Last weekend my husband and I volunteered at a local equestrian center. My son and I were given the tour of the center's stables where we were introduced to a dozen or so horses, of which included a black and once wild stallion Mustang from out west (The highlight of the stable). My attention soon turned to the potential availability of huge amounts of fertilizer/ manure for our garden! The way I figured, the 9 chickens (of which 2 were soon to be expatriated) could sustain a garden of maybe 500-1,000 ft. I had hoped to expand to 13,000 sq. ft. within the near future. The manager of the farm was more then happy to give me all the horse manure I wanted since it was costing her $400 a month for twice weekly disposal. She did however warn me that many of the organic and vermiculture farmers had already turned away from the manure due to the preventative regiment of de-wormer and joint supplements given to the horses. Undeterred, I went online and found the half-life of the de-wormer medicines typically ranged from 5-7 days and therefore could easily degrade to extremely low levels given time and the ability to compost. Oh man was I elated..
THEN after searching around online late tonight.. 2 cups of black coffee will do that to you- the ugly truth became apparent.. it was about the herbicides of which the worst were Pyralids- The problem was not necessarily the preventative pesticides given to the horses, but the pesticides (i.e. any -cides including herbicides) in the form of herbicides applied to the fields of hay/grass/oats given as feed to the horses. It all cycles around. Study after study referenced online shows the potentially disastrous effects to future crops planted in the resulting manure and the health risks to a number of human groups (children/pregnant women/ those with mental disorders) and humans in general..
I recall one day, while sitting in a meeting, an attendee was introduced to a local federal conservation agency representative. At once when the attendee had learned that the representative had worked (for many years) with Mon-Santo (Agricultural Products Engineering Company), the attendee immediately responded with "I'm sorry (for you)!!" and a bit of a ramble of how unscrupulous the company was and is... The amount of disgust that that person had expressed (publicly) was incredibly surprising to me and I carried it around with me often thinking about it and what merits that person may (or may not) have had!
As it turns out, watching the documentary "FOOD INC.", and in light of my latest finds, I realize the merits for which she was drawing from.
Roundup is one of Mon-santo's unpleasant products, which effects can last for up to 20 years and may cause human birth-defects.
As far as crop damage to sensitive broad-leaf plants goes (which especially includes tomatoes and potatoes, and a handful of others), the family of pyralid herbicides result in home and commercial crop damages lasting 2-3 years..Talk about taking a huge hit to your production! The following article provides information: http://orange.ces.ncsu.edu/files/library/68/Herbicide%20Carryover.pdf
When you look at the bigger picture- you start to consider an organic farm (which seeks to sustain the ground and the nature around it) has many constant hurdles including potential contaminated ground and rain water, contaminated GM seeds (sometimes contaminated from nearby farms pollen!), and contaminated soils and fertilizer, the big picture starts to show that many farms have a hugely difficult time just trying to get the essential non-contaminated "scratch" ingredients necessary to produce healthy "pure" foods! These contaminants are only from a few decades of use.. what about decades and decades from now?? What clean water/land will we have and where will it be??
The "successes" just keep me thinking of the novel "pet cemetery" whereby each time mother-nature was improved (death was defeated) something monstrous was created instead.. two steps forward and three steps back!
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