I am sad to report that my long-time non-GMO activist friend Ronnie Cummins has passed. He started educating people on GMOs back in 1992 and was a leader of so many important organizations and movements over the years, including the powerhouse Organic Consumers Association.
I treasured Ronnie’s company at WTO meetings, food conferences and strategy sessions over three decades. He and I first met in October, 1997, when he was running the Pure Food Campaign. Standing in front of a wall of TV cameras outside the Chicago Board of Trade, Ronnie and others dumped bags of GMO soy and corn onto the sidewalk.
This was just one of so many colorful, imaginative and highly effective methods of getting the word out and rallying support that Ronnie had his hands in. He was a powerful global figure in our space.
Thank you, Ronnie, for making our world healthier, and for inspiring us to stand in our power.
Jeffrey Smith
One thing that Dr. Dan Skow taught in the 1980s is to feed the ground liquid fish and molasses. The fish is for protein and the molasses is for sugar (molasses has a buffer). For best results, do a soil test that calls for this and follow it. Do not use more than three gallons of molasses/acre without a soil test. You can use six gallons of liquid fish/acre.
This method can be used to feed the bacteria in the ground and then you can produce a much sweeter crop. You can also have much fewer weeds.
Chris Dietrich
Elmore, Ohio
First, let me say that since you have brought John Kempf on staff, you have made Aces U.S.A. one of the best, if not the best, farm magazines around.
However, in the May issue, you ran an article on soil testing in which I feel that you have taken a step backwards. The article talks about the different “extracts” that laboratories use to extract nutrients from soil samples. Granted, for a long time, that is the only method we had available. I wonder how many farmers use those same “extracts” in their fields to make those nutrients available to their crops?
A little over a decade ago, Rick and Liz Haney developed a soil test that mimics nature in the way that nature releases nutrients, by using water instead of “extracts.” The Haney test also gives you a reading on how active your soil biology is, soil respiration, water-extractable organic carbon and microbially active carbon. I would think that your magazine should be promoting the use of the Haney test instead, along with the PLFA and the BeCrop soil tests. The PLFA test has been around for at least a decade, while the BeCrop is brand new, at least to my knowledge.
Wendell Zimmerman
