USDA No Longer Survey Pesticide Use

Herbicides Go Uncharted by Big AgriBusiness

When it comes to pesticides, herbicides, and the health and safety of our food supply, our environment, and our bodies, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is no longer taking a proactive approach. It announced it was no longer charting pesticide and herbicide use throughout the nation. This survey produces the only comprehensive data on the use of pesticides and herbicides in the United States and has made some very interesting (read disturbing) findings.

Proponents of genetically modified crops and the corporations that produce these crops have long argued that the use of these "miracles of science" would drastically reduce the use of pesticides and herbicides in agriculture. The development of Herbicide Tolerant (HT) crops, that is, crops that are resistant to specific herbicides such as Monsanto's Roundup, as well as Bt crops, which splice a gene from the microorganism into the crop to produce a toxin deadly to pests, was touted for its ability to reduce our reliance on dangerous chemicals.

However, the data from the USDA's survey on the use of pesticides and herbicides in the United States shows that these claims are not true. Although herbicide and pesticide use did decrease with the initial introduction of genetically modified crops in the 1990s, the new trend is for increased use of chemicals. This trend seems to be dramatically on the rise and primarily attributable to the natural development of weeds that are resistant to the specific herbicides used for HT and Bt crops.

Opponents of HT and Bt crops have long argued that the reliance on certain herbicides, such as Roundup and other glyphosates, would lead to the natural development of "super weeds" that were resistant to these chemicals. Resistant "super weeds," such as a new variety of johnsongrass has recently been discovered.

Without the data provided by the USDA, these disturbing trends may not have been uncovered. We have no other source of data in the United States that tracks the use of pesticides and herbicides on a national scale. Without the USDA survey, we are essentially turning a blind eye to the use of chemicals in American agriculture.

Now, the USDA claims that the agency cannot afford the $8 million that the survey cost. The USDA's total budget is only $160 million per year. While the USDA struggles to make ends meet, large corporations who produce genetically-modified crops and the chemicals used with them are recording tremendous profits.

In just one example, Monsanto, the producer of Roundup and "Roundup Ready" crops, reported that its quarterly net profit had tripled to $256 million with net sales of $2.1 billion. In this single quarter, net sales of Roundup and other glyphosate-based herbicides almost doubled from its previous year total of $649 million to over $1 billion. Nearly half of all Monsanto sales in this single quarter have been from Roundup and similar herbicides.

By pleading poor, the USDA is actually allowing these corporations to reap tremendous wealth at the expense of our health, the health of our environment, and the safety of our food supply.