GMO Grass Suspected to have Killed Cows in Texas USA
Outright scary stuff! Killer GMO grass? Whatever happened to the sanctity of “grass fed” beef? Now that we know that “grass” is also GMO? Why in the first place plant GMO grass? Have all these farmers gone insane? 15 out of 18 cows killed in a few hours of eating the GMO grass? Is this a horror movie? Or something much worse? The farmer says he has been planting GMO grass for 15 years!
So now I understand. The next time you ask if your beef or lamb is grass fed, also ask if the grass is organic.
And this is another reason why I tend to ignore American beef on display in the supermarket. Many of these American farmers are rumored to have abhorrent practices in their beef production so some are banned in Europe. I rather trust New Zealand beef and have bought some New Zealand beef and lamb… I assume they are grass fed and that New Zealand grass is not GMO.
The beef I trust most is our local Philippine beef because our animal husbandry is so primitive, we let nature do the animal raising for us. Let cattle graze in farm land or rolling hills. Fence. And guard. That is it.
THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 2012
Potential Toxicity Issues with Tifton 85 Bermudagrass
From Dr. Larry Redmon, Extension Forage Specialist:Recently, 15 head of Corriente roping calves died as a result of prussic acid poisoning in Bastrop cattle in a clean field of Tifton 85 bermudagrass. While this has never been reported before, results of analyses of rumen contents and the fresh forage confirmed death was due to prussic acid poisoning. Forage specialists and researchers here and the vet diagnostic lab at first denied the possibility of this. Even the researchers and breeders at USDA-ARS – Tifton, GA, doubted the findings, but after multiple site visits, multiple forage analyses, and DNA analysis of plants from several fields from several environments across Texas, we can come to only one conclusion – the death of the cattle was indeed due to prussic acid poisoning.
From http://haysagriculture.blogspot.ca/2012/06/potential-toxicity-issues-with-tifton.html
and
A form of genetically modified grass is being cited as the likely culprit in the sudden death of a herd of cattle in Central Texas, according to CBS News.
Preliminary tests revealed that the grass, an altered form of Bermuda grass known as Tifton 85, had mysteriously begun producing cyanide gas. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture are conducting further tests to determine if some sort of mutation caused the grass to suddenly begin giving off the deadly gas.
The cattle died roughly three weeks ago while grazing on a ranch in Elgin, Texas, about 20 miles east of Austin. According to the ranch’s owner, Jerry Abel, the cattle began howling shortly after being let out to graze one day. Fifteen of his eighteen cattle died, all of them in a matter of hours