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  • From: mIEKAL aND <qazingulaza@gmail.com>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] IPM
  • Date: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:34:16 -0500

I'm pretty sure I'm on one side of the extremes.  I live in the county that has more organic farms than any other county in the US, work for the largest organic farmers coop in the US & the knowledge-base for going organic in these parts is several generations deep.  On the other hand I & a lot of people around here don't drink their well water because nitrate & atrazine levels are too high, CAFOs are continuously trying to set up shop & there is a fairly healthy commercial apple industry around here.  As you can imagine doing organic apples around here has been slow going since all the apple diseases have already set up shop in these parts.

Personally, I don't have a need to be certified organic but concentrate on no-spray & as low inputs as possible.  Since I'm primarily making wine from fruits, & don't sell fresh fruits I don't have to deal with having the best looking fruit.  

& in response to several past comments there is a huge amount of data that is just appearing comparing organic to gmo, organic to commercial & USDA has just requisitioned something like $22 million for upcoming research for university based research projects.  A lot of anecdotal evidence will eventually have fairly serious studies to be compared to.

This is farming country here & the incidence of pancreatic and other forms of environmental cancers has reached alarming proportions among traditional farming families.  I would say it is probably one of the reoccuring stories we hear when new farmers join our coop, transitioning to organic because of seeing members of their families picked off one by one.

~mIEKAL



On Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 3:10 PM, Terry Bradshaw <terryb@lostmeadowvt.com> wrote:
>
>  Personally, I would love to see the concept of IPM agriculture blossom.  I would love to be able to buy IPM produce in my local grocery.  But somehow the concept has never gotten major attention among consumers and publications to consumers.  IPM is definitely the most scientific form of agriculture in my opinion.  It is based on the intersection of 3 realities, economic reality, and the knowle
>  ge of biology and chemistry.

Hi all, reader for many years, very infrequent poster.  I just want to
touch on this IPM thing.  Where I am (Vermont/Northeast), and in the
crop I work with (apples), IPM is the norm. Rare is the farmer of any
crop who doesn't want to save a spray- it's hot, stinky, expensive
business, spraying.  I just got off the tractor after spraying two
blocks each of IPM and Organic apples.  Nothing went in that tank that
wasn't economically or biologically necessary, and I'm the norm. The
concept that it's chemical or organic with no overlap is ridiculous...I
use compost and Bt in my IPM blocks, and scout for scab and other pests
and spray 'natural' materials, including copper and lime sulfur, in my
organic blocks.  If anything I find that commercial growers (I do this
for research) are more willing to take risks than I am and skip a spray.

The Rachel Carlson 'Sky id Falling' days are over, at least in my
experience here.  That's not to say there aren't farms or crop that
overuse chemicals (or on the flipside organics that ignore food safety),
but they are the exception.  The reason the IPM brand hasn''t caught on
is that it requires too much thought from the consumer; Organic is
easily defined, even if it can be a hard and somewhat arbitrary line in
the sand. Explaining economic action thresholds, insecticide classes,
resistance management, and all on a sticker on your apple is a lot tougher.

Thanks,

Terry B

Calais, VT

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