NON GMO feeds

[weeflock]

That still winds up being less expensive than Scratch and Peck -
Let me ask you a question - when I have called on a company stating that their feed is Organic - I have had answers that vary - would that be employee ignorance?-and then there are some of the smaller farmers around here that have told me that Organic does not necessarily mean that the seeds are not either a Monsanto owned company or a modified seed, maybe not modified with glycophosate but some how engineered. I figured if I stay with a verified source then I'm safest - there are also so many more choices on the East Coast - at least that is how it appears to me.
I'm glad I started this thread good to be wrong Thanks to everyone posting with awesome info.
Where in California do you deliver?

 

[weeflock]

Annnnnd - I have yet to find a conventional non GMO feed here - that is pretty stinking awesome that your company does that. Cheers!!!!

 

[Bitterroot]

Big Sky feeds out here in Montana has a really nice certified organic no corn no soy layer mash that I use for my birds. I like it very much. Runs about $26 a bag.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

.... when I have called on a company stating that their feed is Organic - I have had answers that vary - would that be employee ignorance?.... the smaller farmers around here ...have told me that Organic does not necessarily mean that the seeds are not either a Monsanto owned company or a modified seed... but some how engineered....

What does the source of the seeds that a crop is raised from have to do with whether it is organic or Genetically Modified? Every food and feed stuff that you buy and eat or that you buy and feed to your chickens has been, or will be sprayed dusted, or treated at one time or the other with some pretty nasty chemicals. That is if you are a grasshopper, cutworm, or aphid. Think about it, if this wasn't true then there would not be any organic food on the shelves at the grocery store. "Organic" does not mean pesticide free but instead means that all (well most of) the pesticides employed to grow "organic" food
are the older more dangerous generation of pesticides. Thank of these pesticides like they were the same old poisons that Rachael Carson was so concerned about. Most of this generation of pesticides was first isolated from other plants that demonstrated resistance to insect pests and then mass produced.

If not the largest, Monsanto is ONE of the largest providers of these so called "organic" pesticides. Monsanto does not want to stop selling pesticides to both camps in the "organic" food fight. They make money from both camps. The next big thing in the GMO seed industry is to improve the yields of GM crops. This is why Monsanto is buying out other seed companies. It is to gain access to their patented crop verities that may have over 100 years of research behind them. This and this alone is why some GM crops have lower yields than their conventional competitors. Monsanto is as big a victim of conventional seed companies as the eat "organic" or die crowd says that Monsanto is a conspiracy to ruin small farmers.

Now this bit of trivia from the halls of the evil seed empire. Not only did Monsanto refuse to renew their patent on RoundUp herbicide about 10 years ago, but they allowed their US patent on RoundUp Ready Soy-Beans to expire. I am sure that all the "organic" activist will sing Monsanto's praises from the highest mountain top. Starting this year all the "organic" soy-bean farmers in America can plant RoundUp ready soybeans and save the seeds from their heritage glyphosate resistant legumes and replant them year after year to their hearts content without paying Monsanto a penny for the privilege or having a GMO paper trail leading back to Monsanto to hide.

 

[Black wallnut]

Round-up ready corn and wheat was not GMO when it started. Monsanto found a few plants that had a natural resistance to glyphosate (sp?) due to crop claims and decided to grow the seeds produced to develop seedstock.

Where in Montana is Sandpoint, neither I nor Google can seem to find it?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Round-up ready corn and wheat was not GMO when it started....

What? Explain.

 

[weeflock]

Sandpoint is in Idaho, I was referencing a landmark town that we were near. Thompson Falls / Clark Fork Valley was were I used to be. Scratch & Peck is in Spokane.

 

[weeflock]

For me on a personal level, I just try not to support any company that is tied to Monsanto - which is probably a little Pollyanna at this point, but at least i feel like I am doing something - even if it is small.
If I can feed my animals the best produced products that I can afford with the least amount of pollutants in them, then that is what I will do.
I have developed multiple chemical sensitivities over the last few years and have had to modify my eating and lifestyle quite a bit. Living in Los Angeles is not the greatest, but it is where our work is located and we have been able to live a unique lifestyle here. I am still learning about the depth of the GMO movement and how far back it actually goes - by buying local meats and produce and livestock I hear so many different things by so many different people who are paying for certifications, dealing with the USDA, licensing etc. It's hard to not have a doomsday mentality sometimes. California small farms is certainly a world away from Montana small farms.
I am very grateful to everyone who is joining this conversation and giving new input into my very small world of information.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

What I had reference to Weeflock is the statement made by someone else that RoundUp Ready corn and wheat was not a GMO when it started.

Of course I am sure that you would agree with me that the environment is the true beneficiary from GMOs not Monsanto or any other seed company.

Benefit one: Reduced consumption of fossil fuels because of the reduced need to plow or cultivate to control weeds.
Benefit two: Reduced loss of top soil because of reduced wind erosion.
Benefit three: Reduced loss of top soil because of reduced water erosion.
Benefit four: Fewer chemical pesticides needed to battle insect, weed, disease, and other agricultural pests.
Benefit five: Better and more healthy varieties of food crops to help feed the world or to prevent certain diseases. See Golden Rice.
Benefit six: Reduced need for irrigation water, thus helping to keep the peace between nations with insufficient water resources.
Benefit seven: The increased production of new drugs and medicines in ways that were never before possible.
Benefit eight: Healthier drinking water from the reduced need for cultivation and a huge reduction in the use of pesticides that can show up in drinking water.
Benefit nine: The need to cultivate fewer acres of land, therefor reducing human impact on everything from the rain forests to the Earth's savannas.

 

[Black wallnut]

What? Explain.

I believe I did. Did you bother to read the whole short paragraph? Monsanto in the process of a crop claim found a natural resistance to Round-up. They harvested the seeds produced by those plants that were resistant and used them to build a seed stock. By definition that is not Genetically Modified Organism in that they did not modify the dna of a plant to synthesize the resistance.

Sandpoint is in Idaho, I was referencing a landmark town that we were near. Thompson Falls / Clark Fork Valley was were I used to be. Scratch & Peck is in Spokane.

I know where Sandpoint is located, been there many times. I also know where Thompson Falls is located. I also suspect that most folks that can use an internet forum are smart enough to Google search a place name they are not familiar with if they care. It does not help your cause to be less than clear about where you are from. Sandpoint is like Big Bear Lake, not many outside of near vicinity even know that it exists. I only know of Big Bear Lake due to the Tour of California and cycling forums.......