted above. The test results below were from wells in the Windham, Maine area.

http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1088&context=ucowrconfs_2004
Surprisingly, of the 19 wells consistently tested from 1998 to 2003, at least half of the wells had
detectable concentrations of MtBE (Figure 1). In 1998, 71% of the wells had detectable levels of
MtBE. The number of wells with detectable concentrations decreased to 50% in 1999, increased
to 53% in 2001, and maintained a 53% frequency in 2003.

Here is an article about MBTE in NH. I would assume that anywhere MTBE was used in gasoline, you will find the same pattern of contamination.
Occurrence of Methyl tert-Butyl Ether (MTBE) in Public and Private Wells, Rockingham County, New Hampshire

Phasing out MTBE is why we're all stuck with ethanol in our gas. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating for MTBE either...



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