I was just wondering if anyone is concerned about Monsanto and their genetically modified seed for food and hay and feed? I'm wondering what impact that would have on livestock. I'm aware that it could potentially be the cause of the rise in cancer rates in humans and other medical problems. Maybe most don't know about the GM seeds and this corporation?
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Hi Trish,
We are very concerned about it, and we go to a lot of trouble to avoid it when we can. I am lucky that I don't need to feed much if any hay, I have plenty of pasture for the animals.
Originally, we fed 100% organic, but the source I had quit providing it and shipping it is out of sight, financially. I am trying to organize a local co-op to order a pallet of organic feed from Countryside Organics, but so far not enough people are interested. We live in a very economically depressed area that is not very enlightened on these issues, to boot.
Our current solution is this: I mail order organic field peas from countryside organics (I got the idea because it is a protein source in their pre-made goat feed, which I had used in the past). Then, I buy oats, barley and BOSS locally and mix all 4 ingredients. When the girls are milking they get this, plus alfalfa pellets on the milk stand. The alfalfa I buy is Standlee Hay Company brand, which states on their website that it is non GMO. They are the only pellet producer I have found with that statement.
I feed my home grain mix to my goats and my chickens. The girls milked great on it last year, the chickens are moulting now but layed fine with that plus oyster shell for calcium.
My goats also have free choice sweetlix (non organic, and with GMO soy but they eat very little of it), free choice countryside healthy minerals which is organic kelp, and free choice baking soda. I also give copper boluses and Vt E & Sel when needed. I don't believe the hype that you HAVE to feed your animal this grain company's special formula or they will die.
I agree GMOs should have mandated labelling...it is up to us as consumers to go the extra mile to force the companies to give us what we want
oh boy I wasn't aware of the GM alfalfa. I watched documentary on Monsanto the corp. and how under handed they are. If a farmer has a crop and just (1) monsanto seed contaminates the farmer's crop, it is now Monsanto's under their patent and the farmer is SOL. Pretty sad. I'm wondering if just buying the pure non GMO seeds are going to be an option anymore for farmers. I know GM has been in existance since the 80's and ergo the increase of cancer and medical issues with humans..and wondering if it isn't the cause of the increase in those tumers dogs get on their bodies. Very sad situation indeed, but you are right, have to deal with the hand we are dealt. I don't even do sugar because of GM and the sucrose and hidden sugars...I think sugar is evil evil evil due to the processing. I think the FDA should mandate that labels show what foods are or have GM ingredients. Michelle Obama is way off track in changing the school lunch...that is not what is making our children fat, it's the sugar and GM and laziness.
I think most people on here are aware of this issue. Unless you are buying organic feed, your animals are consuming GM corn and other grain because 80-90% of most commodity crops are GM. There have been rodent studies where the rats died if they were eating GM foods, and I recall a pig study that showed high infertility in pigs that ate GM feeds. However, I'm not hearing about widespread infertility issues in the pork industry, and cattle are not dropping dead in the feedlots from eating GM grain, so I don't really know what to think of the studies. If GM grains were as lethal as some of these studies claim them to be, the meat industry would be dead in this country. I still don't like it, and I wish I had organic grain available to me closer than 300 miles, but we have to play the cards we're dealt. :( I no longer feed beet pulp because 90% of the sugar beet production in the US is GM. I do want to limit my goats' GM feed consumption as much as possible.
The GM alfalfa just came on the market this past year, so it's unlikely that a lot of the hay out there is GM so far. Alfalfa is a perennial, and I doubt farmers are going to rip it up and replant Round-up Ready alfalfa just for the heck of it, especially when few hay fields have weed problems. If there were any fields that needed replanting this year, however, they could be GMO. That's why it's good to deal directly with the farmer who produces the hay. At least you can ask them directly.