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RE: [compost_tea] alfalfa hay/meal added to soil is critter food?
I use
it and like it alot, but my wife is afraid of it for the same reason -- she is
afraid it is contaminated with pesticides. But neither of us has any hard
info on this. Here's what Dr. Randall (here in Houston, TX area) says in
his book "Year Round Vegetables, Fruits and Flowers for Metro Houston" about
cotton seed meal:
"Cottonseed meal is one of the best sources of nitrogen unless you have
the ability to acquire and compost large amounts of animal manure. Cotton
seed meal is 3-7 per cent nitrogen, about 2 % phosporous, and 1-2 per cent
potash, and these nutrients are gradually available as the meal rots. It
lasts 3-4 months or more and is a mild acidifier, which is good in
Houston.
"The
only major complaint with cottonseed meal is that pesticides and herbicides are
used in cotton production, and they are worse in fiber crops like cotton than
those used in food crops. Cotton is, unfortunately, the worst signle user
of pesticides in Texas, and is a main polluter, so many people prefer to boycott
industries that damage the environment.
---> "However, the seed is from inside a hull so has less contact with
sprays, it is sold as animal feed so probably does not contain significant heavy
metals, and most likely, any residues would not be in high enough percentages to
affect soil life or what grows in it. Arsenic has been banned from cotton
fields since 1993.
"On
the other hand, we wear a lot of cotton sprayed in the same fields, and it is a
local product. Most importantly, other nitrogen products such as bat
guano, fish and manure could also be contaminated because insects are sprayed,
seas are polluted, and food animals are sprayed. Thus, there are few if
any "purely organic" commercial fertilizers. Organic cotton is developing
rapidly in Texas, so organic cottonseed meal should be available in a few
years. So if you can, buy organic.
"You
can use 2 to 10 pounds cottonseed meal per 100 sq. ft. every 3 - 4 months.
There are about 3.5 measuring cups per pound, 175 cups per 50 # sack. 2 Tbs. per
square foot is usually enough."
Here
in Houston area you can buy 50 pound sacks for $8 or $9. What's
disheartening is to see the bi-planes dive-bombing over the cotton fields
here in Texas giving them a little spray of something. What a waste of
fuel and use of pesticides. They dive-bomb because they fly over telephone
lines, other people's property, other crops. They come in low to drop
their load. I'll bet they get down to 8 to 15 feet off the
ground, so that their gaseous discharge doesn't drift too far off mark.
Then they zoom up at the end of each row several hundred feet high into the sky
and then fly back and dive bomb again onto a low run. At one time
they used people to mark where the plane would spray next. I don't think
that is done any more. I'm sure someone like the EPA banned this stupid
idea.
Texas
is the leading producer of cotton. However, you'll see farms along the road that
grow crops along with cotton, such as sorghum, corn, rice...
in our area. Texas is the largest grower of cotton in the U.S. and it is
the largest agricultural field crop by dollar value (not counting animal
related) in the state totalling $1 to $1.6 billion of cotton sales, being 3
times that of corn and hay and 4 times that of wheat, sorghum, and
peanuts.
Here's
a run down on organic cotton production in Texas by the Ausin Business Journal:
"With 6,872 acres planted in 2002, the Lone Star State is by far the top
state for production of organic cotton, according to a new survey. New Mexico
was next with 589 acres, followed by California, 584; Arizona, 578; and
Missouri, 421, according to the survey, conducted by the Organic Trade
Association and financed by a grant from Cotton Inc. "
While
the newspaper points out that organic cotton is about 7,000 acres, total cotton
production in Texas is on 5,000,000 acres.
Five organophosphates (OP) make up 66% of all insecticide use and
carbamates consist of 11% of the
insecticides in Texas cotton.
Major insecticides include methyl parathion
(OP), malathion (OP), azinphos-methyl,
(Guthion-OP), profenofos (Curacron-OP),
aldicarb (Temik-carbamate), dicrotophos (Bidrin-OP), oxamyl
(Vydate-carbamate). Other insecticides include acephate (Orthene-OP), phorate
(Thimet-OP), and carbofuran (Furadan-carbamate). All planting seeds are treated with a fungicide to reduce seedling
diseases.
Trifluralin (Treflan) is applied to 48% or more of the
crop.
Plant Growth Regulators (PGR) modify plant growth to improve
production efficiency.
Ethephon (Prep and others) and mepiquat chloride
(Pix) are applied on ?? %
of the total acreage.
57% of the crop is treated with a harvest-aid chemical for earlier
harvest and to reduce late season insects.
Defoliants tribufos (DEF/Folex - an OP) and
thidiazuron (Dropp or Ginstar) are applied on 51% of the acreage in 24% of
applications.
12% of Texas cotton acreage is planted with Bt cotton. Bt cotton
is genetically altered to naturally
control the bollworm as the insect feeds on the plant.
Genetically-enhanced seed, such as Roundup Ready and Bt traits
help reduce the number and volume of
pesticides in cotton.
For latest information regarding these issues and status of risk
assessments contact j-anciso@tamu.edu or visit http://ipmwww.ncsu.edu/opmppiap and http://www.epa.gov/pesticides
Here's
two Texas organic cotton sites, you may want to send them emails with this
question:
"The cotton
used to make our products is grown without the use of synthetic fertilizers,
fungicides, herbicides, pesticides and defoliants." "A crop that is grown on about 2.2% of the world’s
currently cultivated land and used more than 10% of the world’s pesticides,
including almost 25% of the insecticides – about 35 different chemicals! Beware
of cotton products that claim to be "green" or "natural", they are still using
cotton grown with chemicals! If it is organic, it will say "Certified
Organic"
This
is a consortium of organic cotton growers.
Hope
this helps.
John
Dunbar
Yes, I keep hearing this, too, but I can't find
any hard evidence to back it up.
Paulette
-----Original
Message-----
From: Judi Stewart
[SMTP:js@olympus.net]
Sent: Friday, July 11,
2003 6:29 AM
To:
compost_tea@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE:
[compost_tea] alfalfa hay/meal added to soil is critter food?
I heard
that cotton is one of the most heavily
sprayed crops. That's why I'd
always refrained
from using cottonseed meal as a fertilizer.
Comments?
Judi
-----Original Message-----
From: Steve
Bridges [mailto:kimas@texasgrown.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2003 9:58
PM
To: compost_tea@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [compost_tea] alfalfa
hay/meal added to soil is critter
food?
There is an old farmer-type
gentlemen that shops at our nursery and he
uses
nothing but cottonseed
meal and his barn manure compost in his vegetable
garden. Nothing else. He
brings some of his veggies by to show them off
occassionally. Beautiful
produce!
Steve Bridges
----- Original Message -----
From: "George
and Paulette Mouchet" <geomouchet@QNET.COM
To:
<compost_tea@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2003 8:37
AM
Subject: [compost_tea] alfalfa hay/meal added to soil is critter
food?
I wasn't clear with my first question. Let me
rephrase:
If I apply alfalfa hay or alfalfa meal to the top inch or so of
the
soil
(as a fertilizer), is it going to be helpful to the soil
organisms? If
so, which organisms are most likely to be
helped?
What about adding cottonseed meal to the top inch or so of
soil?
Thanks,
Paulette
-----Original Message-----
From:
soilfoodweb@aol.com [SMTP:soilfoodweb@aol.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2003
12:54 AM
To: compost_tea@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [compost_tea]
alfalfa hay/meal bacterial food?
It's all relative. In some work we
have done, the cottonseed meal
helps
out fungi more than the alfalfa hay,
and meal.
In different conditions, the relative selection might be
different.
You
learn as you go.
Elaine
Ingham
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