Compliments of Monsanto "Roundup Ready" Pigweed - Weeds take root in crops, climate change, cuisine - CBS News

Compliments of Monsanto "Roundup Ready" Pigweed

"In 2012, we confirmed it in 76 Georgia counties, so we went from 500 acres to well over 2 million acres," Culpepper said.

How did it happen?

Ever hear of Roundup, yup that stuff that's advertised on TV.

Roundup, the commercial name for an herbicide called glyphosate, was marketed to farmers as a miracle weed killer. Monsanto, its manufacturer, genetically engineered cotton and soybean seeds so they were Roundup-resistant.

"Roundup used to be just a cure-all for everything," said farmer Harold Johnson.

Johnson farms 1,000 acres in Macon and neighboring Dooly counties. All he had to do was spray on Roundup. His Roundup-resistant crops lived. The pigweed died - until it didn't.

"Just all of a sudden, they would lay down, and then they'd stand right back up, and then it got to the point where they wouldn't even lay down," Johnson said.

The pigweed had genetically engineered itself and become Roundup-resistant too.

Now here's the terrifying part.

"This plant's gonna produce in excess of 500,000 seeds, one female plant," said Culpepper, "and if it survives, it produces a half-a-million seeds."

Desperate growers have deployed their own army against their enemy, like footsoldiers from another century, to hand-weed huge fields. And Dr. Pigweed has a warning.

"This plant has absolutely adapted to everything that we have done so far," Culpepper said.

Related Links:
http://hines.blogspot.com/2012/08/8-reasons-not-to-trust-monsanto-with.html