[Jacob-list] permethrin

[Betty Berlenbach]

Seems to me permethrin is made from pyrethrum (sp?: painted daisies).  For years I've tried to grow enough painted daisies to ground up the plants as wormer, but never can seem to keep them alive.  I thought it was somehow made directly from the plants, but perhaps it is some chemical combination which resembles the painted daisy...No idea.

As for the "organic" thing: it depends on whom you ask.  I think the federal description of organic allows you to use hay from soil that has been chemically treated, and possibly even chemically weeded, saying it's a sort of third generation: SOIL is treated, not hay, then hay consumed by animals, so the idea, I guess is that that dual "processing" by two different living organisms "cleans" it, like a water treatment plant.  I'm not sure I agree.  I would never call my sheep organic if the hay they got was chemically fertilized.  It is difficult to get hay that is not from fertilized fields, simply because to make any money at hay, they have to get a certain amount of hay per acre, and building it up with organic fertilizer takes time, too much time for most, I guess.  I use organic fertilizer on my fields.  It doesn't immediately turn the grass green like chemical fertilizers...just the next year it comes in a little thicker.  Over the years, it has improved the pasture and balanced it to the point where I am no longer getting three times as many ewe lambs as ram lambs, BUT the up side is, the pasture supports them all and I don't have to farm them out around town to get them enough nourishment.  There's always a trade-off.  Lousy, lime-challenged fields do seem to produce ewe lambs, that's for sure, at least up here...not sure what the exact combination is but it works.
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