Why soy free?? (And the effects of soy)

[Green Ridge MO]

I thank God for the industrialization of the farm. It has helped the world. If you are against the utilization of pesticides, I can guarantee you every soybean farmer in North America and Brazil would let you walk bean fields and help the environment.

 

[bibliophile birds]

Quote:
a much better source of bio-diesel is switchgrass. you grow it among your other crops as a row cover to keep out weeds, it needs absolutely no tending, needs no chemicals, and is highly productive in making ethanol. best part: we aren't burning food for fuel. if growing GMO, conventionally farmed corn and soy were about feeding the world we wouldn't have so much food laying around that we think it's a good idea to burn it....

many of us refuse to be part of those chemical/industrial complexes. i live on well water and rain water collection tanks, my toothpaste is made from all natural ingredients, i don't buy synthetic fiber clothing (except that made from recycled goods), and i gave up coffee. i'm actually meeting more and more people around my area who are interested in local, sustainable agriculture and we are REBUILDING our farm community through our partnerships. even if someone isn't willing to make this kind of life change (even though it's insanely rewarding) that doesn't mean that they should EVER have to accept eating something that is so harmful.

 

[Wifezilla]

"Farmers in South Africa have suffered millions of dollars in lost income due to the failure of their genetically modified (GMO) corn to produce kernels. The three varieties of plants look lush and healthy from the outside, but when the husks were pulled back there are no kernels. Monsanto's GMO corn was planted on 82,000 hectares of farmland, an amount that equals over 202,000 acres. The loss is spread over three South African provinces, and 280 of the 1,000 farmers who planted the corn have reported the lack of kernel development.

Monsanto has blamed the failure on under fertilization processes in the laboratory and attempted to make light of the situation by claiming that only 25% of the Monsanto seeded farms are involved in the loss. But Marian Mayet, environmental activist and director of the Africa Centre for Biosecurity in Johannesburg is not buying it. According to her information, some farms have suffered up to an 80% crop failure. She has demanded an urgent government investigation and an immediate ban on all GMO food. She points out that it is biotechnology that is the failure, and a careless mistake would not affect three different varieties of corn at the same time. The varieties failing to produce kernels were designed with a built-in resistance to Monsanto's weed killers, and were manipulated to increase yields."
http://www.naturalnews.com/025992.html

"While Big Agriculture has touted that GMO crops will save the world, the report says they are largely failing to do so. GE (Genetically Engineered) soybeans have not increased yields, and GE corn has only marginally increased yields. While corn and soybean yields have risen substantially over the last 15 years overall; that hasn't been the result of GE traits, but due to traditional selective breeding or improvement of other agricultural practices.

The report says that organic and other methods that use reduced amounts of fertilizer and pesticides compared to typical industrial crop production generally produce yields comparable to those of conventional methods for growing corn or soybeans.

Non-transgenic soybeans in recent low-external-input experiments produced yields 13 percent higher than for GE soybeans.

So why does Big Agriculture continue to push the GMO envelope if this is the case? It's all about control - these companies through their tinkering own the species they create - they are patented."
http://www.greenlivingtips.com/blogs/428/GMO-crop-failure.html


There are GOOD things about modern farming and there are BAD things. We didn't have to throw out the old just because it was old. Nor is it smart to do something new just for the sake of newness. Different methods give different results and have different unintended consequences. The less diverse the growing methods and the type of seeds, the more chance one thing can wipe out a whole crop. What works in one place isn't always going to work somewhere else. Monoculture is dangerous even if you aren't talking about GMO.

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

Quote:
Bio-Diesel and Ethanol are two completely different beasts!!!

Switchgrass can be used for ethanol production, but the logistics of using a bulky geedstock like switchgrass are still yet to be dealt with.

Switchgrass can not be converted to bio-diesel, there is no oil present.

Jim

 

[Green Ridge MO]

Ok simple agronomy. Folks, it is about yield and money. Lets focus on a small 80 acre row crop field that will take additional NPK for a good grain crop yield. If you were to plant switchgrass rows between bean rows to prevent using a herbicide, what would you need. A tractor with a warm season grass drill, switch grass seed (not cheap), and more fuel to make that pass. When are you going to plant it? It takes at least 2 years for a good stand to develop. Width of warm season grass clumps would expand due to nature of warm season grasses thus giving you less crop land. What about the decreased nutrients available to the row crop from competition. Where is your market for the switch grass? How are you going to harvest it and haul it? More fuel, more machinery. Less yield would be realized. What about the increase in insect activity that you now have created? Less yield again. Theoretically you have cut an 80 down to a 40 with a lot less yield and much more equipment cost and fuel used and time. It wont work and we cant create thousands of more acres. Good theory, but it would not work on a large commercial scale farm. Sorry.

 

[bibliophile birds]

Quote:
believe me, industrialized farming is NOT helping the world. the argument is that that kind of farming produces these great yields that will then feed everyone. this is COMPLETELY untrue. i work in 3rd world countries with people who are living off food they scrounge out of the dumps. let me guarantee you that those people are not seeing any part of the insane surplus of things grown on industrial farms. Monsanto likes to use poor countries as research grounds for it's crops, which usually has a devastating effect. industrialized farming is MUCH less effective in many of these regions, whether because of soil or climate or machinery options, and when it fails, Monsanto washes their hands of the people who are now in serious debt. Indian farmers are killing themselves because of the debt Monsanto has gotten them into.

corn usages :
* Feed/Residual (45.9% of total U.S. corn usage in 2007-08)
* Food/Seed/Industrial (35.2%)
* Export (18.9%)

export does not mean exported to feed hungry people, it means exported to other countries for more processing. and of the 35.2% that is used for "food/seed/industrial" MOST of that is made into additives and fillers for things like Coke and Twinkies. here's a list of what is made from corn. you don't see anything to feed the masses on there.

the history of soy in this country shows that it's use as a food source for people was a complete second thought.

 

[bibliophile birds]

Quote:
we've been growing switchgrass for the past 4 years as part of the University of Tennessee's research on it. the refinement plant is opening very shortly (in the next month or so). we have seen absolutely no yield losses on the nearly 1,000 acres it's been intercropped on. but, then again, we don't use chemical fertilizers to begin with, so our soil is actually MUCH healthier than industrialized soil, so maybe there is the difference... and the increased insect activity has been extremely beneficial. we're getting a lot more helpful predatory insects that are keeping the nasties WAY down. and at the end of the season, the switchgrass gets tilled under with the other crops and a good helping of compost and makes the soil EVEN better.

 

[Cindy in PA]

The problem is with this argument and so many others (for 34 years we have been planting soy.........), is that 34 years is a blink of an eye & the last 100 years or so is where our food has gone bad. Just read a copy of Poultry Review from June 1908 & they were starting to "industrialize" chicken raising then. I am old enough to remember the 60s & 70s where everyone was told to eat margerine, because it was healthier than butter. We all know how that turned out. Now transfat is the scurge of the earth and we are all unhealthier because of it. As for fattening deer on soybeans, I have never seen a deer eat soybeans in the 25 years I have lived next to a soybean field. They decimate the leaves all season, but they do not touch the beans. In fact the farmer didn't harvest the beans this year until the week before Christmas & they were still hanging full. As far as Round up ready crops, they have just made more weeds. They spray a couple times while the crops are young & then let the weeds go the rest of the season. The thistle & other seeds blow freely at the end of the summer, so more round up next year. Maybe we should just quit going overboard on any one thing & try some variety.

 

[Green Ridge MO]

what is drawing the predatory insects in? Are you advocating complete tillage on 1000 acres with yearly establishment of switchgrass and row crops? What about soil retention? No till agriculture has shown much increased yields the last few years and here you advocate completely turning over the soil twice annually and establishng 2 different crops on the same acreage. You have at very minimum 4 entire passes over that 1000 acres that burned hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel in which would not have been done on an "industrialized farming" rotation of no til beans and corn alternation. So yes, you may not have used several gallons of glyphos, you have successfully used up much larger fuel sources, require at least another piece of machinery and used much more time to try and get a yield that would be close to modern farming practices. And, you have to have at least 2 different markets to sell to.
This thread shows me some things........of course the University can show all of us things. But, until you can save money the modern farmer would go broke doing this.

 

[ziggywiggy]

Quote:
Soy is a good green manure. It is NOT a good food crop as it is currently used in the US because of the health problems caused by improper preparation and overuse in the food supply.

Right or wrong you cannot call something a waste crop when there is such a huge demand for it. Ever heard of soy futures? Anyway, the only thing I like about soy beans is soy sauce which, I love on my rice and please don't tell me rice is bad for me.