Why Do Farmers Use Pesticides? First, let’s define “pesticides”: Pesticides are “chemical substances used to prevent, destroy, repel or mitigate any pest ranging from insects (i.e., insecticides), rodents (i.e., rodenticides) and weeds (herbicides) to microorganisms (i.e., algicides, fungicides or bactericides).”  (source) Farmers can combat pests in many ways: staggered harvest schedules with long-short intervals, harvesting…