Delta Farm Press recently covered this reaction. Those whole believe farming should remain in the stone age reacted predictably. Some even compared this technology to Agent Orange, a herbicide used in the Vietnam war and has been connected to cancer among vets.
Let's take a look at what Agent Orange was. It was a mix of two herbicides, 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T, with only the later associated with the negative impacts on health. According to studies done by the National Pesticide Information Center, 2,4-D has not been implicated in any relationships between pesticide exposure and subsequent disease.
Despite all that information being out there, a New York Times reporter mentioned the Agent Orange connection. This sent the anti GMO crowd into a frenzy. Some news websites have even called it Agent Orange technology.
Fortunately there is science to calm everyone down. Also, the USDA, EPA and farmers know better. My hope is rational eventually takes over. I understand peoples hesitance to this technology. But it's unfounded.
Will this bring farming back to the "good old days"? Where farmers could spray with impunity and no fear? Far from it. With all this new technology, farmers will have to make sure and spray properly and avoid as much drift as they can. They will need to communicate better with their neighbor farmers on what they're doing and vice versa.
There will be lots of eyes watching this new technology. And there are plenty of people out there who can't wait for something to go wrong.
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