Dave Mayonado: Ag industry and chemicals

You’ve probably heard about Monsanto or one of its products called “Round Up” also known as glyphosate. Dave Mayonado came and talked to our class about the ag chemical industry and some of its misconceptions. Dave works for Monsanto which was recently purchased by Bayer, a German chemical company which has products such as Aleve and Claritin. Like most chemical companies they make ag products too. Monsanto was a small company that was a leader in the industry with products such as Round Up. Round Up also known as Glyphosate is one of the most used herbicides. It is a non-selective post emergence herbicide that the media likes to bash and accuse non-organic farmers of using to poison the food supply which couldn’t be further from the truth. All ag chemicals are thoroughly tested before getting approved to be used. For the example of round up it disrupts a process that is only found in plants that kills the plants. Chemical ag products allow for higher yields in less space, grown more efficiently.

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