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ASA: farmers rely on crop protection tools
The president of American Soybean Association says farmers rely on crop protection tools to be productive and sustainable.
Kevin Scott says ASA is encouraging EPA to make science-based decisions.
“We’re trying to remain sustainable on the farm. The products that we’re using have helped us become that way and there’s going to be quite a restriction on some of those products we’re using,” he says. “We just don’t think there is any reason for EPA to make non-science-based decisions. We have told them where to find the answers to the questions they have and they’re not using those answers so we’re concerned about that.”
He uses the impact of Roundup Ready seeds in South Dakota as an example.
“The Roundup Ready seed moved no-till into those western areas and now we have row crop production in South Dakota where we didn’t have it before so we’ve expanded the footprint where we can grow soybeans and do a fantastic job because of some of the seed technologies that we’ve had,” he says. “If we take some of the seed technology traits away some of those advantages go away and we don’t want to go backward in our production or sustainability.”
ASA Vice President Brad Doyle says growers need certainty when making on-farm decisions.
“We make plans sometimes a year in advance so whenever EPA starts to change labeling in the wintertime it can really offset our plan on what we’re going to have in our toolbox for next spring,” he says.
And, he tells Brownfield “crop protection products are what make us succeed on the farm. They help us control weeds, which cause competition and lower yields. We have insects that come through that start robbing yield and fungicide applications help us sustain yield and increase yield and healthier plants.”
Brownfield spoke to Scott and Doyle during Trade Talk at the 2021 NAFB Convention.
Banning Round Up is also science-based. It is a poison that will linger. We don’t need any more poison.
As the rest of the world gets ready to change to a more sustainable way of living, we’re going to need farmers with us. We are going to need to cultivate some of the best practices of grandparents, like mine, who were farmers.