In the early spring of 2001, the conception rates of sows (female pigs) on Jerry Rosman’s Iowa farm dropped from 80% to 20%. Most animals had false pregnancies, some delivered bags of water and some stopped menstruating altogether. Rosman, an animal nutrition consultant, along with veterinarian and a nutritionist, did extensive testing. They ruled out common causes of reproductive problems. Rosman had fed his hogs GM corn since 1997. When he switched to Bt Liberty Link varieties from Garst Hybrids in 2000, the problem started. It persisted through most of 2001 with “several brief upswings in pregnancy rates” considering with the times when sows were fed the previous year’s (1999) corn..
Four nearby farmers told Rosman they too were having hog conception problems and where using Garst Corn. Right after the Farm Bureau Spokesman ran a story on Rosman in 2002, other farmers called complaining of sterile pigs. As media coverage expanded, so did the calls. USDA microbiologist Mark Rasmussen said, “After Jerry’s incident was publicized, about a dozen farmers in the Midwest contacted me to discuss similar problems.” Rosman spoke with at least 20. He said many had consulted veterinarians and conducted tests and that sterility affected both male and females. Some noted that the problem went away when they switched corn varieties. Not all were using Garst, but all where using GM with similar genetic backgrounds (maturity, height, etc.).
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Three Farmers reported similar issues with cows. In September 2005, Rosman fed some of the 2000 corn to three cows, just after they gave birth. He said they should have started menstruation after three months and been bred, Eight months later, however, they had still not started cycling and were sold. A semen check of the bull fed the same corn showed it was nearly infertile. Rosman also fed 11 heifers the corn after they weaned at eight months. Although they usually start menstruating at nine or ten months, his never started, they where sold at 13 months.
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In the summer of 2001, Garst was given a sample of Rosman’s corn for analysis. About six weeks later, Rosman’s agronomist was told by Garst that the sample had been regrettably lost. When Rosman offered to furnish more the company did not return his calls. When the pig sterility hit the TV news the following year, however, the company announced that they had done an investigation and concluded that their corn was not at fault..
Rosman’s corn was collateral for a USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) loan. The local office had granted a loan extension, but the local manager told Rosman that the national head of operations ordered that it be confiscated instead; a driver revealed that it was sent to a Cargill plant to be processed for human consumption..
The FSA refused to provide Rosman with the records related to his corn. It took six separate Freedom of Information Act requests, two from Rosman, one from each of three nonprofit organizations and one from a US congressman, for the FDA to turn over part of his file. Several documents omitted important data..
Rosman has declared bankruptcy and no further studies evaluated whether certain GMO corn varieties may create reproductive problems in livestock of humans.
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[This information taken from Genetic Roulette by: Jeffrey M. Smith page-37].For more information on Jerry Rosman's case: http://www.cropchoice.com/leadstryb7be.html?recid=1661
Click this link to check this book out on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Genetic-Roulette-Documented-Genetically-Engineered/dp/0972966528/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316215355&sr=8-1
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