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A farmer appeal (Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2003 -- guest commentary) --
by Jerry Rosman
I am an Iowa farmer who has farmed all his life. My hog breeding
operation in Harlan, Iowa, about an hour west of Des Moines, used to
one of the most successful in the area. But in the year 2000, reproductive
rates of swine dropped terribly because of a problem called pseudopregnancy
that might be related to the corn I fed to the animals. My cattle had
problems conceiving too.
I'd like to know what happened. More importantly, a narrow-minded
judicial court is forcing the sale of this corn and I am concerned that it not
hurt my neighbors. This is also a problem that other farmers have suffered,
so I would like to see someone figure out what the true cause of the problem
is so it can be avoided in the future. I am writing to appeal for your
help in obtaining the corn for research before it is destroyed either directly
or by the inaction of the USDA.
I talked to my local veterinarian who could not identify the source of
the problem. I then talked university and government researchers. The
best they say, it was the corn that was problem, but not exactly why.
USDA's Mark Rasmussen at the Animal Disease Center in Ames wrote back in
August, "One possible cause of this problem may be the presence of an
unanticipated, biologically active, chemical compound within the corn." He
also
wrote, "Animal reproduction studies, especially with swine, will require
considerable quantities of the corn." The USDA has not been willing to buy
the
corn needed for these studies and after losing my hog operation, I
can't afford to hold onto it much longer.
Other scientists have stepped forward and are seeking to do research on
this corn. What I and the other effected farmers found was that if you
feed this
corn to the animals, the problem shows up, if you feed them a different
corn, the
problem does not show up. Presently I am the only one with the large
quantities of this corn to do the proper testing trials. If the corn is
lost, the research is
lost also.
If you can help to buy some or all of this corn, I'd appreciate any
help you can give, and I am sure that other farmers who avoid the problem
because of it will appreciate it too.
Sincerely,
Jerry Rosman
Note: You can buy a few bushels of Jerry's corn by sending a
check to him. The spot price of corn on Feb. 6
was $2.25 per bushel. | |
