Another GMO thread

[galanie]

I saw this video today of Dr. Don Huber, Professor Emeritus of Plant Pathology, Purdue University, discuss lowered manganese and other nutrients plus reduced fertility in animals (including poultry) who are fed crops raised with Roundup. Of course only GMO crops can be raised this way, so I guess this makes it a GMO problem. There is also a marked increase in plant disease in said crops. The video is long (about 20 minutes) and very informative and Dr. Huber explains why these things happen. I'm sure most people here concerned about GMO feed already know this stuff but I found it very interesting and it answered some questions I have about the safety of GMO feed and food.

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

Quote:
I have a great amount of respect for Dr. Huber's agronomy research and his miliatry service. However, the most recent statements and claims have been made without substantiation. For instance his claim of miscarriages in cattle being caused by a new organism which is found in RR crops is made with no data only conjecture.

The manganese tie up he mentions is widely known. Glyphosate is a very strong chelator, we use strategies through foliar feeding of crops to overcome this mineral tie up.

Purdue Scientists



Jim

 

[kizanne]

galanie - thanks for the video. I don't use GMO corn myself but I'm just a wacko LOL.

 

[Katy]

I didn't watch the video. I can however speak from personal experience on the issue of fertility and miscarriage in cattle in regards to RR crops. We have been pasturing our cattle on RR corn stalks after harvest for many years and we have seen neither of the issues in our cow herd and that is their sole feed source from October into the first part of January.

We also have not had any increase in crop diseases.

 

[gale65]

Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay :

The manganese tie up he mentions is widely known. Glyphosate is a very strong chelator, we use strategies through foliar feeding of crops to overcome this mineral tie up.

I'm no expert but this study showed that there was no yield improvement with mn application.
http://frec.cropsci.illinois.edu/2007/report5/

I didn't see where it addresses increased disease.

Is there another strategy to reduce mn tie up? I'm interested since we do grow a small number of acres of soybeans (RR) every year.​

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

Quote:
I'm no expert but this study showed that there was no yield improvement with mn application.
http://frec.cropsci.illinois.edu/2007/report5/

I didn't see where it addresses increased disease.

Is there another strategy to reduce mn tie up? I'm interested since we do grow a small number of acres of soybeans (RR) every year.

I could not determine from the Materials and Methods precisely how they applied the Mn, but it appears it was in conjunction with Glyphosate applications.

We now know that the application of trace minerals should occur at least 8 day after a glyphosate application to have an effect on Mn uptake.

I believe some of Dr. Huber's own work shows this.

Jim

 

[gale65]

I did see that info but the study I linked tested 3 fields and none improved with mn application, even after 8 days.

 

[galanie]

I want to thank you all for the thoughtful, constructive replies to this thread. I was so afraid it would get ugly but I thought this info would be valuable to someone. And thank you too for the extra information! I'm going to be looking this stuff up myself, just haven't yet. The studies you mention sound very interesting.

 

[galanie]

Wanted to add another thought. In the video, Dr. Huber addresses lowered magnesium not just in the plants themselves, but in the crops after harvest. In other words, he asserts that RR crops have less manganese "and other trace minerals" in the resulting feed which means the animals (and humans) eating them get less of this. As we know, manganese is needed for the body to use calcium. I think this is a bigger concern than plants being perhaps undernourished but showing little to no ill effects on harvest.

The Purdue article also asserts that having a lower PH also frees up manganese. But I know that if you go too low, iron becomes unavailable. We have that problem in our soils here and must add either iron or sulfur (to free the iron already present) before we can successfully grow azaleas.

So far as the fertility issue, that was noticed after switching to RR alfalfa. I'm not sure how you'd know if you had or didn't have reduced fertility on animals who never had been raised w/out eating RR silage.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
We feed very little alfalfa, RR or other. Our silage isn't RR only the corn stalks they graze on are. Since I haven't noticed any diference in fertility in our cow herd in the eleven years since we started growing RR corn and pasturing the cows on the stalks compared to the almost 30 years prior to that of no RR crop residue being fed I think it's safe for me to say the RR corn stalks haven't made any difference.