Pig farmers are having major breeding problems from
feeding their animals genetically-engineered corn. Despite
30 years of experience farming in Shelby County, Iowa, Jerry
Rosman couldn't figure out why the birthrates of piglets fell
80%. He tested for diseases and made sure artificial
insemination was working right, but he couldn't find the
cause.
Then he found out that 4 other nearby farmers were having
the same problem. These farmers had different kinds of pigs
and used different breeding methods. But they all had one
thing in common: They all fed their pigs the same GM corn.
Laboratory tests revealed the corn contained high levels of
Fusarium mold. One farmer switched one of his groups of
swine back to regular, non-GM corn, and those pigs no
longer had a breeding problem. And the problem wasn't
confined to that area. As soon as the news about his
genetically-engineered corn problems got out, Rosman was
swamped with phone calls from other desperate farmers. He
says, "It hadn't even hit the mailboxes and the phone
started ringing."
Norm Smith, who has a farm in Winterset, Iowa, says he
experienced the same problem within a few weeks of feeding
his pigs the new corn hybrids that he planted for the first
time last spring. "I started feeding Bt corn in late
September, and within 30 days I wasn't getting anything
bred," Smith says.
Farmers are concerned that GM crops are being rushed to the
market without proper testing. The EPA, which regulates Bt
corn, requires no tests to determine how the crop affects the
reproductive systems of the animals that eat it.
It's not that genetically-engineered food is necessarily bad.
It's just that we may not find out the problems associated
with it until it has taken over and contaminated or
replaced natural crops. And by that time, it may be too late.
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