Posted 5/28/2023 04:22 (#10246395 - in reply to #10246373) Subject: RE: Hoeing organic corn?
De Forest, WI
Big Ben - 5/27/2023 23:59
pigshephard - 5/27/2023 21:41
Dumb question but can you irrigate organic crops?
Yes.
Personally I don’t think they should be allowed to irrigate from surface water sources that are treated for aquatic weed control, but as is typical in organics, what the consumer doesn’t know won’t hurt them.
I would be willing to bet a lot of irrigation is pivots from wells. Traveling guns I have seen that use surface water are pumping from rivers or creeks with enough moving water that controlling growth in the water is a non-issue.
Whether they have rights to pump said water, well, a lot don’t ask and don’t tell until someone has an issue. Any way, I would be more concerned about what is ANY surface water unless it is spring fed and you’re very close to the spring and ground water contamination is not an issue.
Lots of surface water is showing PFAS contamination to various degrees. In Wisconsin some dairies that took biosolids from the city have had to dump their milk as the PFAS contamination in the bio solids was taken up by the crop they were fed and got into the milk. Some of it was 100 times over the legal limit. Theory is run off that hit the sewers went to ware treatment. It can not be removed from the bio solids apparently.
Anywho, using surface water is cheap and may be available, but you have to be sure that it is clean enough to actually use. Society is very slow to recognize the downsides of using so many made made chems that don’t biodegrade. There are even fish advisories for some of the lakes in Madison, WI. Limit consumption due to PFAS contamination. The lakes are fed by many of the surrounding tributaries that carry these chems from surrounding communities.
Hoeing organic corn?
