“There is no good substitute for atrazine.”
FarmandDairy.com reports,
According to a new study by Paul D. Mitchell, ag economist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the herbicide atrazine benefits U.S. corn, sorghum and sugar cane farmers by up to $3.3 billion annually, thanks to increased yield, decreased cost and reduced soil erosion.
The Mitchell study’s key findings include:
• Atrazine and the other chloro-s-triazines (simazine and propazine) produce $3 billion to $3.3 billion in value annually.
• Atrazine and its sister triazine herbicides are worth an estimated annual yield benefit and net cost savings of $343 million for U.S. sorghum growers, $210 million for U.S. sweet corn growers and up to $120 million for U.S. sugar cane growers.
• Atrazine and its sister triazines provide substantial weed control and encourage conservation tillage and no-till farming, which reduce soil erosion and improve water quality.
“There is no good substitute for atrazine. It’s an off-patent, affordable and well understood product,” said Mitchell. “Atrazine significantly increases yields and is a vital tool for controlling weeds in corn, sorghum and sugar cane.”
Heresy!! Heresy I say!
Why, I have it on good authority that pesticides are killing the Gulf of Mexico. PETA and the Sierra Club said so. It must be true. Children are being born with three heads and six arms. Cows are being born with no udders (instead they have this other thing hanging down there). It’s the end of the world unless we go fully oganic immediately.
[ this rant brought to you by your local chapter of mentally deficient college students and other dimwits on a daily basis (/snark) ]