I am generally a proponent for Genetically Modified produce. I believe that m...

Jefferey Cave - 2012-06-30 10:39:02-0400 - Updated: 2012-06-30 10:48:13-0400

I am generally a proponent for Genetically Modified produce. I believe that modern technology has been responsible for a boom in population (modern medicine) and technology is our only hope for producing sufficient food to feed those masses. Having said that, there are risks associated with this technology. In this case, a product with 15 years of field usage, suddenly started producing cyanide.

I continue to stand by GM research. This scenario does not require GM to have occured. One of the grasses from which genetics were taken is a known cyanide producer. A careful program of breeding would have produced a product that delivered all of the benefits of a hardy grass without the side effect of cyanide production. GM technology was simply used to jump-start the process. That the plant would revert to its old cyanide producing ways could have happened no matter how the plant was prodcued.

This is not a problem with GM. This plant would have been produced through selective breeding if GM technology were not available. This appears to be a two-fold problem: an unexpected throw-back to an earlier generation of plant, triggered by inappropriate field rotation.

An abstract describing the production of cyanide (cyanogenesis) in African grasses due to overgrazing:
http://www.tropical-biology.org/admin/documents/pdf_files/Kenyaabstracts/KENYA-PLANT%20ECOLOGY.pdf

Grass linked to Texas cattle deaths - CBS News

Tracy S - 2012-07-09 11:35:22-0400

So does this mean anyone inheriting these lands into the future will need to keep a log book of how their paddocks are used to ensure it's use is appropriate?

Jefferey Cave - 2012-07-09 11:43:07-0400

I would hope they already are keeping track of their pastures.

In my region, farmers already rotate their pasture on a set schedule (either memorized or written), and regularly inspect (for weeds, grass health, and quantity of grass), to ensure they are not over grazing the pasture. Without cyanogenic grass, over-grazing leads to loss of nutrient in the grass and therefore sick cattle. The ranchers I have met manage this either through pasture rotation, decreasing the number of cattle on the pasture, or (I suspect) going out of business. The introduction of a cyanogenic grass certainly adds a new thing to watch for.

Jefferey Cave - 2012-07-09 11:45:50-0400

Interestingly, one of the weeds that needs to be watched for in my region is Henbane. It was originally introduced from Europe by ranchers to poison their cattle. The poison causes the cattle to get sleepy which helps fatten them up. This is no longer desirable so ranchers now treat it as a noxious weed.

Future generations of farmers will need to decide how to treat this introduced grass.

Tracy S - 2012-07-09 11:54:16-0400

I guess I just get concerned about the idea that it must be the farmers fault for inappropriate rotation rather than focusing on the fact that grass itself was subject to throw back under harsh conditions. History sometimes has a funny way of forgetting things if you wait long enough.

Jefferey Cave - 2012-07-09 12:00:10-0400 - Updated: 2012-07-09 14:47:51-0400

+Tracy S, I am going to suspend judgement until I know what the "harsh conditions" were, and what caused them. Drought and over-grazing look an awful lot alike to the grass.

I'm not trying to indicate any fault at all. I'm more concerned with cause, effect, and consequences. Did the farmer know about the effect of overgrazing with this grass (no, nobody did)? What will the farmer do now that he does know? Is this an undesirable trait, if managed properly? Can it be managed properly at all?

Tracy S - 2012-07-09 18:06:29-0400

I'll bet it is potentially quite worrying for those who own those types of properties. It is one more factor to juggle around the overall limits of their properties. I was under the impression they had identified drought as the culprit but you might know more about the situation locally than what I have read.

Jefferey Cave - 2012-07-09 18:21:54-0400

I am not local, to the situation. Had they identified drought? I thought it was drought tolerance that they were trying to breed in, that was why I thought it was potentially over grazing. Drought would be another good explanation.

I don't know anything about this situation. I'm speculating. My concern would be that people jump on the "GM = Death" angle, and it seems a little more complex than that.

Tracy S - 2012-07-09 18:34:48-0400

Well certainly drought as one of the culprits. I'm thinking everyone is still speculating. Ultimately it still leavers property owners with unusable land and some potentially very rigid boundaries about how they can use their land under emergency conditions in the future. If a single poor rotation in combination with drought can leave a property unusable then farmers may start to have less and less options to tide them over between difficult times. They may all have to start grazing in the long paddock.