GMO-free corn

Bye-Bye Roundup Weed Killer: GMO-Free Livestock Feed Is Here To Stay

We all want to eat naturally, to get food in the purest, healthiest form possible, but sometimes these desires are in direct conflict with a farmer’s need to produce a high yield for an ever growing consumer base. Nature is working against us in our quest to consume all-natural, as weeds and bugs attack our crops. Enter Roundup weed killer.

Those crops, in turn, need to feed our livestock, and we believe that those animals shouldn’t be stuffed full of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Hiland Naturals chicken feed, pig feed, turkey feed (and the list goes on) are GMO (and Roundup) free, and here is one reason why.

GMOs Are A Relatively New Technology

By the 1970s, farmers knew they had a weed problem. It didn’t take long for people to realize that we could use GMOs to make our crops stronger and more resilient. By 1999, the majority of seeds used worldwide were enhanced to aid in productivity, but even then, there were concerns from every corner of the planet about this technology.

One big advantage of GMOs were that they allowed us to spray pesticides on our growing food to keep the weeds and bugs at bay. Roundup weed killer produced by Monsanto has been at the forefront of this fight. While they did accomplish this task, the weeds and bugs were able to adapt, and we now have more powerful enemies to contend with—the pest problem is as rampant as ever and we have to use even more chemicals to keep them away.

So to get things straight, we’ve genetically altered our food and need to use higher doses of harsh chemicals to keep productivity high. Anyone else seeing a problem here? A catch 22 if you will?

Glyphosate Is A Problem We Fully Understand

As the argument regarding genetically modified organisms rages, the one thing we can all agree on is that GMOs enable the widespread use of glyphosate—the herbicide that kills weeds—because the GMO-fortified plants need to be strong enough to withstand the attacking chemicals. This works, in theory.

More and more Roundup weed killer needs to be used as the weeds adapt, which means that crops—and the livestock that consume them—are full of these chemicals which are toxic by design.

A German study conducted in 2014 shows us that glyphosate is making its way from plant to animal to human:

To this day, Monsanto continues to advertise its Roundup products as environmentally friendly and claims that neither animals nor humans are affected by this toxin. Environmentalists, veterinarians, medical doctors and scientists however, have raised increasing alarms about the danger of glyphosate in the animal and human food chain as well as the environment. The fact that glyphosate has been found in animals and humans is of great concern. In search for the causes of serious diseases amongst entire herds of animals in northern Germany, especially cattle, glyphosate has repeatedly been detected in the urine, feces, milk and feed of the animals. Even more alarming, glyphosate was detected in the urine of the farmers.

We know that glyphosate is harmful to humans because it kills beneficial bacterias that are essential for healthy gastrointestinal tract functions. In addition, scientists have found that harmful bacterias are able to fight against glyphosate, so ultimately the good guy loses and the bad guy wins.

Worse yet, glyphosate is understood to promote the growth of human breast cancer cells.

Glyphosate reaching the human system isn’t the only concern here either. Ingesting this toxin through chicken feed can disturb a chicken’s normal microbial community. What does this mean? Chicken feed with high levels of Glyphosate can cause the animals to carry more Salmonella and other harmful bacterias, causing the humans who eat these chickens to get sick. With all of these facts stacked up again glyphosate, why do we even bother?

Roundup Weed Killer Is Convenient For Farmers

Getting rid of weeds that have an adverse effect on crop yields is essential for farmers today who are looking to meet demand with supply. So why do we bother with glyphosate? The bottom line. Plain and simple.

Farmers need to make money just like everyone else, As urban centers grow in the United States, there’s less and less land to farm and even fewer farmers to do it than ever before. The needs of the population, however, have grown.

Farmers have become reliant on products like Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer and GMO seeds to produce large quantities of crops, and while we all want to get fed, doesn’t quality still count for something?

Mother Knows Best

Forgive us, but we really believe that Mother Nature knows what she’s doing. Fruits, vegetables, and other plants that both humans and animals consume are rich in vitamins and antioxidants that aid in keeping us all healthy. Organic food has all of the things that our bodies ask for, and when we tamper with it through genetic alterations or by adding harsh chemicals, we are sullying Mother Nature’s hard work. Why change what’s already perfect?

Choosing to feed chicken, pigs, and other animals organic livestock feed is healthier for them, the humans that ultimately consume them, and the environment. Reducing our reliance on herbicides may slow down production, but it can also keep small farmers who can’t compete with the high-quantity yields of big business farms afloat. Truly, we’d like quality over quantity any day.

One of the scariest consequences of glyphosates is cancer, and science has yet to deliver a solution for this disease. While Mother Nature hasn’t given humans a cure for cancer, she has given us a stellar way to prevent it: eat organic. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) believes that 60% of herbicides may cause cancer, so why do we continue to use them on plants that feed us and our livestock?

Nature’s been doing a pretty great job supporting us so far, I say we step back and let her handle it from here on out by feeding our livestock (and ourselves!) organic feed. It might be time to say goodbye to Roundup weed killer and other herbicides that are tainting our precious crops. GMO-free livestock feed—the healthy option—is here to stay.


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