> I have hesitated to get into the organic certification fray, since it
>is not my primary area of expertise. However, some statements in Dan
Worley's
>post by way of Lawrence London were disturbing to me.
> I would like to line up for the free fertilizer and lime being
provided
>to farmers. Please tell me where and how to go about getting some.
> Also, I would like to know more about the "huge grants" cotton=20
growers
>get from the federal government to "help them defray costs of all the
chemicals
>they pour on their land to kill weeds and insects." I would be
interested in
>helping North Carolina cotton farmers get some of these grants. Most
have not
>had a good season this year with extreme drought conditions in much of
the
>cotton growing area of the state.
> Exaggerated and/or inflammatory statements not based on facts or even
>personal experiences don't help anyone. They also don't improve
anyone's
>understanding of concerns about organic certification, inspections,=20
and
>National Organic Standards.
> These are my own personal opinions.
> Marjorie Rayburn
>
thanks for setting the record strait. I was wondering when they have
those emergency spray programs and spend millions of dollars where they
line up helicopters and spray insecticide over great areas of
land,water,livestock,schoolgrounds,organic growers,take the paint off
your car etc to get those cotton weevils or whatever is not called a huge
grant,what is it call. You know this is a word game and Lawrence may have
his word wrong . That can happen . Like when colleges get grants or
what ever you call them to study DNA stuff and pesticide stuff and very
little if any grants to study bio-control or organic growing i can see
where an organic grower like Larry would feel that the cards are stack
against them. I remember reading of organic growers getting sprayed in
gov. programs and at USDA expense for cotton all the time . I think they
call them subsidies not grants lets get the words right. How many
millions of dollars do you think they have spent on insecticide spray
programs and can we nail this number down and at what cost to
beneficials and how hard does that make it to farm organic there after
the USDA has destroy the balance of the web of life that the organic
grower has been spending years to establish. Plus if one were to really
dig into it and we probably should and just compare grants and subsidies
to chemical growing compared to organic growing I think one would find
not much help for the organic grower. its is getting better now that the
factory farmers are getting into organic growing for the big bucks and to
protect their market share but I feel Lawrence does make a point. The
point I think he was trying to make was that for years and years the gov.
has been not been much help to organic growing and lots of help and
moneys be them grants or subsidies to chemicals growers. In fact USDA=20
will spray a organic farmer just as fast as they will spray a school
grounds to save the chemical cotton farmer. Is that right I don't know
is it justified I guess one can justify anything in their own mind but is
it done . If one were to say chart it out I think one would find that
organic farmers get a very very small piece of the pie and get walked
over <bigger>every time</bigger> they want to protect their organicness
for the sake of the chemical farmers . =20
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