Interrupting your usual news for this ...please help.
Help Save Non-GMO Farmers
Your urgent action is needed because the Missouri Dept. of Agriculture is relaxing their position on the highly volatile herbicide Dicamba, and, with this change, endangering thousands of acres of Non-GMO crops and the livelihoods of the farmers who grow them.
Frankly, the Missouri Dept. of Ag is blowing it. Dicamba causes serious damage – yield reduction and crop destruction – in non-target crops. It is particularly volatile at certain temperatures. And so, if you or I were making commonsense regulations to be fair, we’d limit the wind and temperature conditions and sensitive areas where and when Dicamba could be used. ¬Wouldn’t we? And we’d make consequences for misusing these risky chemicals serious enough to discourage misuse, and to compensate victims for crop losses.
But NOOO. The EPA and the MO Dept. of Ag are doing nothing meaningful, and hoping that the companies that are profiting from the use of Dicamba, its use and its manufacture, will be thoughtful and kind toward their non-chemical using neighbors. So far, the chemical users have not demonstrated such concern. And the damages are piling up.
Farmers who are NOT growing with GMO seeds and chemicals, who have chosen to restore soil health, the earthworms and the biota of their soil by refraining from the use of these chemicals – are hurting. They cannot sustain the losses they have experienced when oversight of Dicamba use is relaxed. Could you pay your bills with a 75% reduction in your pay?
The Dept. of Ag took public comments on their new position – during the few weeks of harvest when farmers are too busy in their fields to attend hearings, surf the web, and write comments. Unfair. Sneaky. Calculated.
Of course the Chemical lobbyists had plenty of staff on hand, and they celebrate.
This is where you come in. You are a voter. You are a tax payer. You are an eater. You might want eggs, chicken, pork or milk that has NOT been fed genetically modified grain. You might want dog food or cat food or fish food that does NOT contain GMOs, either. To get what you want, you need farmers that can GROW NON-GMO grain and still stay in business. You need farmers who can grow Non-GMO crops and are not FORCED into chemical use.
So it’s time to make a call or two. First, call your state representative. Then, call the Missouri Dept. of Agriculture Director, Chris Chinn at (573) 751-4211 and tell her that ALL Missouri farmers must be FAIRLY treated and famers using chemicals like Dicamba and GMO seeds should not be allowed to endanger their neighbors’ crops. Other states like Minnesota, have commonsense regulations – and we should too.
Missouri farmers have developed mills, markets and customers that WANT NON-GMO crops – and that industry should not be destroyed by the mega-chemical corporations that have a dangerous product.
Thanks. Take action. Spread the word.
In support of soil health which is the basis of all health,
Kathleen Logan Smith
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