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The chemical arms race…
…. was going to call this post “GMO Roundup” (pun intended). But it really is chemical warfare right on the farmlands of the United States. It all started with Monsanto developing a powerful herbicide, “Roundup”. The trouble was, Roundup not only killed weeds, it killed the corn. Not to worry, then Monsanto developed Roundup-resistant seeds and today most of the major crops come from those seeds—corn, soybeans, sugar beets—in all, about 165-million acres of GMO crops. But then a new crop developed: weeds; weeds that were resistant to Roundup. Again, Monsanto was ready with the answer: more powerful Roundup. And of course, what happened was the weeds kept up with…
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Whistle while you work….
You wouldn’t think that, with a name like Thistle Hill, we’d be making war on thistles. But this is grandson, Church, on summer break, practicing his back-swing for tennis. That’s what we tell him anyway. Actually thistles, which blanketed the farm 10 years ago, have virtually disappeared, particularly in the pastures where we practice mob grazing. This is the field where we keep young bulls and it is set-stocked. And, of course, we don’t use herbicides for weed control. Bad for the tennis game. It’s great having Church here for the summer. He’s all “growed” and can out-work me. (He carries four mineral bags at a time; I lift one, and…