Posted on 06/28/2007 10:59:24 PM PDT by neverdem
MILK occupies a special place in our lives and language. It has been dubbed “nature’s most perfect food,” and we speak sentimentally of the “land of milk and honey” and the “milk of human kindness.”
But things are turning sour for consumers of milk. The average price of a gallon of milk nationwide is up 37 cents since January, to $3.47. Strong demand and limited ability to increase production quickly are expected to increase prices more, and experts have speculated that the price per gallon could reach a record $5 by year’s end. High feed costs associated with the ramping up of American corn-based ethanol production are making it difficult to produce more milk.
Worldwide, prices are also at historically high levels. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s price index of traded dairy products has risen 46 percent since last November.
One way to ease the shortage and lower the prices is to take greater advantage of a proven 13-year-old biological technology that stimulates milk production in dairy cows — a protein called recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST), or bovine growth hormone. The protein, produced naturally by a cow’s pituitary, is one of the substances that control its milk production. It can be made in large quantities with gene-splicing (recombinant DNA) techniques. The gene-spliced and natural versions are identical.
Bad-faith efforts by biotechnology opponents to portray rBST as untested or harmful, and to discourage its use, keep society from taking full advantage of a safe and useful product. The opponents’ limited success is keeping the price of milk unnecessarily high.
When rBST is injected into cows, their digestive systems become more efficient at converting feed to milk. It induces the average cow, which produces about eight gallons of milk each day, to make nearly a gallon more. More feed, water...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I don’t think $3.47 (or whatever the exact amount was) is outrageous. This article gives me one more reason for buying organic milk.
Same difference when people choose organic vs. conventional and pay a premium. Unless there is a collusion between all merchants in the whole town for nobody to carry rBST milk, why it should be viewed as a problem is beyond me.
the missus and i drink raw milk from folks that raise jerseys on sweet pasture.
Shot up with this stuff or not?
rBST is not a panacea. The increase in production is offset by a rise in mastitis and a net decrease in productive life cycle. While rBST may be less harmful than the prophylactic use of antibiotics (such as is common in poultry farming) there definitely is a cost.
If the answer is yes, and I seriously doubt any farmer is going to willingly do something that costs him more money than it makes, then go for it. No one who is out to make a profit is going to willingly endanger his source of cash.
I prefer to leave the farming to the farmers. I’m not proficient in modern dairy operations so I’ll trust the people who do it for a living to know what’s best for their cattle and the market.
High feed costs associated with the ramping up of American corn-based ethanol production are making it difficult to produce more milk.
The windfall of OwlGore and his "Global Warming" hype?
I think before we start shooting up cows with growth hormone we might want to take a look at the absurdity of growing food (corn) for making fuel. This is going to cause a price increase in far more than just milk and ethanol is just not the answer to our energy problems. I think we are going to get an education to that fact, sooner, rather than later.
not an ounce. rich and creamy.
I shop at Publix in Florida. I always buy their milk- and several months ago they started offering Publix milk without hormones. It did cost more- but I began buying it. The two types stood side by side in the milk fridge- giving a clear choice in product and cost. Two months ago they made a big change- now the non-hormone milk is the ONLY Publix brand milk available. Publix is very adept at marketing and making fast changes based on customers purchasing habits..
3.47....wow last gallon I bought was 4.29.
It’s a problem for some because they foolishly believe that the milk contains rBST (which it does) and that children absorb it (which they don’t.) I’ve seen it widely condemned for contributing to precocious puberty in girls.
Scientists Transplant Genome of Bacteria
IPCC Scientists Challenge Al Gore’s View of Global Warming Consensus
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Maybe it'll turn out in the long run that this stuff is OK, maybe not. Partially hydrogenated soybean oil was to have been another of these economic miracles. And lets not forget the wonderful boon to humanity from high fructose corn syrup.
IIRC, there have been some studies which indicate hormones in the milk are harmful. I think they were linked with increase of cancer in humans.
This story gives me the shakes.
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