• brbposting
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    10 months ago

    … cows prefer organic & non-GMO corn. It tastes better to them …

    Wild! Per opinions of farmers you’ve heard?

    • CoffeeJunkie@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      10 months ago

      I have a farmer that raises (mostly!) grass-fed Angus cows; he feeds them out for a little less than a year & sends them to slaughter “when they’re right”. Produces very tender, good beef & I buy 1/4 cow.

      …anyway. This is what he said, he’s seen things where GMO & non-GMO corn are poured into different troughs & the cows clearly want the non-GMO. They figure out they’re not the same & the non-GMO is all they want to eat. Much like a cat with different cat foods, etc.

      It makes a hell of a lot of sense; the GMO corn plant is made to push heavy yield. Be resistant to pests & all kinds of disease. Bigger kernels. Then on top of the GMO qualities, maybe a little of what’s been sprayed onto the plants gets into the kernel. It’s probably not super tasty when compared to just…regular-ass corn with not as potent chemical sprays.

      • brbposting
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        10 months ago

        Very interesting. Thanks for sharing that. Would be great to see that tested under controlled conditions.

      • The_v@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        10 months ago

        Palatability is not related to the GMO. It’s genetics type that are used in the production.

        Organically produced seed historically has been straight dent corn (older genetics in the public domain). These are softer kernals that are easier for he animals to chew. The don’t need to be ground as fine.

        GMO hybrids are mostly dent x flint crosses. These have a harder shell around the outside of the kernals. It needs to be ground up finer for the animals to digest it.

        This is changing recently as Bayer and Corteva are licensing out their dent x flint varieties to the organic companies.