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Feltwad, I have been removed from British forums for expressing my views that clearly rub people up much like yourself the wrong way. The fact you and them get so upset is because I touch a nerve or even irritate a seered conscience. Every October the first I strive to get a pheasant to cook and every October the first you pop up to take a swipe at it or me or what ever.

You will have to help me with world wide acknowledgement. May be a link or two. But please, nothing as miserable as your example here. That is ofcourse that there is indeed no veil.

I'm afraid that at the moment I am only on one British forum.
Here is a link. No veil Feltwad.
https://www.thehuntinglife.com/forums/profile/109727-sausagedog/
I looked over the site you provided, pretty cool. Are silencers required in some places? Are they readily available to the average rifle hunter? Here, the government has very strict regulation of them. I guess they think its like the movies and it makes a 30-06 sound like blowing pea through a straw. Or maybe the hearing aid lobby make them hard to get. The most common word no used by hunters and shooters of my generation is what. Anyway, I enjoyed the site.
Robby
 
I looked over the site you provided, pretty cool. Are silencers required in some places? Are they readily available to the average rifle hunter? Here, the government has very strict regulation of them. I guess they think its like the movies and it makes a 30-06 sound like blowing pea through a straw. Or maybe the hearing aid lobby make them hard to get. The most common word no used by hunters and shooters of my generation is what. Anyway, I enjoyed the site.
Robby
Silencers or moderators are readily accepted and available yes.
Thanks.
 
Genuine question for French Colonial: Why is it now rare in my neighborhood to see a single honeybee, when certain trees used to be literally humming with them? My guess is the chemicals that so many of my neighbors use to control weeds and insects. And in the mostly barren farmlands I hunt, honey bees and song birds are few and far between. I I don't know how else to explain it, and assume the same chemical practices by typical large farms does the same thing up the food chain. And as a side note, I have a relative that shoots every hawk he can, just to keep a few chickens for eggs. It is a continual battle... But how can you fight against the flood of chemicals?
As a beekeeper myself, I think I've got a damn good idea of what the problem is! Though I reside in the corn belt, my farm is surrounded by woods, with the nearest conventional farm about 1/4 mile away (it's considerably more in other directions. I chose it for this very reason. A few years ago, I was being visited by other beekeepers who were curious as to why my bees didn't die like theirs always did. Then, my neighbor decided to put in conventional soy beans (which are treated with neonicotinoids as seeds, like most conventional crops nowadays). That winter, I had 85% mortality. The next fall, limping along with the remaining hive and a split I'd taken from it, both hives were gone in the fall (which is very unusual -- or used to be). The problem is the neonicotinoids, and US media aren't allowed to talk about it, because they're funded by corporate interests (neonics are made by Bayer).

I remember a while back reading of an entomologist who was scheduled to testify against Bayer in court regarding his findings on neonicotinoids and bee toxicity. Strangely enough, Bayer "hired" him just before his testimony, which he declined to go through with. The complete and utter corruption of our government and regulating agencies in this country makes my blood boil.

Bees are feeding on the same pollen and nectar as many of the other insects, many of which are eaten by birds. This manure is undoubtedly responsible for the insect eating bird dropoff as well.

I remember driving across the country to visit my grandparents in Illinois one summer. We had to clean the windshield of bug goo at every gas station we stopped at. I now live in the same agricultural region, and find that I'm actually surprised when a solitary bug splats on my windshield. It's never enough that I need to clean them off with anything more than the windshield wipers.
 
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As a beekeeper myself, I think I've got a damn good idea of what the problem is! Though I reside in the corn belt, my farm is surrounded by woods, with the nearest conventional farm about 1/4 mile away (it's considerably more in other directions. I chose it for this very reason (also because I don't think drinking water contaminated with Atrazine is a good idea for people who don't like breast or prostate cancer!). A few years ago, I was being visited by other beekeepers who were curious as to why my bees didn't die like theirs always did. Then, my neighbor decided to put in conventional soy beans (which are treated with neonicotinoids as seeds, like most conventional crops nowadays). That winter, I had 85% mortality. The next fall, limping along with the remaining hive and a split I'd taken from it, both hives were gone in the fall (which is very unusual -- or used to be). The problem is the neonicotinoids, and US media aren't allowed to talk about it, because they're funded by corporate interests (neonics are made by Bayer).

I remember a while back reading of an entomologist who was scheduled to testify against Bayer in court regarding his findings on neonicotinoids and bee toxicity. Strangely enough, Bayer "hired" him just before his testimony, which he declined to go through with. The complete and utter corruption of our government and regulating agencies in this country makes my blood boil.

Bees are feeding on the same pollen and nectar as many of the other insects, many of which are eaten by birds. This manure is undoubtedly responsible for that as well.
Neonicitinoids are banned in Europe and the UK now thank God.
I remember our bee colonies collapsing.
Things are improving slowly for bees and I found a wild colony this summer which was excellent to see.
Money, it does things to people that is beyond all sound reasoning!
 
I am going to plant some soybeans in my flower garden next year.... I can't seem to get rid of these damn honey bees that fly in to my shop while I am working.
 
Drivel and nonsense, Farmers in America are the best stewards of the soil that the world has ever seen. Do they farm as much land as possible to receive the best return on investment possible...Yes.

But the hawks, coyotes and even eagles have returned to the heartland and made it difficult for an introduced bird (pheasant) to survive along with loss of habitat. (They seem to be unaffected by the chemicals, why is that?)

It has NOTHING to do with petrochemical companies or chemicals. Do you really believe growers who are smart enough to be early adopters of drone technology, and auto-steer tractors before the auto industry used it in cars are so dumb that they spray products that might harm their children and grandchildren on their fields.

Soil fertility is better than it has ever been and Roundup (which another poster brought up) has NEVER been found to cause any harm in any SCIENTIFIC study. If you don't believe it quote the study that says otherwise.

Pheasants thrive in the Dakotas that grow tremendous amounts of wheat and use chemicals...WHY? Its all about habitat.

Off the soapbox now.

As a farmer myself, I call this complete and utter BS. And I don't say that lightly. I can point to unlimited cases of massive soil erosion where farmers were tilling soil for corn and beans (which are nearly the only crops grown in the midwest nowadays) on hilly ground that should never be subjected to tillage. The farm I purchased a while back (which was conventionally managed by a hog farmer) had 1.5% organic matter in the soil instead of what should've been 6% on a well managed farm. The recent spikes in the installations of center-pivot irrigation is a direct response made necessary by that loss of soil organic matter and fertility.

In the drought my region experienced in 2012, my un-irrigated corn, fertilized with manure, didn't curl up like that of my conventional neighbors. Why is that? Because organic matter retains moisture, unlike the chemical fertilizers used by my neighbors.

With that said, the deer and turkey populations here are just as vibrant as the pheasants of the Dakotas. The species which consume farm crops instead of insects are doing just fine despite the chemicals. Short lived animals don't need to worry about cancers the way humans do, and the mutations they experience are not as likely to be noticed. My farm (because I farm without chemicals) was sought out by people with health problems resulting from these chemicals and the nutrient-lacking food produced by industrial ag. I had one customer -- a conventional farmer-- explain to me how Atrazine was a *requirement* to compete successfully now due to glyphosate resistance. Not surprisingly, I later learned that his wife had breast cancer (their home was surrounded by the fields he worked, and their well undoubtedly contaminated by that very atrazine he had to use). I could go on an on and on, but I'll spare you the stories that all support this same conclusion. Cancer, learning disabilities, and birth defects run rampant here in the corn belt. It's no coincidence.
 
Drivel and nonsense, Farmers in America are the best stewards of the soil that the world has ever seen....

It has NOTHING to do with petrochemical companies or chemicals. Do you really believe growers who are smart enough to be early adopters of drone technology, and auto-steer tractors before the auto industry used it in cars are so dumb that they spray products that might harm their children and grandchildren on their fields.

I'm guessing you don't work in the healthcare industry. I would also guess you don't have much exposure to such families. Because I farm (ran a small dairy, also producing lamb/pork/beef/eggs) where I farmed without chemicals, I met these very same families after they had developed problems resulting from their or their neighbor's chemical use. One woman, dying of breast cancer, invited us to her living wake. Another (also cancer patient) inexplicably stopped coming to pick up her milk. When I called to inquire and offer a refund of her payments, she started crying and said she would have no need for the money any more. Yet another spoke of the breast cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes, which had to be removed. She had to put her arm in traction for an hour every night while her husband massaged it to keep her alive, and also spoke about the radiation therapy burning a hole through her chest that took months to heal. The link between atrazine (used on nearly all corn and many small grains) and breast cancer is irrefutable -- which is why it's banned in the home country of the manufacturer (Bayer/Germany). Not surprisingly, Bayer also manufactures the leading treatment for breast cancer -- a chemical which suppresses estrogen. Guess what? Atrazine is an estrogen-mimic. The make both the cause as well as the cure -- hell of a good business model, eh?

Another neighbor (wo leases his 80 acres to the same farmer who once farmed my ground) has had cancer as well. Also developed diabetes (atrazine affects the endocrine system and messes with metabolic processes). His next door neighbor's kid (home surrounded by conventional corn/soy ground)had serious learning disabilities. Another neighbor (whose farm has a chemical bill nearing 100k every year) has breast cancer. Yeah, no way these chemicals could possibly have anything to do with that. Those damn environmentalists just make all this manure up. Right.

To their credit, I fully understand why farmers continue to use such chemicals. They really don't have a choice aside from selling out. If you're running a legitimate business in a world where the competition is all flouting the law, you're going to be undermined because your business has costs theirs don't. Here in the US, fully captured regulatory agencies like the EPA work *for* Monsanto, Dupont, etc. They set the bar for what's allowed. If you're not taking advantage of what's allowable (despite the damage it causes), you're going out of business. It's as simple as that. I've spoken to numerous other (very smart) farmers who completely understand this.
 
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Do you know that everyone who has ever eaten a banana is going to die someday?
And even people who *don't* get shot in the head die sometimes. Therefore, getting shot in the head couldn't possibly be a cause of death, by your reasoning. Correlation isn't always causation, but causation always comes with correlation!
 
The average age of farmers in the USA is up in the last study continuing a long term trend.... Damn atrazine is just not doing it's job and killing off it's customers!
 
Nice bird. Its big enough to scare some dogs here!!. As for wild birds the population in California's central valley appears to have completely collapsed about 15 years ago. Went from getting my limit with my ML double to not even seeing a single road kill. As an environmental engineer I studied the issue and found multiple factors for the demise. Herbicides, elimination of habitat, human population, hunting pressure and poaching seem to be leading factors. Most of the land i hunted on are now subdivisions. Commercial farmers have almost eliminated rice checks and increased herbicides to boost production. Lastly one study found feral cats were another factor. Legal Hunter pressure went way ,way up and teams of immigrants would take anything including hens, egrets, hawks, doves ect. I personally had some serious confrontations with "teams" of Asian types as well. Usually one would have a single shot shotgun and others with a dead egret and such, No warden ever to be found . Carried some buckshot after that but it really drove me away. Pheasant hunting is now just a fond memory.
 
The average age of farmers in the USA is up in the last study continuing a long term trend.... Damn atrazine is just not doing it's job and killing off it's customers!
This metric also speaks to the fact that most of their kids see what it's done to their parents and want nothing to do with it. I know of multiple cases myself where this is what happened. Also, the "farmer" is oftentimes really just the owner, not the one actively farming. The actual farmers are more often than not hired Mexicans.
 
My Grandmothers Brother died of cancer due to direct chemical corn field run off going into there drinking water in Maryland and there was a big stink over it and the EPA stepped in and it made the papers and the news back in 2000. It was ugly….
 
Often wondered why escaped or birds not taken on release/hunts don’t repopulate an area. Our club hasn’t had a program in a decade or more but a popular enterprise in RI, Addieville East Farms has active hunts.
The only wild population is on Block Island.
Too many predators in the state in seems.
Our club used to distribute farmed pheasants to the members for release. We stopped because the farmed birds lack any semblance of survival instinct. They quickly fall to hawks, coyotes, foxes and anything else bigger and hungrier.
 
Repeat after me, its habitat, habitat, habitat

Corn, soybeans and wheat are not on the honeybees most favorite lists, wildflowers are. And yes, the farmers will plant on any field that used to be filled with wildflowers in order to grow more to survive in a business where its tough to survive if your the little guy.
Want more bees, plant your backyard with bee balm, purple coneflowers or marigolds. My front yard is teaming with bees attracted to my marigolds and coneflowers, to the point that I have to keep after them so they don't hive in spots I don't want them.

Its a shame there is not more wildflowers in the woods and meadows but that is the world we live in.
"Repeat after me its habitat,habitat,habitat"! There are no Pheasant in my part of the country but your statement rings true when applied to our Quail. When I was a boy I could walk the ditch banks and flush a covey of birds not so now? The farmers clean the ditch banks where Quail like to nest. It now is rare to see a covey due to the clean ditch banks.
 
My Grandmothers Brother died of cancer due to direct chemical corn field run off going into there drinking water in Maryland and there was a big stink over it and the EPA stepped in and it made the papers and the news back in 2000. It was ugly….
Glad you reminded me. Ag runoff in Calif is heavily polluted with herbicide and pesticides. Having tested rivers and groundwater for EPA we found astounding pollutant loads. Now that the homeless have destroyed even near pristine rivers like the American humans are getting "a taste of their own waste" -- literally. . Drought and low flows have made it far worse. I can see that any species dependent on ditch water is doomed. We may follow the pheasants.
 
One would think survival would be instinctive. The turkey, perhaps a smarter bird was restocked in a lot of states from hatchery stock. Although perhaps that stock was derived from wild birds initially.
 
I don't know what fantasy world that you find yourself living in, but claiming that farmers in the United States are the best stewards of their land on the planet is just nonsense.

When I was a kid, living in Baltimore City, on weekend family drives in the 1960's that my father & mother would take us on out into Baltimore County, Harford County, Cecil County, Anne Arundel County, Howard County, Frederick County, Queen Anne's County, Kent County, Prince George's County, and Montgomery County, Maryland; the predominant smell in the springtime would be that of dairy cattle manure, and horse manure that was spread on fields for fertilization.

You could stop by any field one could choose, dig down only a couple of inches into the soil, and find loads of earthworms, as well as smell the richness of the soil's life. It was, and still is to this very day, an unmistakable smell that I will to my dying day associate with nature's abundance, and GOD'S incredible gift to us as humans.

That soil richness is gone, killed off by the chemical fertilizers, but more importantly, by the vast array of poisons that any modern farmer that farms using the Green Revolution method of farming must utilize in order to have any chance of showing a profit at the end of his/her growing season.

I challenge any farmer in the United States to morally justify drenching the plants that they grow for human consumption, and their soils, with chemical poisons, 100% of which can trace their lineage directly to ZYKLON B, the poison discovered/invented as a result of the inhumane, nay should I say, evil research conducted by Nazi Germany so that they could murder millions of people.

Every single one of the hundreds of pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, and nematicides that are used on crops today have as their direct ancestor, ZYKLON B. Period.

I challenge any honest modern petrochemical farmer in the United States, your so-called stewards of their lands, to provide the members of this forum with substantiated written evidence of the carbon content of their soils. With at least 2 independent lab tests not performed by a state land grant university. Who, as far as I am concerned, are now, and have been for decades in collusion with the petrochemical companies.

I challenge any honest petrochemical farmer in the United States, to provide the members of this forum with a real time video of them driving a spade/shovel into one of their highly treated fields, and prove to us that the soil has any earthworms in it.

Anyone that has spent any time at all in recent decades knows that a honest petrochemical farmer in the United States simply cannot provide the evidence that I have asked for. The reason is that synthetic chemical compounds in the form of N-P-K, or nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium are toxic to soil life.

The flip side of the petrochemical coin is that any poison that is designed to kill a specific insect pest, plant disease, fungus, or weed competing with the cash crop; cannot help but kill off thousands of other organisms that comprise a healthy soil.

Modern day soils are nothing but chemically sterile environments, where the soil is nothing more than a medium that holds the chemicals in place until they can perform whatever job it is that they were designed to do.

Last, but not least, is that these so-called stewards of the land, by the use of incredibly poor farming practices, over the past 250 years, have allowed 90% of the topsoil that was present in North America before European settlers arrived on the continent; to be washed away into every major river system that drains into the Atlantic ocean, the Pacific ocean, each of the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence seaway, the Gulf of Mexico, the Chesapeake Bay, Puget Sound, and the Gulf of California.

The only way to restore the depleted soil's is to sustainably farm such as Joel Salatin does on his family's Polyface Farms. Sustainable farming, with hooved animals on constantly rotated pasture, is the only quick way of growing soil any faster than the thousands of years that it took to create the Great Plains of North America, the savannahs of Africa, the steppes of Asia, and the pampas of South America.

Salatin is not the only farmer/rancher in the United States that has rebuilt soils that were completely depleted decades ago.

There aren't many of these revolutionary farmers/ranchers out there now, probably only a hundred, or so. But, to a man/woman, they have proven, documented evidence that mob grazing on rich, biodiverse pastures using portable electric fencing, and with rotations of cattle, hogs, chickens, ducks, geese, guinea hens, turkeys, sheep, and goats can create new soil at an unprecedented rate.

These mob grazing farmers/ranchers are the true stewards of their lands, not the petrochemical farmers. The wild animals that inhabit these farms/ranches are some of the largest, and healthiest wild animals to be found in the United States.
This is Lancaster County, PA. Home to some of the richest soil and most productive farms in the country, if not the world. The Old Order Mennonites tend to moldboard plows and cow manure. Other farmers tend to no till with, maybe, an application of nitrogen early in the growing season. Here in the Southern end of the county the soil tends acidic so an application of lime is not unusual.
Insecticide use is unusual to rare. Rather people select their seed for resistance to the pests etc which they consider problematic. Even when China gifted us with vermin like the brown variegated stink bug you did not see any significant turn to pesticide use. Crop rotation is routine. Some even leave a field fallow under tillage radish for a season.
My biggest quarrel with farming practices here is that few leave adequate cover for wildlife. It is a function partly of the high cost of land here. A couple of acres of cover here and then none for several miles is almost useless. Some continuity is needed. The Amish would plow right up to the edge of the asphalt if they could get away with it and you will not see much of anything like cover on their farms. Maybe a shade tree at the house. More and more by my observation other farmers are leaving hedgerows which is a hopeful thing.
 
One would think survival would be instinctive. The turkey, perhaps a smarter bird was restocked in a lot of states from hatchery stock. Although perhaps that stock was derived from wild birds initially.
Turkeys were restocked successfully here with wild birds trapped elsewhere. The Midwest? Memory fails.
 
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