permaculture

["Emily A. Noble" <guinep@theriver.com>]

A friend who lives in US Midwest has not yet any monarch butterflies or any
milkweed or butterfly weed; she lives on a farm in midst of corn-growing
country.
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>From: "Jeff Hall" <JRHALL@gwgate.lib.iastate.edu>
>To: "permaculture" <permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu>
>Subject: Re: Bt and butterflies
>Date: Thu, May 4, 2000, 8:33 AM
>

>A couple responses on my incomplete understanding of the BT issue. Bt corn
has only been widely planted the last 2-3 years, and I believe it is
long-lasting in terms of generations of affected soil organisms, but not
like a chemical fungicide.
>Also, I've heard that Bt that has been GE'ed is much more widely
biologically active than its original ecological function (caterpillars
only). It'll be many years before the effects are understood, we have an
experiment going on across millions of acres. We can stop planting Bt corn
next year and the monarch will probably survive, given the worst possible
case of pollen impact. But the long term impact on soil communities is
possibly a huge question.
>If anyone knows more about this, I'd appreciate your input! I'm just an
interested former economics major:)
>-Jeff
>
>
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