04/04/2026
Great write up by Farm Babe
Have you ever seen scary headlines on the internet before about how wheat is drenched in glyphosate?
Yeah... that's not how it works.
Meet farmer Joe. He just sprayed his wheat the day before we took this photo.
Joe farms about 2,000 acres in North Carolina, one of these crops being wheat. I toured his farm, along with several other wheat farms and spoke to many wheat growers and agronomists and they all had one thing in common:
They have NEVER sprayed glyphosate on wheat and don't know any wheat grower that's ever done that.
Now that's not to say it can't be done, but spraying glyphosate on wheat would be extremely, EXTREMELY rare. Wheat is not glyphosate tolerant so if you spray it, it kills it.
In rare instances in colder climates where the growing season is quite short, it may be done a week or two before harvest to get that last flush of weeds removed to make harvesting the crop easier. However it's important to understand the dose makes the poison of any chemical and herbicides affect enzymes found in plants, not mammals or insects. Wheat would be sprayed with glyphosate at a rate of around 12 ounces per acre, equivalent to about a beer cans worth on an area of land the size of a football field! The US wheat board estimates that less than 5% of wheat acreage would be sprayed with glyphosate. (Side note: also contrary to popular myths, oats are NEVER sprayed with glyphosate in the US)
How do wheat farmers manage weeds then?
Well, wheat is still a herbicide tolerant crop which is funny since all wheat is non-GMO. There are myths out there about GMOs being herbicide tolerant but plenty of non GMO crops have the same breeding characteristics and traits. It's all food companies and deceptive marketing, really.
So, herbicide. The minimal amount used will shock you! Joe uses a whopping HALF OUNCE of "Harmony" herbicide per acre. A half ounce. That's it!! And he only sprays once a year! He may not even spray at all if the weather is rainy... herbicide use is only used by farmers if the weather conditions are right, and all US farmers are required to carry certifications, licenses, and go through training to apply any farm chemical.
It's funny... there are plenty of farmers out there (myself included) who are not certified organic but never use any pesticides. We are oat and hay farmers, and haven't had to spray anything on these crops in years. Joe may not have to spray either. But we will if we need to based on weeds or disease/insect pressure. Any farmer wants to avoid spraying chemicals if we can. They're expensive and time consuming to apply but sometimes it's necessary to use them to protect our crops, or else up to 40% of the worlds food production would be lost.
Anyway, the moral of the story is... don't believe everything you read on the internet and always go to the source. Farmers are real people, so just ask them about what they do!
Eat a healthy diet of whole grains, lean proteins, whole fruits and veggies. Avoiding processed foods is common sense, or consume "junk food" in moderation. But avoiding certain foods based on internet myths is the real "junk."
