Organic Weed Patch Farm

[bobm]

On this evening's TV News... A large organic wheat farm in Oregon has been sited by Federal and State Agriculture Officials for the last 2 years to erradicate invading nocious weeds. The organic farmer stated that he has tried of control the weeds but he can't get rid of them with herbicides or he will loose his organic designation. These weeds are now invading adjoining farms causing economic harm to the neighbors and beyond. This farmer ships wheat all over the US, so the Federal Officials have given notice to the farmer to destroy the weeds within 30 days or they will come and spray herbicides on this farm.

 

[Collector]

Sounds like he/she is in a real pickle for sure. I remember being a young kid on the farm, one of the jobs we did was chopping thistles . The job was exactly as it sounds. Take a hand scythe go out in the wheat/ barley/ oat/ lentil/pea fields and chop thistles all day before they went to seed. Talk about a hot dusty sweaty job. Lots of good memories of cousins and bros out in the fields back then though.

 

[Smart Red]

Been there, Collecltor. An invasion of thistles from a neighboring farm took years to eradicate by hand but it can be done, of course we only had 30 acres to clean.

 

[canesisters]

Is this Azure Standard?
I've bought from them a few times. Great catalog and customer service.
I hate to see them be forced to 'contaminate' their entire farms. Since I first heard this, I've wondered why they can't just do a burn around the edges - maybe 50' or so? Wouldn't that stop the weed spread? And they would still have most of their fields.

 

[seedcorn]

Spraying perimeter won't help. He let it get out of control, pay the cost. I'm sure he could spray something and the organic community would let him be as they allow GMO products to be fed. Don't use a residual herbicide and he probably wouldn't even tell them.

 

[bobm]

One of my neighbors came over at noon today. She watched the news on another channel and mentioned the organic wheat farmer's story. She said that the reporter said that the farm in question was 2,000 acres. I guess that the farmer and a few hundred farm workers could be hoeing untill he** freezes over if he wants to keep his organic moniker. No wonder the Feds will be spraying this property within 30 days.

 

[Beekissed]

Why not just let the neighbors keep dousing their fields with the herbicides they always use to keep down weeds and leave this guy be? They are going to use herbicides anyway to control their own weeds, so just keep on keepin' on.

Weeds be happening whether they are on his farm or even on the verge of the road, in the woods, in the parks, etc.

 

[seedcorn]

Reason-if he would control his weeds, others wouldn't have to use as much herbicide or any at all. He is the neighborhood problem. We have one of those in our area as well-and he isn't an organic but just a poor excuse for a farmer

 

[bobm]

Bee, the issue is INVASIVE weeds and him selling his crop all over this country . The weed seeds would invariably end up in your or anyone's garden at any point in time.

 

[Beekissed]

That's pretty standard where I live, so I just don't get the big deal of it all. No one uses herbicides in their hay around here, so any weeds that get baled up in those bales travel all over the land. No one gets their panties in a twist over it all, as weeds have been around since creation and you just deal with them.

Not sure what other crop one could sell all over the country that would carry weed seeds in it and then get planted in one's garden? They have seed cleaner operations that remove such things from grain crops and such.