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Comment by skellington | Hacker News Reader

Yeah but at least they're also destroying the soil to grow all that shit Monsanto roundup-ready corn/soy/alfalfa/etc. for no profit and as an added bonus they get to kill all those pesky insects and bees!

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No-till agriculture that uses herbicides to keep the weeds under control is better for the soil.

Generally round up and similar things require less overall pesticide compared to normal crops

That's a fact that sounds like a good thing, but could just as well be a bad thing. Why does it take less of it, and does that impact the environment downstream less?

It requires less because it’s a broad spectrum herbicide but the crops tolerate it. You don’t need much so not very much runs off. Needing to do multiple applications of multiple types of herbicide is definitely going to cause more runoff and more downstream effects.

I'm not a big fan of Roundup (I say send kids through the field cutting weeds with a bean hook like I did growing up; it builds character), but they have a legit argument that spraying post-emergence causes less runoff than tilling weeds under before planting, so you retain more soil and have less chemicals running into waterways.

> to grow all that shit Monsanto roundup-ready corn/soy/alfalfa/etc.

Corn and soybean seed generally has a viable period of around 2-3 years. Monsanto hasn't been in business for seven years now. Who, exactly, do you think stored their seed for so long and is now planting all that 7+ year old seed which, at this point, has a low chance of germination?

Don't play the fool, Monsanto's ghoulish soul is operating at peak influence under a different name

Better burn some witches just to be safe, right?

Do not underestimate the power of Monsanto Derangement Syndrome. To its faithful, anything is possible.

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