These exact same arguments were heard by farmers (some made by
farmers) when tractors replaced horses and when artificial
insemination replaced bulls, and probably alot of other times
when some new technology came on line that "threatened" someone's
beliefs.
As a farm manager who is very concerned about agriculture's
environmental impact and the quality of the products we produce,
I just think the BST issue is far from our biggest concern. I
logged on to this network in the hopes of learning about how I
can cut pesticide use, improve the effectiveness of cover crops,
improve nutrient management, etc. and do so without going under
financially.
I guess I am one of those people we've heard about on the
network lately that really would like to get on to learning
something that really can help farmers. Don't get me wrong,
if someone really has solid, scientific information about
BST, I'll read that too. But the political commentary is
not what I logged on for. I'll give it another few days.
If the tone doesn't change, then I'll log off and leave with
the attitude that I wasn't right for this particular network.
Not the other way around. Fair enough.
Signed,
Jim Bronson
Kellogg Biological Station
Michigan State University
My comments, my thoughts, not those of my employer.