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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Now......GMO sweet corn

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  • From: Richard Stewart <rstewart AT zoomtown.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Now......GMO sweet corn
  • Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2011 20:48:20 -0400

I attend an OSU Extension Fruit and Vegetables course every year.  I go for the natural and organic control research and the research coming out of the Piketon Extension labs, but part of the course is for spray certification.  We do not use pesticides so I have never attended that part of the course.  I do sit around though every year talking with different folks trying to find places for more static bee yards.  I end up talking to a lot of conventional fruit and vegetable growers.

The spray regime that some sweet corn growers use is rather amazing.  Given the heavy reliance in succession planting the amount of spraying can be as high as 1 or 2 applications per 4 day period.  Most of it is to produce corn free of ear worm since most American consumers complain of it.

Not too sure which is worse in this case, GMO or conventional (I consider conventional the use of sprays approved prior to GMO, like 2-4-D, but then I am seeing tests done of 2-4-D resistant GMO soy beans).  Ultimately I think that the consumer is the worst influence demanding perfect food as if it were extruded plastics.

As a beekeeper I avoid putting hives anywhere near: sweet corn, vine crops (melons, pumpkins, squash, cucs), orchards.  Those three are death zones for bees because of the pesticide use and with new research coming out...fungicides too.

As a consumer I buy my corn from my neighbor, but I also understand that if you simply stopped spraying all those acres with pesticides because it was Bt, that HAS to have some sort of positive impact...maybe not?  I honestly do not know.  I'd like to see a consumer that does not care about maggots in the ear of their corn...when I was a kid that was my job, break off the ears with the maggots in 'em before they wen't into the pot.

Richard Stewart
Carriage House Farm
North Bend, Ohio

An Ohio Century Farm Est. 1855

(513) 967-1106



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