Chris Slade wrote:
>Thanks for the very informative reply from Allen Dick on Canola modified by
>traditional methods to be resistant to a particular herbicide.  What
happens
>the following years when seed spilled in harvesting germinates and is a
weed
>in other crops?  You can't use the herbicide to get rid of it.  Is there
any
>transfer of the resistance to closely related weed species such as charlock
>(I don't know whether this grows in Canada but it is very common in UK)


I was also very happy to read Allen's well thought out response on this
question. I've been closely following the subject for some time now, and the
more I learn the more worried I get, due to the profound lack of studies
(read: complete disregard for the environment in order to make a fast buck).
I'm still trying to keep an open mind on the subject, but it keeps getting
harder all the time. And a lot of times these days, I begin to think that
all of my editorializing on the subject is for naught.
Somehow I can't help but think we are standing at the precipice of something
even worse than what Rachel Carson predicted in her 1963 book Silent Spring.
This time it can be a true Pandora's Box.
Perhaps my problem is that I worry too much. On the other hand, it's
probably better than worrying too little.
On the positive front, it's the beekeepers, as an agricultural group on the
whole (compared to other ag groups), who are beginning to ask the hard
questions.
One hopes that the powers that be will listen up before it's too late.
As I posted to sci.agriculture.beekeeping a couple of weeks ago, the US EPA
apparently has enough concerns about the possibility of pests building a
resistance to Bt that they have scheduled a public workshop on the subject
on June 18 in Chicago. So, there is at least one US agency that is beginning
to see the light. Really wish I could be there for the meeting, but I have a
minor surgery planned for that day. is there anyone in the Chicago area who
can spare a day for this?

Paula
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