Bob

I am not trying to suggest that I am a fan of 2, 4-D.  We (meaning farmers) know that 2, 4-D travels in a breeze.  Ask vineyard owners how much they enjoy their farming neighbors spraying it into corn.  This has been an item of contention for decades.  There was a series of discussion that OSU Extension and I believe the ODA held specifically for vineyard owners and the adoption of 2, 4-D resistant soybean (Corn is a grass and is naturally resistant to 2, 4-D).

The only weather data I can access from that time in the Hamilton area (just north of us) is that there was a drop in temperature going from the 11th and 12th of October which might suggests a frontal boundary and higher winds on the 11th.  Without data I do not know but it seems like a whole lot of the problems we are seeing these days is drift both in this case and maize planting using vacuum seeders and treated seeds.  Air movement will exacerbate this and I am curious if there can some common-sense common ground here to solve part of the problem such as adopting new guidelines on proper use.  Reducing use during high wind conditions will also reduce the amount of erosion we see on farms.  I've watched boom sprayers work in 15-20MPH wind which I find nearly criminal.

I sort of loathe the use of the term "Agent Orange" in the discussion since 2, 4-D is NO more agent orange than fructose is honey.  It charges the discussion.  We are seeing a market though driven to use more 2, 4-D because it can be sprayed on non-GMO corn (isn't that what everyone wants?  Less GMO?) and as the demand for non-GMO corn increases you'll see a back and forth between a non-GMO corn sprayed with 2, 4-D, glyphosate resistant beans, and wheat (which is a grass and thus can be sprayed using 2, 4-D as well).  Add to this the push for no-till for erosion control which usually means a winter crop of rye, spray killed, and then planted in beans and I am not too sure how you reduce the use of Ag Chemicals.  The knowledge on how to farm mechanically (as opposed to chemically) is slowly eroding in the minds of our new generation of farmers.

Richard Stewart
Carriage House Farm
North Bend, Ohio

An Ohio Century Farm Est. 1855

(513) 967-1106
http://www.carriagehousefarmllc.com
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