Imagine an invisible cloud of a cancer-causing weedkiller
drifting slowly across your state. Well, one just blew 100 miles
across California, from Merced County, nestled at the northern
tip of the Central Valley, as far south as Kern County (one
county stop before Los Angeles) according to farm press. When
drift happens (and it almost always does), farmers lose. Their
crops are damaged, often severely. And in this case, a
1,000-acre application of 2,4-D on pastureland on a hot, windy
day in June released the chemical onto its down-state journey,
damaging 15,000 acres of cotton and a young pomegranate orchard
along the way. If the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
approves Dow Chemical's suite of 2,4-D crops, we can expect a
massive increase in the use of this hazardous chemical and more
drift incidents are sure to follow. 2,4-D is an extremely
effective plant-killer: It can destroy grapes, almonds, and just
about any fruit, nut, timber, or vegetable crop that it comes in
contact with. And while you'll hea