Are Farming Practices Harming Farmers, too?

 by Larry Powell

A PinP image.

    Producers of cereal crops (wheat, oats and barley) are once again being plagued with serious fungal diseases. And the effects are being felt, not only in their fields, but in their wallets, too. 

    The headline in The Manitoba Co-Operator reads, "Western Canadian farmers fight heavy disease threat as harvest approaches. Cashflow reported to be a struggle as fungicide means extra expenses amid tight margins."

    This should come as no surprise. 

A study done in Saskatchewan by an international team of scientists (and published in 2009 in the European Journal of Agronomy) found "a persistent link" between the heavy use of glyphosate, the active ingredient in the popular herbicide, Roundup, and the serious, widespread and costly fungal disease, fusarium head blight (FHB) in cereals. 

    It should be noted that heavy rains this summer may well have played a role, as well. However the study's main author, Don Huber, Prof. emeritus at Perdue University (Indiana) believes, without glyphosate, the outbreaks would still not be as severe.    

    FHB is a significant disease, probably costing producers billions globally. It often slashes their revenues by downgrading their crops to "feed-grade"only. And it can be toxic to both livestock and humans. (The human form, known as fusariosis, is known as "an emerging infection that's difficult to treat.") 

    But the harm glyphosate probably does, does not end there. 

    A study by Italy's renowned Ramazzini Institute just a year or so ago, finds lab rats became riddled with cancers in multiple organs, even when fed glyphosate at levels considered safe by the European Union! 

    "These results provide robust evidence," the study concludes, "supporting the conclusion of the International Association for Research into Cancer (a branch of the World Health Organization) that there's sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity [of glyphosate] in experimental animals”.

    I believe world leaders need to immediately launch publicly funded, independent research to determine, once and for all, whether these findings are accurate, or not - then take immediate and appropriate action to protect the public. To do otherwise would mean they remain culpable for perhaps millions of deaths into the future.