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Within Rachel Carson鈥檚 book 鈥淪ilent Spring鈥� are haunting words about a place where birds cease to sing.

The cause behind the lack of singing birds was DDT, a chemical banned for agricultural use worldwide since 2001. DDT was developed as the first of the modern synthetic insecticides in the 1940s. It was initially used with great effect to combat malaria, typhus and the other insect-borne human diseases among both military and civilian populations, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It also was effective for insect control in crop and livestock production, institutions, homes and gardens.

Its use is still approved for indoor applications in the fight against malaria. It鈥檚 determined a greater cause to stop the spread of malaria than to stop the use of DDT in areas of Africa, where 94% of malaria cases continue. Speaking of malaria, World Malaria Day was on April 25. It鈥檚 a day to take notice that the disease claimed 608,000 lives in 2022 and 249 million new cases were reported that same year, according to the World Health Organization.

As the case with most things that seem too good to be true, there were and continue to be side effects to the use of DDT. Its broad use led to the development of resistance by many insect pest species. A relationship between DDT exposure and reproductive effects in humans was suspected, based on studies in animals. Some animals exposed to DDT in studies developed liver tumors. As a result, today, it is classified as a probable human carcinogen by U.S. and international authorities.

In a surprising turn of events in the spring of 2024, some 60 years after Carson wrote about not hearing birds in the spring, I was a little apprehensive about hearing an abundance of birds. That鈥檚 crazy coming from me, someone who normally looks for and marks the day of the returning snowbirds. This year it was Canada geese, sandhill cranes and wood ducks all returning over two days. Among our songbirds, we saw hundreds of redwing blackbirds join the ranks of finches, and the ever-present woodpeckers, nuthatches and chickadees in early April.

Let me tell you, there was nothing silent about this spring. I鈥檓 often awakened by the sounds of a multitude of birds and one morning the flocks of blackbirds were deafening. It was marvelous.

Michael Johnson / Agweek

I was apprehensive because we had just heard of in states like Texas and Arizona 鈥� it was infecting dairy cows. Not having livestock other than chickens, my main concern is the infection of our egg-laying and butcher chickens. So when big flocks started flying in from the south, I actually had some concerns about them getting too close to the chickens. I do not want to be one of the few operations reporting deaths this spring.

Now I know my little backyard flocks are of no comparison to the commercial flocks that surround us in west central Minnesota. To be in their boots must be awfully stressful. However, they have to take precautions I have no interest in taking. If my birds can't free range, I have no interest in having them.

Like much of the country, some of my early fears have subsided. One of the articles we published in Agweek, shared how one farmer was around her farm so birds would not hang around there. I can assure you, I am not going to be cutting our trees down to stop birds from coming around. I enjoy birds and trees very much. If I wanted to live in a place with no trees I鈥檇 pick up and move back to the Dakotas. Just kidding, I know you have trees out there. I planted some.

I hope we can continue to hear more about and its effect on other populations. Here at Agweek, we'll continue to report on it. We need to think long and hard about what鈥檚 worse when faced with troubles, not unlike the 鈥淲ould You Rather鈥� game my kids get me to play often.

Would you rather have trees and the possibility of a disease hitting your operation, or cut down all of your trees in the hopes it makes a difference?

Would you rather kill the insects spreading malaria and possibly become sick from DDT or not use it and quite possibly die from malaria? These are real-world questions that still persist today.

The right answer is often never the same for each person posed the question, and it may even change over time. Rachel Carson might offer advice from her book, 鈥淭he balance of nature is not a status quo; it is fluid, ever shifting, in a constant state of adjustment. Man, too, is part of this balance.鈥�

As for me, I'm pleased to hear the sounds of the birds singing, frogs peeping and kids laughing under the warm spring skies.