and under 6 percent reported using rotonone mixtures. The results of the survey
were published in the American Journal of Alternative Agriculture, Vol. 13, No.
2, 1998 in an article titled, "Organic vegetable production in the U.S.:
Certified growers and their practices."
Cathy Greene
Economic Research Service, USDA
awiediger@Hart.k12.ky.us wrote:
> It is asking a lot to ask logic of any bureaucracy - organic, conventional
> ag, political, etc. But bureaucracies are not people. I find it
> interesting all this talk about rotenone. I have been growing organically
> for over 20 years. The farm I am now on has been managed organically for
> the 10 I have lived here. I can't remember the last time I purchased
> rotenone, or sabadilla, or pyrethrum, or any other botanical. We do use BT
> on a very occasional basis - quite different from having it systemically in
> a plant. I am aware that the organic regulations that I am certified under
> allow use of these botanicals with certain provisos. But, I am also aware
> that they are broad spectrum, and not a good choice for insect balance. We
> are market gardeners, and bring to market produce that is second to none,
> and we do it with no sprays of any kind. It wasn't always this way. The
> first 3-4 years, I struggled with a variety of insect pests. However, now,
> we have virtually no economically important insect pests. If we have
> aphids, we also have predators. Only in the greenhouse, which is a closed
> and somewhat artificial system, do we ever have a large enough problem for
> intervention, and we usually use a soap solution. I don't think we are
> unique among experienced organic growers in using very little intervention
> in pest management. Please quit equating use of broad spectrum botanicals
> with organic growers - it doesn't always fit, any more than bashing
> conventional farmers always fits.
>
> Alison Wiediger
> Au Naturel Farm
> Smiths Grove, KY
>
> > ----------
> > From: Steve Groff[SMTP:sgroff@epix.net]
> > Reply To: sgroff@epix.net
> > Sent: Monday, December 20, 1999 6:22 PM
> > To: Bluestem Associates
> > Cc: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu
> > Subject: Re: Low-risk pesticides ...
> >
> > Bluestem Associates wrote:
> >
> > > can someone who
> > > understands the current 'logic' of the organic bureaucracy explain to
> > > me why organic agriculture prohibits an excellent fungal antagonist
> > > like T-22 (Trichoderma harzianum) on the basis that the nuclear fusion
> > > techniques used to improve the strain is "genetic engineering," while
> > > they continue to approve Bordeaux mixture with its known negative
> > > impact on earthworms?
> > >
> > > Bart
> >
> > Great point! It supports the question I asked earlier about the use of
> > Rotenone in organic production. That's what I don't understand about
> > organic
> > bureaucracy. It allows certain pesticides (mostly *natural*), but
> > prohibits
> > some of the newer chemical pesticides which quite possibly are safer and
> > less harmful to the environment then the *natural* ones. Is this
> > sustainable???
> >
> > (and please, can someone answer the above question w/o philosophy and
> > rabbit
> > trails!)
> >
> > Steve Groff
> >
> > "Enhancing the Environment" http://www.cedarmeadowfarm.com/
> > Cedar Meadow Farm
> > 679 Hilldale Road
> > Holtwood, PA 17532 USA
> >
> >
> >
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