Growth hormone in dairy cows a greenhouse-gas plus: study (Got rbST?)

AFP on Yahoo ^ | 7/1/08 | Jean-Louis Santini

[NormsRevenge]

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Giving one million dairy cows a growth hormone makes them produce more milk would cut greenhouse gas emissions equal to taking 400,000 cars off the road, a US study found.

Large scale cow milk production requires the use of huge amounts of land, water and feed resources, noted Judith Capper, a researcher at Cornell University in New York.

But using rbST -- the first biotech product used on US farms which has been in farm use for about 15 years -- can help reduce the "carbon hoofprint" while still meeting dairy demand, she explained.

Known as either recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST), recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), or artificial growth hormone, the hormone has been used in the United States for over a decade to boost milk production. Monsanto markets rBST under the brand name Posilac.

But use of the hormone is highly controversial. It has been banned by the European Union which cited animal health concerns. The product also has emerged in some places as a symbol of big corporate interests undercutting a traditional small farmer's product.

"Giving rbST to one million cows would enable the same amount of milk to be produced using 157,000 fewer cows. The nutrient savings would be 491,000 metric tons of corn, 158,000 metric tons of soybeans, and total feedstuffs would be reduced by 2,300,000 metric tons. ...

Their work appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) June 30.

"Supplementing cows with rbST on an industry-wide scale would improve sustainability and reduce the dairy industry's contribution to water acidification, algal growth, and global warming," said Capper, a post-doctoral researcher and lead author of "The Environmental Impact of Recombinant Bovine Somatotropin (rbST) Use in Dairy Production."

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[wastedyears]

I didn’t eat meat from cows that took steroids. Junior high school kids are taller than I am.

I missed the plane a long time ago.

[darkangel82]

I must have missed it too.

[keepitreal]

I’ve read in several places that the bovine growth hormone can increase the risk of breast, prostate and colon cancers. Maybe this would make the globalwarmingalarmists really happy. Not only are there less cows, but eventually less people too.

[gidget7]

And no mention of what these growth hormones might do to the children who drink the milk. Logic tells me it can't be good. I will buy milk only hormone free!

[editor-surveyor]

"Maybe this would make the globalwarmingalarmists really happy. Not only are there less cows, but eventually less people too."

I think you've nailed it. The global warming people are just a subset of the Death Culture.

[Aussiebabe]

The same hormones are already produced by the cow. What milk you drink has no measurable hormones, natural or not, in the final product.

Like global warming, this is another closely related religious issue by the wacko environmentalists.

[steelyourfaith]

 

Beam Me to Planet Gore !

[dalereed]

I’ve been drinking so called hormone laden whole milk, average 4+ gallons a week, ever since they used it and at 71 don’t have any of your diseases.

All the scare tactics aren’t going to change me.

I won’t eat organic food either, cemical fertalizer and pesticides are mans friend!.

[fishnuts2]

Cornell did a lot of the first work for BST in dairy cows. What else could we expect from them? Gorbal Warming can and is used by the wackos to explain everything.

[muawiyah]

Alas, you are killing Earth.

[muawiyah]

I do like my lettuce free of bugs.