The planter is ready for it’s first fill!
It’s May 6, 2013 and planting finally began on Scott Farms. This is not a terribly late planting date, but it seems much later because last year started and finished in record time. This time last year we had been done planting for two weeks, and because of wet weather we are getting a much later start to planting this year. But let’s not forget that 2012’s nice weather early in the year turned into the worst drought since at least 1988.
Today we planted 85 acres of waxy corn. That’s one field down, and a bunch to go. Not bad for an afternoon start that began with a couple things not working as they should. Turns out that was our fault and not an equipment problem. Next year we’ll know that we need to fill the air tank on the planter with the big compressor in the shop instead of letting the planter work really hard to try and fill itself with a tiny 12V compressor. We didn’t do it ourselves last year because the planter was brand new and our John Deere dealer mated the planter and tractor for the first time. After sorting that out everything worked great.
Why is this corn purple? Well the corn is is yellow, but this seed coating protects the plant from pests and disease. Technology like seed coatings reduces additional trips across the field during the growing season. Certainly better than filling a sprayer or airplane with fuel for an over-the-top pesticide application. This also reduces labor and soil compaction by potentially eliminating one or more passes across a field.
Typical for this spring there are chances of rain most of the week, so I don’t know how far along we’ll be by week’s end. Rain makes grain right? At least we’ve got some seeds in the ground now.
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So glad to see someone in the field. Still nothing planted here in north central Missouri for us. But hope to be in the field soon.
Let’s hope the rain continues … after you get all the seeds in the ground. May the drought be over.
Let’s hope so. Technically we’d would have to enter another drought since Indiana has been drought free since early winter. But yeah. Drought = bad.
These new seed pesticide treatments that are used to coat the seed corn and to help control pests might seem like a miracle of science and better then the way farmers use to control pests (spraying on the pesticides) but the truth is thats its far from a prefect system that is in true harmony with nature. These neonicotinoids as they are called, are highly toxic to pollinators including honey bees. They are so highly concentrated that even one part per billion can have sub-lethal effects on bees. Clothianidin or Poncho as it is called by its brand name is one of these neonicotinoids systemic pesticides. Clothianidin is (as are all the neonicotinoid based pesticides) water soluble and since the seed corn is coated with this stuff it is is easly taken up into the plants Vascular system when the corn plant starts growing. Now every part of the plant will now be expressing this very toxic pesticides 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the entire growing season. Even the corn pollen will be expressing this pesticide. Corn pollen can effect bees in two different ways. One way is that sometimes bees will forage on corn pollen and take some it back to the hive & the second way is when bees fly near or through a corn field then the little hairs on their body which are designed to attract the pollen thus causing this corn pollen laced with deadly pesticides to stick to their body in which they will eventually lick off.
These pesticides kill insects by causing their nervous system to fail which can lead to lots of different symptoms that eventually will cause honey bees to die! There are already numerous studies that already linked these pesticides to bee deaths! https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/05/03-0
That fact that Clothianidin is water soluble makes it even more toxic to the environment because since the seed is placed in the ground it can easily leach into the ground water supply thus contaminating ground the water supply that humans and animals drink from. Clothianidin also has a half life of 20 years and so it has the potential to be taken up by other crops that are grown in that field the following years after.
The pesticide industry knows the dangers these pesticides but are suppressing the data. Even EFSA ( EUROPEAN FOOD AND SAFETY AUTHORITY) admits there are huge data gapes in the studies that have been carried out these pesticides. The EPA granted Bayer a Conditional registration back 2003 to start selling Clothianidin in the US and granted them full registration, I think back in 2008. EFSA has just recently approved a two ban on all these neonicotinoid pesticides so they can be more carefully studied to fully determine their effects on the environment and pollinators.
I want to make it clear that I’m not trying to bash any conventional farmer who uses these products because I know that no farmer wants to be called a bee killer. The only people who should be to blame for misleading the farmers is the pesticide industry & the EPA. The pesticide industry tells farmers that these pesticides will give them a 5 to 10% yield gain in their crops (which is highly controversial) but when you look at the bigger picture even if a farmer did sacrifice some yield wouldn’t that be better than losing all our honey bees and all the fruits & vegetables that are pollinated by honeybees. The crops that are pollenated by honeybees are estimated to be a 15 billion dollar a year industry, could you imagine what kind of an effect that would have the US economy & our food supply?
As an organic farmer we have learned about natural methods to help control pests. Like being more Bio diversified in our operation, practicing proper crop rotation, planting smaller fields of crops like corn , oats, etc. By planting large fields of crops (monocultures) farmers give pests all the food they want and so their numbers can grow exponentially!
The big question to ask is: Do the benefits of these pesticides out weigh the risks? The answer is no the benefits don’t out weigh the risks!
You make some good points, Paul. And know that I and other farmers like me take note of the concerns with bees. I personally think these seed treatments could be a contributing factor to bee declines, but I think there may be a lot of other factors in play as well.
I don’t know that I’d call seed coatings a miracle of science, but they are useful. Here’s my problem with seed coatings. It’s getting harder to buy conventional seed without them. That’s the trend in the industry from my point of view. Let’s not use them if we don’t need them. I would argue seed coatings are really insurance for what if situations. Not unlike ordering a car these days you often have to pick from certain packages now vs being able to select options a la carte.
I don’t care for the way fungicides are marketed. They’re shown to increase yield in corn especially if you apply them at I believe V6 and again at pollination. And that’s how they are advertised. Not so much for the fungicidal effects. I’m not a fan of “recreational” practices in farming like that. It’s been quite a while since we used a fungicide application.
All the trade publications I read are really starting to make a big deal about rotations of all things and I think that’s great. New stuff is cool, but we can’t forget agronomy 101 and I think some people have.
Today we planted 85 acres of waxy corn
Hoping to finish side dress today
please do not plant gmo seeds. Our lives are at stake…