A mysterious mass death of a herd of cattle has prompted a federal investigation in Central Texas.
Preliminary test results are blaming the deaths on the grass the cows were eating when they got sick, reports CBS Station KEYE.
The cows dropped dead several weeks ago on an 80-acre ranch owned by Jerry Abel in Elgin, just east of Austin.
Abel says he's been using the fields for cattle grazing and hay for 15 years. "A lot of leaf, it's good grass, tested high for protein - it should have been perfect," he told KEYE correspondent Lisa Leigh Kelly.
The grass is a genetically-modified form of Bermuda known as Tifton 85 which has been growing here for 15 years...
[dKos refused to allow the link - here is Google link:
http://www.cbsnews.com/... - other links and reports have been scrubbed for some reason. :-)]
There is one small problem with the news:
GMO food: Hybrid poison grass that kills Texas cattle not genetically modified
Reports that GMO grass suddenly started producing cyanide and killed almost an entire herd of cattle in Texas are only partially true. CBS News reported June 23, 2012 that rancher Jerry Abel of Elgin, near Austin, Texas had been growing Tifton 85, a GMO version of Bermuda grass, for 15 years when the grass suddenly started emitting poisonous cyanide. However, Tifton 85 is not GMO grass, but a hybrid.
Now as to reports that GM alfalfa caused cows lower jaw to drop off:
I first heard about GM alfalfa from a biologist friend who said that cattle in Australia that were consuming the GM alfalfa had begun to lose their jaws due to the absolute lack of nutritional value in the crop.
Maybe that Down Under fellow just got word on Radium Water tonic. Madame Curie's discovery of radioactivity created a sensation and thus was born Radium Water tonic.
One fellow in particular was said to have raved about the tonic on radio blurbs until his jaw fell off. Last I heard the skeletons were still hot.
While I could not confirm any reports of Australian cattle whose jaws had physically fallen off, this did prompt me to look further into the effects of GM alfalfa and what I did discover was no less disturbing.
No less disturbing than having your cows' jaws drop off??? Do tell.
Alfalfa hay is the number one crop consumed by cows. Quality alfalfa has higher levels of digestible energy than other feeds and more vitamin A and calcium that grass hay. Alfalfa also has as much as twice the protein than grass based hays. In fact grass based hay is usually only fed to old animals who no longer require enriching minerals and vitamins. As is the case with most genetically modified crops, genetically modified alfalfa does not meet the same standards of nutritional value as natural alfalfa. For example, genetically modified corn and soybeans have been proven to cause nutritional deficiencies in animals that consume them. Such an absence of nutritional content leads to many diseases and deficiency-based problems for cattle. Professor of science at Purdue University Dr. Don M. Huber cites a sharp rise in animal infertility in cattle and hogs fed GM corn and soybeans.
Well that does sound pretty bad alright. Never heard of a "professor of science" but I had to see what I could find of this fellow:
Purdue University discredits own professor : Environmentalist â COL (Ret.) Don M. Huber â Glyphosate â Animals and Miscarriages â No Scientific Data â Fearmongering
Truthfully I never went beyond this ultra tabloid style headline.
I have had my fill for the day of sensation.
Best, Terry