Deer Corn vs. Feed Corn

   / Deer Corn vs. Feed Corn #32  
KennyG said:
I would propose that GMO corn is just as much corn as any other until you put another name on it. If you look at the Teosinte plant that apparently was the source of corn, it looks more like coarse wheat heads than corn. Corn as we know would never have existed if man had not bred it. Just like most of the fruit we have - our apples can't grow from seeds. Nature would never produce a grapple (grape apple hybrid).

An interesting point - most GMO corn (which is most US corn) is altered to produce Bt bacteria - a pesticide. It's a naturally occurring pesticide. Because it's naturally occurring is can be - and it regularly - applied to organic crops as a "natural" pest control. However, when the plant is altered to produce it we label it GMO and try to scare everyone.

There are concerns about GMO crops - specifically if they will accelerate the development of resistant pests. This is why regulations require a non-GMO sacrificial crop to be grown with the GMO to maintain a non-resistant population. Time will tell how effective this is.

For a really interesting discussion of the development of agriculture and crop breeding I suggest "Guns, Germs and Steel" by Jared Diamond. It's an interesting view of how civilization developes.
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No, we don't label GMO crops, unless it's done voluntarily. I realize that is not the sense of "label" you intended. But, whether GM is a good or bad thing, the labeling is another issue entirely. I'd say if it's a good as you think, why not brag about it?

What if you went to purchase a vehicle and asked what size engine it has? Would you be satisfied with being told it doesn't matter, so I'm not telling you? I'll bet you would think that is the most arrogant car salesman you ever met. If I shop in the grocery store and want to know if the product contains a GMO grain, I'm getting the same treatment the car salesman gave you.

I'm not at all convinced that externally applying a pesticide, or herbicide, so reasonably equates with genetically modifying a plant to the point of saying they are equivalent plants. They simply are not genetically equivalent organisms.
 
   / Deer Corn vs. Feed Corn #34  
This GMO stuff worries me.....the black-eyed peas on my fork just winked at me.......:D
 
   / Deer Corn vs. Feed Corn #35  
I am not sure GMO corn was the cause of the tumors the hunt club was having. Most of the corn grown around here in SC is GMO roundup ready. The state would be full of deer with tumors if that were the case. But we see very few tumors in deer where I hunt.

Just wondering why deer would not touch some corn and be attracted to other corn...maybe that has to do with the protective pesticide used when storing the grain in bins to keep the weevil/insect infestations down. That may be one theory...
 
   / Deer Corn vs. Feed Corn #36  
for a really interesting discussion of the development of agriculture and crop breeding I suggest "Guns, Germs and Steel" by Jared Diamond. It's an interesting view of how civilization developes.

Pbs (nova I think) did a 2hr show on his book. Great book btw.
 
   / Deer Corn vs. Feed Corn #37  
"Guns, Germs and Steel" by Jared Diamond, does indeed sound like an interesting read.

However, after reading the fairly lengthy Wikipedia article about the book, I don't see how it addresses the issues surrounding GMO's. Specifically, what does the accident of geography have to do with the "rise" of GMO's?

How is the spread of GMO's not unlike the "economic colonization" of farms? How does the benevolence of geography morally equate to a license for aggression?

The world is a poorer place both culturally and genetically as a result of, according to Diamond, the advantages bestowed by geography. To me, that sounds like a reasonable argument, and parallel to GMO's, to think very carefully beyond their short-term commercial successes.
 
   / Deer Corn vs. Feed Corn #38  
In the book, Diamond explains that, blessed with certain types of native plants, people came up with selective breeding/grafting etc techniques to make them very productive and nutritious. As a result, the societies became wealthy enough to advance. If they had stuck with the plants nature gave them, we'd still be in the stone age. He makes the case that there are two necessary components - natural resources/location and innovation.

I just came across a surprisingly even handed article at grist.org (a website that tends to cater to the more extreme wing of the environmental movement.)

Block party: Are activists thwarting GMO innovation? | Grist
 
   / Deer Corn vs. Feed Corn #39  
Redbug said:
Just wondering why deer would not touch some corn and be attracted to other corn...maybe that has to do with the protective pesticide used when storing the grain in bins to keep the weevil/insect infestations down. That may be one theory...
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I've found that corn bought from certain places is eaten more so then other places. I have lots of hogs on my land and they eat the corn all the time. But if I put out walmart corn, they disappear. My thinking is that the corn they sell is old or dried out without any flavor compared to what I can get at Academy, Lowes or Atwoods. Our local grocery chain also sells corn that they really like, but they are the most expensive. I've also found that some feed stores sell corn that they don't care for. Yes, wild hogs are picky, and if you give them corn they don't like, they wont eat it.

Eddie
 
   / Deer Corn vs. Feed Corn #40  
Swine have a very complex olfactory sense coupled with a relativity high intelligence. I suspect that they have the ability to detect mycotoxins which are very common on corn and corn products. Certain mycotoxins can cause a myriad of health problems and even cause death.
It's difficult and expensive to store corn where fungus cannot grow on it. Corn stored for any length of time in humid conditions will grow fungus quickly. Mycotoxins are an unwanted byproduct of fungus.
 
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