GMO free feeds?

[lahaskell]

I am a farmer in South Dakota & want to share a link regarding GMO food that would be hugely beneficial to most of you on this thread. Here is the link:

http://findourcommonground.com/food-facts/gmo-foods/

After reading that I think you may feel less stressed about working so hard to find GMO free feed for your chickens. As an American farmer I am hugely concerned about what the majority of our society knows about where their food comes from & how it is produced. We produce corn, soybeans, wheat & beef & do use genetically modified seeds, Roundup to control weeds, & fertilizer to increase yield. If we didn't do those things, our world would suffer even greater in terms of world hunger. We test our soils annually so that no more fertilizer than necessary is put down. We do that becasue we care about the environment & becasue we don't want to pay for fertilizer that will not be taken up by the plant & could be leached away in the soil. We apply chemicals in order to control pests & weeds, but ONLY as needed. We physically scout fields & there are some years we apply once & some years we apply twice. All of these decisions are made with very thoughtful consideration of the environment, consumer use & business plans. Most farmers utilize variable rate technology to ensure that the most efficient/minimal amount of inputs (seed, fertilizer, chemical) are applied. If one part of a field is solid alkaline soil & the soil tests show it won't grow anything, nothing is planted there. Please keep in mind that those of us working the earth, dealing with the elements & getting your food from field to plate & pasture to plate take our job very seriously & aren't utilizing potentially harmful products.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: Quote: It's already been shown
I posted a link that references over 100 long term studies showing NO HARM
Here's one that addresses Seralini in particular:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonenti...ngers-of-monsantos-genetically-modified-corn/
Quote:
The anti GMO side ALWAYS uses Seralini, Pusztai, Huber, Mercola and "Natural News" (Mike Adams) as their "proof" , even though most scientists have said their studies/reports are fabricated or incomplete , and they have been rejected worldwide.
Quote: 7 different agencies in 7 different countries dismissed the study
So as I said in the beginning, there is NO credible evidence GMO's cause any harm to animals or humans.
If you don't WANT them that's fine, since you're free to choose, but you can't say its because they do harm when millions of animals worldwide eat them every day, and thrive

 

[Cindy in PA]

I don't care about studies on either side. It does tick me off that the only way to avoid GMO stuff is to not eat food from the store. Producers are so quick to label things they want to label, but will not add a few little words like "contains GMOs". It is also a pain that many waste products of yesteryear like soy byproducts are in everything. At least soy content is usually noted. Many people never knew that "natural flavors" & "vegetable broth" were many times just soy and now they are being labeled at least on stuff like canned tuna. If I am eating tuna as a healthy food, I don't expect soy to be an ingredient. This is not so much a for or against argument. but about my right to know what's in my food. I just assume any packaged food or meat from the store contains GMOs & avoid as much as I can. I don't understand if there is no problem with the stuff, why are so many against labeling to give consumers a choice?

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

The biggest factor is it's not just a matter of adding a few words to a label

It would mean expensive testing to verify what the labels say.



The majority of the people don't care if it's labeled or not

It's been on the ballot in two of the most "green" states in the country, and was voted down in both



Consumers have "a choice" already

Buy organic if you want to totally avoid GMO

Labels won't change that at all, and anyone who really cares already knows that

 

[Cindy in PA]

The biggest factor is it's not just a matter of adding a few words to a label
It would mean expensive testing to verify what the labels say.

The majority of the people don't care if it's labeled or not
It's been on the ballot in two of the most "green" states in the country, and was voted down in both

Consumers have "a choice" already
Buy organic if you want to totally avoid GMO
Labels won't change that at all, and anyone who really cares already knows that

I think people DO care about the GMO. The votes were lost because Monsanto & their cohorts poured the big bucks into defeating the bills! Our food supply is messed up. I almost never buy meat, eggs or milk in the store. I grow as much fruit & vegetables as I can. It just sucks that producers are allowed to put waste in out food. We really don't have a choice, as the wind spread GMO pollen is risking the organic crops. The mega agribusinesses have all the protection & the consumer next to none.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

It saddens me that when people ask how they can find GMO-free feeds they are met with a lot of scolding for even wanting GMO-free feeds.

On the question of "How Can I Get ... " my answer is "I'm not sure you can."

I really wanted to start our first batch of chicks on organic feed, or at least non-GMO feed (I don't want to debate if they are "safe" ... "safe" isn't the only concern ... the companies owning the patents behave deplorably in poorer countries and not much better in the USA and Canada and I simply do not wish to support them with my consumer dollars based on that alone ...). I was outvoted ... Certified Organic feeds are a LOT more expensive. So at that time I thought price was the limiting factor.

Since then, I've tried several times to get custom milled organic or at least "non-GMO" feeds to start new batches of "custom" birds, and been told it is simply not possible now. I have been told by multiple sources in the feed industry that tests of batches of "GMO-free" corn is never GMO-free, and (worse?) the organic high-protein soy concentrates used in the feeds show the products are neither organic nor as "high protein" as the labels indicate. If the protein level of the concentrate is not labeled truthfully then after the other nutrients are added into the feed the protein level will not be sufficient to meet the nutritional needs of the birds (think specifically about the feeds in the 28% protein range like game bird feed or turkey starter). Sure, people are selling "organic" poultry products at premium prices, but I question if those products are truly GMO-free.

Why didn't I consider a non-soy feed? Because other "available" protein sources are not concentrated enough or require more "balancing." Luckily in my area I could swop out all the corn for wheat, but, again, that requires more "balancing."

I find it extremely frustrating. I'm both a producer (at a very low level ... we sell eggs and meat), and as a consumer. It really bothers me that I do not have a true choice so I cannot offer my customers a true choice. Sure, there are companies who are willing to sell me a "premium" product at a huge mark-up so I could say my feed is "organic," but if that product isn't true to the label then I do not want to pay the premium or fool the customers.

Even back in the middle of the last century (well before the questions of GMOs came up) studies indicated breeding flocks do not perform as well on a soy-based diet. I'm starting a breeding project this winter ...

I am still hoping I can find a way to switch the flock over to a no soy diet. I'd love to get them off of GMO corn, too. If I switched now I couldn't sell eggs or meat from the existing birds as organic or soy-free, but soon enough the future generations would replace all the existing birds and I'd have a more valuable product to offer.

I'll keep trying ...

 

[Soy Free LIfe]

I coordinate a group that started as a reaction to the exact predicament you outline above. There is a GMO cross contamination with corn, soy and canola, if we pay attention. So our group of local farmers in Phoenix started formulating a feed without corn, soy and canola and found the interest in our group is growing steadily. There are over 100 people in Phoenix Arizona ordering these feeds with our group to avoid the questionable Genera (plural for genus, corn soy and canola).

You are right regarding the protein content being difficult to achieve without corn soy and canola, especially the 28% 22% protein levels. As a matter of fact we haven't done it yet. However, we do have a feed that formulated to guarantee at 18% protein, while staying soy corn and canola free.

Members of our group who are raising broiler chickens (cornish birds) on 18% soy corn and canola free feed exclusively are finding they have to feed for about 2-4 weeks longer to make their kill weight. So I am sure the meat ends up being a little more expensive per lb to produce, but they are getting GMO free chicken meat.

And to our surprise, our corn and soy free hog feed users state they haven't compromised on weight gain at all by going soy free. The hogs make weight at the same time and, due to the high price commodity price of soy right now, our soy free feeds are saving us money.

I haven't talked to any turkey growers. No one has compromised on their target protein content with turkey. So I can't speak to what type of compromise turkey farmer might have.

I know our Phoenix group can ship to Oregon, but it seems to only be financially feasible at higher quantities to reduce the shipping expense per bag of feed.

Here is a LINK to the group. Only two of our feeds are corn, soy and canola free.
www.phoenixorganicfeed.com

 

[Kyzmette]

Quote:
This is one of the most frustrating things for me. I would like to be able to choose what I want and ask questions without all the aggression people seem to want to vent about anybody who wants to do things differently. All the name-calling and condescenscion really isn't called for when I'm fine with you doing your thing and me doing my thing. I have my personal beliefs about GMO and pesticides, and just because people don't agree is no good reason for them to be hostile about it. Oh, and @lahaskell ... I would love it if you really spoke for all farmers. I'm thrilled that you're so responsible, and I thank you for it.

 

[Michael Apple]

I won't use non-organic feeds. Just because something is labeled non-GMO does not mean it is organic. Though organic labels cannot consist of GMO. Trickery in labeling. Also, just because a feed ration is certified organic does not mean it is nutritionally superior. There are well balanced organic feeds and there are poorly balanced ones. Organic canola meal is not an acceptable replacement for organic soy either, whereas sunflower meal and fish meal are. Study poultry nutrition. That way the companies can't BS you.

 

[tankgirl88]

Hello! I feel ya on the non-GMO/ Organic feeds! It's a HUGE deal for us too. We won't use them. And don't worry about what anyone else tells you about it. It's your chickens, and your food, and none of their business to tell you that it's dumb and a waste of time and money When I go into IFA and ask for Organic feed or Diatomaceous Earth(which they don't have btw) they look at me like I'm a crazy Hippy(Which may or may not be true...the jury is still out) and treat me like I have no idea what I'm doing(coming from someone who tells me to use cedar(toxic) shavings over pine). And the only feeds I can find in Cal-Ranch or IFA that are Organic are mostly soy(boo). So! So far in our feed search we have found these two feeds that are Organic, GMO-Free, Soy-Free, & Corn Free. And just to clarify, I don't think corn is a bad thing, but it's just not very nutritious. It just a cheap food to fill the bag with.

- Scratch & Peck Feeds- We don't have a store in Utah that carries this so I was ordering it from Amazon. But you might check their website and see if you have a location near you that carries it. I also wrote the company about how I could get some locally and they suggested talking to feed stores around me to see if I could get them to order it in and stock it. If you could accomplish this you would be saving yourself a TON on shipping. Its about $19 bucks for a 25lb. bag of feed and about $19 to ship it from Amazon. It can add up, especially since my chickens LOVE it so much they just eat it right up. This feed comes all whole grain. And they recently just got their USDA organic certification. But have always been non-gmo.

-Ranch-Way Feeds-This one was also not sold in Utah either, but came form Colorado so the shipping wasn't so bad for the size of the bag. You could try the same thing with trying to get a store near you to stock it. This one is a crumble and come in a 50lb. bag that cost $29 and $20 to ship. I believe we have someone locally who is willing to stock this for us! Win!

I hope this help you out a bit! And both of these companies are great to work with! They are always so helpful and courteous on the phone/email. I wouldn't hesitate to contact them with any questions.