Step back from the spreadsheets everyone.
Please remember that we are talking about a coated corn seed, not a uniform
distribution of the pesticide, such as a spray.
So you have a point source that will only increase the level of the
pesticide in the soil if the next year the farmer is so precise that he/she
plants every seed in the exact same place. And that would have to happen
every year from now on.
Therefor, to arrive at the levels contemplated (the same as the seed
coating) is impossible. Bayer has nothing to worry about.
Reality is that over a ten year period if you plant one seed every square
foot, and let the seed be .2x.2 inches, or .04 square inches, then you have
covered in that 144 in square foot, .4 square inches in 10 years. In one
square foot, you have 143.6 pesticide free square inches of soil. (yes I
know fields are plowed, but this is for instruction.)
This gets us to an interesting point about the neonics and systemic
pesticides which we want to ban because they harm bees. The method of
application is point source, a seed. So the amount of pesticide is minimal
compared to sprays. The target is also narrowed because of the application
method, so all the beneficial insects that do not feed on the plant are
spared. Soil buildup is drastically reduced because of point source
application.
Plus there is no drift, any runoff is reduced compared to other pesticides,
and humans are spared.
But because some say that bees are in great danger from them, with little
proof, we beekeepers want to ban them. So we will go back to the good old
days of spray, more pesticides, human health issues, and bee kills that you
can really see, not imagine with "sub lethal" doses. Spray yields lethal
doses.
If I was a farmer I would wonder just whose side Beekeepers are on.
Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine
***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
|
