March 6, 2007

US milk industry gradually shuns from artificial bovine growth hormone
 

 

A growing number of consumers, farmers and milk producers in the US are turning away from synthetic bovine growth hormone, twelve years after it was brought to market by Monsanto.

 

Sold under the label Posilac, the artificial growth hormone mimics a cow's natural hormones and can increase milk production by about 10 pounds per cow per day, according to the firm.

 

The Food and Drug Administration has declared the artificial growth hormone, whose scientific name is recombinant bovine somatotropin, or rBST, is safe. Monsanto spokesman Andrew Burchett said on March 2 that milk from cows treated with rBST is indistinguishable from milk from untreated cows.

 

Others disagree.

 

Paris Reidhead, of Hartwick, an agricultural writer and former Cooperative Extension agent in Otsego County, said he worries about the long-term health effects of drinking milk from treated cows.

 

Reidhead said a test does exist that can distinguish milk from treated and untreated cows, although it is not used.

 

Whatever science may ultimately prove, Burchett noted that some farmers, particularly in the Northeast, are under pressure to stop using his company's product.

 

Burchett stressed the situation will hurt producers with not much milk to sell as the technology that would help increase their production is being fired and yet consumers still have to pay more.

 

But dairy producers say people are buying more milk that comes from untreated cows.

 

Byrne Dairy, which supplies milk to a number of local stores, no longer sells fresh milk from cows that have been treated with artificial growth hormones. And the dairy won't pick up milk from farmers unless they have pledged not to use it, according to Bill Byrne, the company's board chairman.

 

Byrne added the company's fresh milk has been rBST-free since September which pushed their sales up.

 

Not only is Byrne's milk selling well, but the company has received thanks from grateful consumers who didn't want to drink milk from treated cows, he said.

 

Price Chopper stores, which are owned by the Golub Corp., recently began selling milk under the store's label that does not come from treated cows, and consumer response has been good, according to company spokeswoman Mona Golub.

 

Farmers on the other hand have different views regarding rBST.

 

Dairy farmer Cliff Brunner, of Hartwick, a longtime opponent of rBST use, said he is happy with the way things are going as consumers are getting more educated and consume milk and other food with no worries.

 

Dairy farmer Carol Ainslie, of West Winfield, treats her cows with rBST with no reports of human contamination.

 

Dairy farmer Clyde Rutherford, of Otego, president of the Dairylea Cooperative, said he is surprised by the shift away from rBST as its introduction in the market was warmly welcomed but is now plodding along.

 

His challenge is to help market both kinds of milk as the market shifts to milk from rBST-free cows, Rutherford said.

 

According to dairy industry sources, Safeway stores in the northwestern United States stopped buying milk from treated cows last month. Dairies in Europe also do not accept milk from treated cows.

 

The sale of Posilac is illegal in nearly all developed countries with the exception of the United States, dairy sources said.