Suffice to say, HardCell, before some major life changes hit me unplanned in what I liken to being hit by a major hurricane like Katrina, I had gotten very much involved in the "farm to table movement" around the Cincinnati, Ohio area a few years back and as a result, I got a big time schooling in the "evils" of Monsanto and other companies like Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland.
I was actively seeking to buy a piece of property in the countryside where I could raise some sort of Organic, high quality ag product plant or animal, to be determined based as much as anything on the nature of the property I acquired and what it was best suited to produce.
One more nasty thing that Monsanto has done in recent years----they finally got approval to release seeds for Alfalfa grass that have GMOs in them here in the US----something that has ZERO reason being done. Being a grass, that is raised mostly as a feed and bedding for livestock animals---there was no advantage to putting GMOs into this plant. They are hardy against nearly all pests, drought, weather conditions, etc---save too much rain!!
As one person, I do forget his name, who is a big producer of USDA certified ORGANIC products----(a designation that is both initially hard to obtain and to keep since you always need to prove to the USDA that both your seeds for what you produce are free of things that can take you off being considered Organic like GMOs and that you do not use the same chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers employed in "traditional farming practices,") said that he could figure Monsanto put GMOs in Alfalfa for only one reason, to make sure that there can no longer be truly organic produce and other products.
It was explained to the group I was with in a presentation on this----with Alfalfa, the pollen from a field of the grass, can drift downwind of those fields for a zone up to 200 miles or more from that field---and with the way that pollen of this grass is-----it can "insinuate" its genetic properties into other field crops like corn, wheat, and other grains and grasses.
So, the bottom line on this-----while you as an Organic crop producer, you can do all the things that the USDA says you must do to comply with and be certified as having ORGANIC crops, thanks to GMO alfalfa, if you are downwind of such a field----the next time you get tested----you stand a good chance that much of what you grow will test positive for having GMOs in it and therefore, you can no longer be certified as being a true and proper USDA certified operator. OK---so much for that---you lost your market you sold to---so you try to sell your harvest to a foreign market--but you get shot down at that because many countries in the world ban GMO product from being imported and sold.
As I said----the people that make the decisions at Monsanto, are at the very least---some greedy bastards-but I stick with calling them "Spawns of Satan!"
http://www.cban.ca/Resources/Topics/...Market/Alfalfa
There was another fear that farmers had about this----when your crops showed up having some of Monsanto's "copyrighted genetic material" in it----they would take you to court to sue your ass for having "Stolen" their protected and proprietary genetic material in it!! They did this sort of shit to some of the seed bank people and destroyed their lives!!
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-see...arming/5329947
PS--I found these stories--after I wrote my copy. If you do a Google search on this subject---you find scores of such stories along these lines---amazing that people in the agricultural community not just in the US but elsewhere have the same experiences and feelings about the way that Monsanto operates. I had decided that I was going to spend my life savings on "doing right' by getting into organic farming at this stage in my life. I was taking part in programs that provided training, assistance and such offered by the state of Ohio to get new people of all ages into farming. I was doing my "due diligence" in trying to figure out all the "In's" and "Out's" on that. As scary as it was the thought that this company could destroy me if my path and theirs crossed and I felt I had to fight them, I was prepared to "go for it." Now I guess things worked out for the best and I am not so sure it is a good idea to do this. I lost a few years on that now and have pretty much decided to go another way again. Finally going to go back to college and start working on a Master's Degree beginning in June 2016. If you watch the film at the site talking about Canadian farmers fighting GMO Alfalfa, I had no idea that GMO Canola made Organic Canola Oil a total impossibility and that GMO Alfalfa is an even bigger threat than I had learned!
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