Franken Weeds

The mass poisoning of agricultural lands with glyphosate, pesticides and chemical herbicides has resulted in the rise of aggressive "superweeds" that are taking over farms and causing productivity to plummet in many fields. As Nature.com now reports: (3) Palmer pigweed can reach more than 2.5 meters tall, grow more than 6 centimeters a day, produce 600,000 seeds and has a tough, woody stem that can wreck farm equipment that tries to uproot it. It is also becoming more and more resistant to the popular herbicide glyphosate. The solution to this, according to chemical herbicide manufacturers, is to start spraying fields with three, four or even FIVE herbicides all at the same time, "layering" different chemicals onto the resistant superweeds. This approach is, of course, headed for catastrophe. Just as doctors have learned in the age of antibiotic-resistant superbugs, the more chemicals you use, the worse the resistance becomes. Before long, you've turned America's farms into Frankenweed factories that churn out megatons of weeds, but less edible food.