Spraying with glysophate before harvesting

I heard, during a sustainable farm discussion, that farmers spray crops (wheat, canola etc)  with glysophate (round up) to get it all brown in one go rather than waiting to crop to 'finish' naturally for harvest.

Does anyone know if that really is true - I mean common practice to do it this way.

man.......just wrote a huge response...now have to do it again.

I do not know if this is common practise-seems unlikely

What I do know about Roundup is from a recent study showing roundup stayed in the soil for up to 22 years in areas with hard water. This study was conducted because there was a very high incidence of kidney failure amungst the farm workers.

There are many colonies here that spray before harvest. Not on wheat or canola but definitely on Peas and Lentils, that way their crop all dies at once and they don't have green or wet in their harvest. What they spray with I am not certain, but it is something that kills it.

humans don't want to eat imperfect anything. So if you have some crop maturing at different times or lots of weeds in the field you have to spray the crop before harvesting. If you have weeds they will stain the crop making it not fit for the fussy consumer! So you can either bite the bullet and spray wait 5 days and harvest and get your crop off or take it off stained and it gets put to animal feed at a much reduced price. I don't think it is done too much with wheat as most guys underseed their wheat with red clover to help soil structure and increase nitrogen levels in the soil. IP soybeans (non GMO) however are a different story. Roundup has been around since since 1974.

I am thinking this is about efficiency. If the whole crop is dry and ready for harvest at once then you use less fossil fuel and time and yield a greater harvest.

Technically Glyphosate is rendered neutral and harmless when it dries. Not so sure about the other agents in the mixture.

I have seen it done on wheat also. Kill the weeds and wheat that is not done yet, so you can combine it before the snow flies again. Canola is sprayed all the time to control weeds, the canola is resistant to round up and lives through it..hence they call the modified plant "round up canola"

I wouldn't say it is common, but yes, it's not unheard of. Peas are typically dessicated before harvest, for example, but other crops are not normally dessicated before harvest. (So if you're designing a ration for your animals and you're scared of chemicals, don't use peas.)

Farmers who use a straight cut header on their combine also typically dessicate their crops so it can be straight cut while it stands rather than swathing it, waiting for it to dry, and then combining it the usual way.

It's a common practice to spray peas and lentils with glyphos.to dry down the crop for earlier and even drying,lately some have even started spraying durum wheat.One problem is glyphos affects the germ. of the crop,so other dessicants,more expensive are used so one can save the seed.

Oh my, I so appreciate that this can be discussed in a civilized, non- reactionary manner! I love you guys!

The main reason more crops are desiccated before harvest is to ripen it at the same time. If there is too much green In a crop it heats in the bin and destroys your grain. When it is desiccated it dries down evenly, quickly and it dries the weeds as well. Spraying has replaced swathing in wheat/barley applications so it can be straight cut. We use it to desiccate peas as it helps prevent the pods from popping open during harvest. It is used in canola applications mainly for killing perennial weeds in the fall. It is very commonplace on our farm and generally in commercial grain farming on the prairies.

Thanks for the information! All helpful

Schipperkesue wrote:Oh my, I so appreciate that this can be discussed in a civilized, non- reactionary manner!  I love you guys!

Yes. That. Very interested. xo

Cathyjk wrote:I heard, during a sustainable farm discussion, that farmers spray crops (wheat, canola etc)  with glysophate (round up) to get it all brown in one go rather than waiting to crop to 'finish' naturally for harvest.

Does anyone know if that really is true - I mean common practice to do it this way.

Yes, it is common practice    I got this information from my husband's aunt, they are huge farmers in southern SK.

It may be a regional thing as well. Here, dessicating crops is not the norm at all, but I definitely see more of it than I did when I moved here 14 years ago.

Fascinating. I always wonder about this while driving around the country. Thank you all for the education!

Interesting learned something new today

In my area desiccation with roundup is very common and even recommended by Alberta Agriculture and Rural development. It is a practice that used to be used here on this farm when my husbands grandparents still ran the farm. When we moved here we switched back to the old ways of swathing. The use of it is to make the crop mature at the same time. That way the farmer is not getting docked as heavily when they sell it. And the larger amount of mature seed, the better the pay. It also cuts down on labor costs and takes the issue of weather out of the equation for drying time of a swathed field.

For instance:

If you use round up to desiccate the field it takes about a week on average (depending on crop and temps) for it to all be mature, or dried effectively for harvest. During that time, it can rain (and frost) and not affect the maturity or quality.

If you swath a field you are cutting the stem of the plant (grain or legume) and it lays in piles on the ground. The lack of added nutrients forces the plant to quickly mature the head (seed). Now if you swath and it rains, it can cause a lot of trouble. You must flip it and hope that it does not rain again. Too much rain or even a heavy morning dew can cause mildew and mold to set in and ruin the crop. This method also takes about a week.

For some farmers it is a financial risk to swath it instead of desiccating it. It has been practiced in our area for around 10 years. It is used more by the larger farms then the smaller ones though.

As a side note. If you are worried about it, just buy your grain from a farmer and ask them when and if they spray. Just because they are not organic doesnt mean that they spray.

We choose to not desiccate our fields. However, we also do not usually sell to the elevator as is also common practice. If you have a wet spot in your field, that part matures later. If the crop is on the top of a knoll, it will be the first. We will and do have some green seed in our crop every year if we do not swath it.

Very definitely TRUE. They (whoever they are) say that no harmful residue stays in the finished product but I'll believe it when I see it. I've been in agriculture all my life and I just hate the way it's gone. Sorry to say, I'm in no position to grow my own grain anymore. I imagine it would be very hard to find grain that hasn't been sprayed with something. A friend of my son says they spray their crops 5 times during the summer for one thing and another.

confused wrote:I imagine it would be very hard to find grain that hasn't been sprayed with something.

Not really ... we have a bunch in our bin, and our renter often doesn't spray his crops ...