02-01-2014, 06:33 AM
I've discussed the monarch situation in a previous GMO thread:
http://www.punaweb.org/Forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=17194&whichpage=20
Two of the main ideas were that deforestation is taking place in monarch habitat in Mexico and U.S. farmers are planting far more acreage, due to very good market conditions and the ethanol market in particular, reducing the milkweed population in favor of corn and wheat. Herbicide application in this context is incidental. You can be sure, very sure, that if farmers didn't feel the need to use herbicides they certainly would not do so. And glyphosate, in the 30 years I have had experience with it, has been shown to be far safer than the older herbicides, such as the infamous paraquat.
http://www.punaweb.org/Forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=17194&whichpage=20
Two of the main ideas were that deforestation is taking place in monarch habitat in Mexico and U.S. farmers are planting far more acreage, due to very good market conditions and the ethanol market in particular, reducing the milkweed population in favor of corn and wheat. Herbicide application in this context is incidental. You can be sure, very sure, that if farmers didn't feel the need to use herbicides they certainly would not do so. And glyphosate, in the 30 years I have had experience with it, has been shown to be far safer than the older herbicides, such as the infamous paraquat.