The face of the NZ dairy insustry: GE crops killing cows in Southland

A few days ago I reported this story which seemed at the time like toxins caused by the warm winter and lack of frost.

If seems that there is more to this than meets the eye.

This is the dark face of Fonterra and NZ's dairy industry which is keeping our monoculture economy afloat (for the time being) while at the same time destroying our environment.

Remember "Clean and Green" anyone?

No doubt in the current climate those who criticise our dairy industry will be labelled as "traitors"    

Call for inquiry into cow-killing swedes

GE Free New Zealand is calling on government officials to investigate herbicide tolerant (HT) swedes linked to the deaths or illness of hundreds of cows in Southland

Radio NZ,

16 September, 2014

Reports indicate 200 to 300 dairy cows from 30 to 50 farms may have died after grazing on the new variety of the vegetable supplied by PGG Wrightson Seeds.

Most of the deaths appear to be associated with the new herbicide tolerant swede that PGG Wrightson is supplying.

GE Free New Zealand's spokesperson Jon Carapiet said the deaths are a wake-up call to authorities to secure New Zealand's stock food supply chain as safe because the country's international reputation is at stake.

"This product that these cows have eaten and died doesn't seem to be genetically engineered, it does seem to be herbicide tolerant, but it is a novel food.

"I guess the question is, how could our authorities have allowed this to happen, when the world is constantly watching New Zealand's brand and reputation.

"We have good competitors in the global market who will be looking to say, 'You can't trust New Zealand, because look what's happened.'"

Mr Carapiet said the Ministry for Primary Industries must explain why it allows the use of a stock food crop that is able to resist intense spraying with herbicides.

PGG Wrightson Seeds general manager David Green said the HT swedes had not been genetically-engineered.

The potential for the crop to harm large numbers of cows was not picked up in testing of the new line of swede, he said.

"It's really important to recognise that this product has been used successfully for two years previously without any issues whatsoever and even this year, and notwithstanding the fact there have been some issues, it probably represents 1 or 2 percent of the area that this crop is in throughout the South Island."

Mr Green said PGG Wrightson Seeds intends being transparent with farmers about what has happened and to be definitive about the conditions which cause the deaths.

Questions Raised Over Cow Deaths

GE Free NZ,

15 September, 2014

The death of 200 cows after eating a new variety of PGG Wrightsons herbicide tolerant (HT) swedes [1] is a disaster for New Zealand farmers.

MPI and EPA must explain how come they have allowed use of a novel mutagenic food crop that is able to resist intense spraying with herbicides? [2]

This crop has been developed using a highly controversial technique of mutagenesis with the chemical Ethylmethane Sulfonate (EMS). EMS is a systemic mutagen that causes irreversible health effects, deformities and cancers. In animal tests it has been shown to be fatal in small amounts. [3]

The Lincoln team who developed the seeds for PGG Wrightsons involved Dr. Tony Connor who is a lead promoter for GMOs.

“Is there a relationship between the seed saved from the failed GE brassica lines and the development of this new toxic HT line now being sold?” said Claire Bleakley president of GE Free NZ.

"Animals are the mainstay of the New Zealand economy. The animal grazing pastures should not be left to be decided by agrochemical companies who have little interest in animal health and benefit from the use of large amounts of toxic chemicals."

MPI and EPA must immediately conduct comprehensive testing to see if the whole of the novel brassica range breach New Zealand legislation over the creation of such toxic plants.

References:

[1] http://www.pggwrightsonseeds.com/cleancrop-brassica-system/

[2] Cleancrop™ Brassica System: The development of herbicide resistant http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid= brassica crops for New Zealand farming systems http://www.grassland.org.nz/publications/nzgrassland_publication_2265.pdf

[3] http://datasheets.scbt.com/sc-257504.pdf

In searching for this story I also found this

Mutant cows die in GM trial

NZ Herald,

1 May, 2010

Genetically modified cows were born with ovaries that grew so large they caused ruptures and killed the animals.

The bungled experiment happened during a study by AgResearch scientists at Ruakura, Hamilton, to find human fertility treatments through GM cows' milk.

AgResearch is studying tissue from one of three dead calves to try to find out what made the ovaries grow up to the size of tennis balls rather than the usual thumbnail-size.

Details of the deaths - in veterinary reports released to the Weekend Herald under the Official Information Act - have reignited debate over the ethics of GM trials on animals.

AgResearch's applied technologies group manager, Dr Jimmy Suttie, said he did not see the deaths as a "big deal", and they were part of the learning process for scientists.

But GE-Free NZ spokesman Jon Carapiet said details of the calf trial showed the animal welfare committee overseeing AgResearch's work was "miles away from the ethics and values of the community".

The calves died last year, aged six months. They were formed when human genetic code injected into a cow cell was added to an egg from a cow's ovary and put into a cow's uterus.

The scientists hoped that the genetic code, a human follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), would enable the cows that were produced to produce milk containing compounds that could be used as a human fertility treatment.

Under permits issued by the Environmental Risk Management Authority last month, AgResearch can put human genes into goats, sheep and cows for 20 years to see if the animals produce human proteins in their milk.

The proteins could eventually be used to treat human disorders.

Anti-GM groups said the cost to animal welfare was too high, citing cases of aborted and deformed fetuses, deformed calves and respiratory conditions among animals bred at Ruakura.

The Official Information Act documents show a Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) investigation found deformities and respiratory problems among animals at the facility - something AgResearch had been open about - but said that was a foreseeable by-product of the project.

Overall, the investigator found cows were better cared for by vets at Ruakura than they would be on a standard dairy farm.

Scientists noticed that four calves carrying the FSH gene grew more quickly than their clone sister, which did not have the gene.

The FSH calves had bigger abdomens and thicker necks but seemed otherwise healthy, apart from one that easily grew short of breath, said a vet's report.

Dr Suttie said the abnormalities were reported to the animal ethics committee, which told the company to monitor the calves.

Tests five months later found three of the four calves had abnormally large ovaries.

When the calves were six months old, one died suddenly of a haemorrhage to her uterine artery, probably because of stretching and distortion caused by her deformed ovaries.

Five days later, a second calf died, after her ovary became twisted and separated from her uterus.

The third calf with over-sized ovaries was killed the same day so scientists could study her tissue.

Dr Suttie said the root of the trouble was that the human FSH genes had affected the whole calf and not the mammary glands only, as was intended - a problem that did not show up in trials on mice.

"This was not intended to happen. But, bluntly, this is what research is all about."

Emails between AgResearch and MAF reveal Agriculture Minister David Carter sought more information about animal welfare when he learned of the calves deaths last year.

He said yesterday that he was satisfied with AgResearch's response.