• • • OMAFRA: the Some Good News About Glyphosate report
The value of glyphosate to the agriculture industry, the economy and the environment is getting a bad and uninformed wrap from critics, say two long-time experts in agronomy and pesticide regulation fields who have reviewed a mountain of data compiled by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) which shows just the opposite.
Various reports prepared by OMAFRA over the years show the use of glyphosate during the past 30 years — particularly with corn and soybean crops — has significantly helped to reduce the use of many other more toxic herbicides which benefits the environment, and helped to dramatically increase crop yields which benefits the agricultural economy. Along with that the Some Good News About Glyphosate report also cites Canadian and other international regulatory agencies that have determined that glyphosate does not pose any science-based measurable risk to human health.
While the report emphasizes that protecting the environment and human health is paramount, it doesn’t overlook the economic impact if glyphosate was ever to be removed the market. It notes estimates that if the world “ceased to grow genetically-modified herbicide-tolerant crops in the absence of glyphosate the annual loss of farm income would be $6.76 billion” along with substantial declines in soybean, corn and canola production.
