How has the technology effected agriculture/farmers.

In many developing countries, farmers and farmworkers work in cotton fields with few if any safety precautions to protect them from pesticides. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, farmers in many developing countries use antiquated and dangerous pesticide application equipment, resulting in spills and poisonings. In Pakistan, one of the top five cotton producing countries, approximately 50% of applied pesticides are wasted due to poor spraying machinery and inappropriate application. A 1997 Danish television documentary showed methyl parathion being sprayed on cotton fields in Nicaragua and Guatemala while children played in and beside the fields. It also documented numerous cases of methyl parathion poisonings in cotton production. Pesticide poisoning remains a daily reality among agricultural workers in developing countries, where up to 14% of all occupational injuries in the agricultural sector and 10% of all fatal injuries can be attributed to pesticides.

Farmworkers are also threatened by hazardous pesticides in industrialized countries. In one study of pesticide illnesses in California, cotton ranked third among California crops for total number of worker illnesses caused by pesticides. In September 1996, approximately 250 farmworkers in California were accidentally sprayed with a mixture of highly toxic pesticides when a crop dusting plane applied the chemicals to a cotton field adjacent to a field where workers were harvesting grapes. Twenty-two workers were rushed to hospitals with symptoms of acute pesticide poisoning. According to the crop dusting company, the pilot was experienced and followed regulations. County officials stated that the chemicals are registered for use on cotton and that the duster was not required to notify workers in the grape field prior to spraying.
Fish killed by pesticide run-off: In 1995, pesticide-contaminated runoff from cotton fields killed at least 240,000 fish in Alabama. Shortly after farmers had applied pesticides containing endosulfan and methyl parathion to cotton fields, heavy rains washed them into the water. The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries stated that there was no indication that the pesticides were applied in an illegal manner.

Livestock: Meat and milk contaminated by pesticide-laden cotton straw. In 1994, Australian beef was found to be contaminated with the cotton insecticide Helix® (chlorfluazuron), most likely because cattle had been fed contaminated cotton straw. In response, several countries suspended beef imports from Australia. One year later, farmers were alarmed to discover that newborn calves were also contaminated with Helix, apparently because it was passed through their mother's milk. In a similar case, 23 farms in New South Wales and Queensland were placed in quarantine after inspectors discovered high levels of endosulfan in beef cattle, possibly due to endosulfan spray drift contaminating grazing land. Since 1987, Australian beef exporters have lost millions of dollars due to concerns about chemical contamination.

Birds: It has been estimated that pesticides unintentionally kill at least 67 million birds in the U.S. each year, and it�s likely they kill many more. Estimates of bird kills from pesticides are notoriously low because many birds remain hidden in brush, are carried away by scavengers or die away from treated areas where they won�t be counted. In one case, a breeding colony of laughing gulls near Corpus Christi, Texas, was devastated when methyl parathion was applied to cotton three miles away. More than 100 dead adults were found and 25% of the colony�s chicks were killed.