Glyphosate: A review of its health and environmental effects
Thanks for the link, Honeybee. The sources are old; people have known about this stuff for years. Unfortunately it hasn't gained wide distribution.
Great link, now it has me wondering about the aged manure and hay that I have been using in my garden. I dont use any herbicide directly but....the only herbicide that I have ever been warned about was the systemic kind, and its relatively new.
I imagine it would depend on where the hay and manure came from. I am a little concerned about using horse manure because horses are wormed on a fairly regular schedule, although I have applied it in the past. Currently we just use our own grass clippings and the residue from the chicken coop, neither of which has been treated with anything.
If you feed your chickens grain it's got it in it, but probably not enough to worry about. I never even thought about the wormer because it is given by weight. As a horse owner I can almost guarantee that 95% or more has herbicide in it. We won't buy, "dirty" hay. We don't want topaz for weeds especially ones that can be poisonous. I have a donkey on 18 acres of grassland we don't spray it. It looks like I'll be hauling poop. Although the manure Im using now is well over 3 yrs old. I know where the manure comes from. Sorry couldn't resist.
You're right about the grain, Lisa. There's no affordable source of organic feed around here, so we're stuck with the commercial stuff. But one does what one can!
Yes, I agree you do what you can do. If your chickens are free range you cant call them organic because you don't have control over what they are eating. All natural works for me.
Bill Gates has reportedly bought 5 million dollars of Monsanto stock, and is pushing "high-tech" agriculture (aka GMO)
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/gates-calls-money-ag-research-15432561
There are scientific reports all over the internet about the high levels of glyphosate now being found in many (all?) urine samples world-wide (not the US of coures... Monsanto says it doesn't affect us!). It is a known fact that manganese is essential for good liver function, and glyphosate chelates manganese, making it unavailable to the liver.
Lisa, if I were feeding organic products, free-range wouldn't negate that because our whole place is organic and they don't go beyond our own fields.
That's creepy about Bill Gates, Darius. Here's hoping that's one of his investments that turns out to be a bad one!
Monsanto corn: coming soon to a Wal-Mart near you
http://sumofus.org/campaigns/walmart-monsanto/
Greenhouse-thats just what Ive been told. Mine are free range but they only eat the bugs on my property.
Hmmmm. Mine eat bugs and lots of greenery. If I were buying organic feed I would not hesitate to label the eggs organic. Free range is even better than just grain-fed - lower cholesterol and all.