As a mom myself, I completely and wholeheartedly understand the emotional, mental, and physical struggle that is raising our sweet babies. We spend 99.9% of our days questioning everything! Is my kid sleeping enough, eating enough, are his emotional needs being met, is he developing as he should be…. I could go on and on. And one of the biggest concerns I continually see is: is the food I am feeding my kids safe? And I get it, as a parent, I don’t want to intentionally or unintentionally feed my son something that may harm him.
There has been a lot of information in the news lately about glyphosate. But many of you probably know it as Roundup. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in the brand name herbicide Roundup, although glyphosate is also found in many other generic herbicides as well. We use glyphosate on our farm and in fact, it is a tool that many farmers across the country keep in their toolboxes as well. If you’ve read my posts before, you know I strive for truth and honesty. There is nothing in our production methods I want to hide.
So as a mom, farmer, and consumer, I wanted to share a few things in regards to my thoughts on glyphosate and the overall safety of our food, especially in things like Cheerios, which are a favorite of our son Levi.
FARMING IS NOT ONE SIZE FITS ALL
A lot of the information about glyphosate that is often shared makes blanket statements about farming and the practices of farming operations when it comes to the production of our food. Unfortunately, trying to lump all farming practices in one category doesn’t help the credibility we are trying to establish as farmers. Farming is not black and white, farming is not one size fits all, and there are no absolutes in farming. Farming can vary greatly depending on the region, soil, climate, crop variety, etc. And it becomes a problem when we try and make blanket statements about all farming practices. There is one thing that I can say, pretty confidently, that is widespread in farming though. And that is as farmers, we do our best to follow safe practices for our farms, ensure we aren’t breaking the law, reading chemical labels. We are constantly scrutinizing our choices for productive, safe, sustainable, and profitable decisions. And let me tell you, it isn’t an easy process for any farm.
One of the (often controversial) practices that we do in relation to glyphosate on our farm is pre-harvesting our wheat with glyphosate. We’ve grown wheat on our farm since it began with my husband’s grandfather. However, our production methods have changed with the advent of things like glyphosate and it being labeled for pre-harvest on wheat. Pre-harvesting wheat with glyphosate isn’t a widespread practice throughout the United States. In fact, it is a very regional and limited practice. There is only a small sector and region of wheat production that practices this: mainly North Dakota, small parts of South Dakota, and parts of Canada. As I said above, farming isn’t one size fits all. For each different variety of wheat whether it be durum wheat, hard red spring wheat, or even soft red winter wheat, there are different production methods for each one. If you want to learn more about why we do this and the safety of it, you can visit a post I wrote called the Truth about Toxic Wheat.
HOW DOES GLYPHOSATE WORK?
Much like you take steps in your garden to keep your plants free from pests and disease, farmers utilize protection products (herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, etc.) to help control the thousands of weed species, harmful insects, and plant diseases that can afflict crops. Whether organic or conventional, farmers face these challenges each growing season. In order to understand how and why certain crop protection products are used like glyphosate, it is important to understand the science behind how and why they work. Pesticides can work in many different ways by affecting their target, whether it be a weed, pest, or disease. These are called “modes of action” and it is typically through these modes of actions that pesticides are classified.
Glyphosate is considered an herbicide. And it works by inhibiting a specific enzyme that plants need in order to grow called EPSP synthase. This pathway is present in algae, higher plants, bacteria, and fungi, but is absent in mammals including humans, fish, birds, reptiles, and insects. Without that enzyme, plants are unable to produce other proteins essential to growth, so they will yellow and die over the course of several days up to a week. Glyphosate is tested and labeled at an extremely low level of toxicity, even in comparison to household items like salt or vinegar. Check out this post here about LD50 ratings and how household items like vinegar, salt, caffeine, and Advil all have a much higher LD50 rating than glyphosate. And here is a great article that does in depth about the toxicity and lethal dosage of salt, vinegar, and glyphosate.
Glyphosate is a non-selective herbicide, meaning it will kill most plants that it comes in contact with when it is applied to the leaves of broadleaf plants or grasses. However, glyphosate binds tightly to soil particles and doesn’t move on or in the soil much to affect untreated plants nearby – it requires actual contact with the foliage in order to work. Glyphosate also has a very low residual meaning that it can break down quickly especially when exposed to water and sunlight, depending on the climate and the type of soil it is in. Depending on the soil and other environmental conditions, glyphosate may be present for a range of 2 to 200 days, but the average is for about 47 days. However, it is inactive for the vast majority of the time it is present in the soil. In order for glyphosate to be active as an herbicide, it has to enter the plant via contact with the plant and since glyphosate binds very tightly to soil particles, this renders it mostly inactive.
CROP PROTECTION PRODUCT LABELS & USAGE
As with any chemical we use on our farm, it has a label that gives us extensive information about how to use the chemical. This label is not simply a suggested use guide; it is indeed a federal and civil regulation under FIFRA (Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act) through the EPA. There is a lot of information found on the label of any crop protection product (even your household ones too!) Some common things that can be found: all the ingredients and percentages of active ingredients, any hazards whether it be to humans or environmental, storage and disposal, mixing instructions, application requirements, and what crops the product is approved for usage. Here is the label for Roundup Powermax.
All chemicals we use on the farm are required to be registered through the EPA. This registration requires studies to be conducted to establish the conditions in which the chemical is safe to use and that the product does not pose adverse effects to humans or the environment. An applicant will have to prove that the pesticide active ingredient will not cause unreasonable adverse effects on human health and the environment. An unreasonable adverse effect is defined as: (1) any risk that is unreasonable to man or the environment that takes social, economic, and environmental costs as well as benefits into consideration and (2) any dietary risk that could be the result of a pesticide. In addition to the EPA regulations required to be met, the USDA and FDA set standards for the level of pesticide residue that is allowed on or in crops for that particular chemical.
Another important part of the information found on the label is the intervals set after the use to allow this break down of the herbicide in the plant. If a field of wheat is sprayed with glyphosate to further dry it out/kill it for harvest much as we do on our farm, the label requires a PHI (pre-harvest interval) meaning you have to allow a minimum of 7 days between application and harvest. It also requires that we do not apply more than 22 fluid ounces of this product per acre (43,560 square feet) for a pre-harvest wheat application. And I stated before, these are not just “suggestions”, these are labeled requirements and restrictions that must be followed by law.
AT THE END OF THE DAY, WE ALL WANT TO FEEL CONFIDENT IN OUR CHOICES
At the end of the day, I accept and promote all thoughts and conversations and you do whatever it is that you need to do in order to feel confident in your choices. I share not because I want to force anyone into my thinking, but because I want to make sure people understand the science behind these claims. And ultimately, I don’t want anyone to be promoting unnecessary fear, especially in mothers!
I want moms to feel empowered and confident in whatever they choose to feed their families, especially products that we grow on our farm!! And I hope that through posts like these I can foster that kind of confidence and open conversation. No mom should feel horrible about feeding their child something like Cheerios because of concerns about glyphosate, after all, they are a staple in our house with our toddler. And pretty regularly eaten off the floor of our kitchen too.
If you have any questions or want to chat about this, I’m here. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me, but please keep it kind and constructive. We don’t need any more keyboard warriors in this world. We are all people and for those of us who are parents, we are just doing our best to keep our kids healthy, happy, and thriving – all while maintaining our sanity.
LINKED & ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
- Glyphosate Use and Cancer Incidence in the Agricultural Health Study
- 17 Questions about Glyphosate from a Cell Biologist & Mom
- A Letter to Consumers from a Farmer Who Uses Glyphosate
- The Truth about Toxic Wheat
- Glyphosate Toxicity
- Salt, Vinegar, & Glyphosate
- How Many Days is Glyphosate Active in Soil?
- Why Do Farmers Apply Pesticides?
- Should You Worry about Herbicides in Your Food?
- I’m a Human, A Mom, A Farmer, & A Consumer
Thank you for your informative post. I use Roundup on our small (10 acres) property, and have for many years. I’d be lost without it. 🙂
Author
Thank you! <3
Thanks for this post Jenny! Your “Truth About Toxic Wheat Post” is also an article I love and continue to use as a reference since you wrote it. This article was spot on as well! This is a topic I am also very passionate about and I am grateful for those like you who publicly share the information on how/why these chemicals are used for our crops. I appreciate that your aim is transparency which is so much more educational than so many who simply spread fear about this topic when they don’t fully understand it.
Author
Thank you! I am so glad I can be a resource for you and for many! It is absolutely a goal in sharing these types of things.