Hmm. I grew up on lakewater, and have a well now. Seems clean enough

ya eat eggs from a poop eaters butt??

Id like to see that report. You probably get it tested for the basics, bacteria, pH, hardness, alkalinity.
I doubt you pony up the thousands of dollars it costs to have your water checked for Organics, Inorganics, Metals, Haloacetic Acids, Trihalomethanes (if you use bleach or Chlorine to disinfect it, which I hope you do), Cryptosporidium and Giardia (real gut busters), and a whole bunch more.
But hey well water is from the earth is clean, right. You do know the same water that was on this planet for millions of years is the water you drink, just recycled.

Next on tap to be tested, pharmaceuticals. We humans flush so much of them and injest them that they are showing up in ground water now, except well water of course.

On a serious note, make sure you properly disinfect your water.

There is distrust and dislike of the few and huge genetic companies that provide most of the genetics for the basic commodity crops worldwide and there is also many commenting on how they don't trust the organic growers or labels either. To me that must make life very miserable for those with that low of a trust level in human kind and the companies providing our goods and services. That creates an awful lot of isolation and moat building to protect one's self from the evil world that surrounds the non trusting individuals. That isolation and fear will only increase as the population continues to grow.

Bryce

Yes, just basic testing every couple of years. I've been drinking untreated well water all my life. I'm sixty and healthy. Why would I purposely introduce a chemical some studies link to cancer into it?

I understand the hydrological cycle, do you? If you do then you should understand that water on earth is not just "recycled." The water that ends up in the aquifer I draw mine from is purified by natural filtration and adsorption by soil particles and organic matter, living organism uptake of nutrients, and living organism decomposition processes in soil and water environments.

It's a pretty good filtration system, it's pretty old but not really prone to breakdowns or requiring replacement parts. No need to add salt all the time and it doesn't even use electric. Best part is it's free!

And I ride by a neighboring farm and watch Mr Taylor cultivate his organic soybeans on his 265 Massey. Which is full of Ethanol fuel. Think he does it for the market or the concept?

A 60'X600' broiler chicken house has 4 outdoor pens where the birds can go outside if they please (these houses contain roughly 40,000 chickens). Very few of the poultry go outside, why would they, the houses are tunnel ventilated around 76 degrees, its 90 degrees outside. These birds are marketed as "Free Range" in the grocery, price mark up. Free range huh?

Chicken manure can be applied to an organic corn field for a source of nitrogen. Is the chicken manure organic?

Food for thought

Manure coming from an animal with nothing added is considered organic.

Nitrogen is nitrogen. No matter where it comes from. The government now owns the word "organic", that way the rules can be broken by the biggest players.

Reminds me of the local growers who sell organic produce at the weekly market. When you drive by their operation you'll notice all their raised beds. Constructed out of treated lumber.

ol'dad

If they were truly certified organic, their certification agency would have seen that and pulled their certificate, period. You can not be certified without good records and on site visits.

So why do you need protective clothing and a gas mask to handle anhydrous, why does your 28% come with a hazmat sheet and the delivery truck is placarded as hazardous? Have yet to see one on a manure spreader.

This was a good read. Now I'm on my way out to spray 30 gallons. lol

you animal Hobbie.

That seems like a rhetorical question to me, as nitrogen is a gas in it's natural form, so it has to be tied up with some other elements in order to be applied, just like manure before it breaks down into carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen and a bunch of other trace elements that it is made up of.

Is this about semantics or was that a serious question ?

Glyphosate is a moderately toxic herbicide and carries the signal word WARNING on the label. Even though the LD50 values show the compound to be relatively non-toxic it can cause significant eye irritation. The toxicity of the technical product (glyphosate) and the formulated product (Roundup) is nearly the same. The acute oral LD50 in the rat is 5,600 mg/kg. Other oral LD50 values for glyphosate are 1,538 to greater than 10,000 mg/kg for mice, rabbits mg/kg, and goats.


LD50 for caffeine in rats......192 mgs/kg.

Spot on Bryce. Safest food supply in the world. I get a kick out of the left always telling us the intent of BIG Corporations is to kill there customers!

Glyphosate can irritate the eyes, nothing like a hot pepper. I have applied thousands of gallons and been around Roundup well before it was legal to use it. I just amazed that people fall for the scare tactic without at least doing some research of their own. You will believe California and the WHO but will not even look at the LD50 values. Mike

Organic lablkng has been corrupted by less than honest farmers round here. They plant x number of 'organic wheat', it gets about .5 bushels of wheat and 60 bushels of weed seed per acre. The farmer buys non krga ic wheat from the neighbor for a dollar or two above county prices and sells it as organic for above 12 dollars a bushel. Corn is a bit tougher to scam, as the Roundup shows up in testing, but they haul in a load of true organic for testing, then sprinkle a layer of organic on top of gmo loads and risk it. The price and profit make the risk worthwhile. It's a hush hush thing, but if you're a gmo farmer able to sell gmo corn or herbicided wheat, or non organic replacement dairy heifers to organic shysters it's best not to kill the golden goose. The rich suburban idiot women who pay more for organic get the placebo effect. Everyone wins.

One can buy conventionally raised heifers and then feed them an organic ration for 9 months and they will be considered organic producers for milk.
Too bad there are that many shysters. WI has the highest number of organic dairy producers and one of the largest organic coops in the country so we have a vested interest in keeping the credibility of organic at a high level. Cheating farmers are no different than huge companies that higher $1,000 per hour lobbiest lawyers to write the regs for the different agencies. The difference is that the cheating farmer is illegal and we accept the lobby lawyers as good business. No wonder we have huge societal issues, we point fingers at small producers fighting to gain 5% of market share and are oblivious to the workings of the big dogs in the game.
If we lose our commodity exports here we will have really low cost food for awhile until the production systems down size to fit the new markets.

Bryce

I have a problem with the testing parameters. Often times, I believe that those who become ill are not following the label directions! The label is the law! Round up is labeled for 2 ounces to 1 gallon of water. The label also requires that the user wear protective equipment. How many spray without protective gloves and wearing a short sleeved shirt and shorts? If someone is going to use any product, read the label and adhere to the guidelines! Personal responsibility is truly lacking these days!