24 Comments

  1. CBS completely botched this story.

    1. Tif 85 is NOT a GM grass. No GM grassed are approved in the US. This is a normal hybrid which was developed at the University of Georgia.

    2. Cyanide production by forage grasses during drought conditions is a common and well known phenomena. Basic agricultural technology known to everyone who works in the field.

    Basically this story is an indication of lack of science literacy and fact checking in media today. It doesn't have ANYTHING to do with GM.

    1. Anonymous says:

      And I bet you work for Monsanto? Paid commenter to try and cover it up?

    2. Looks like it's true, it's a hybrid not genetically modified. However, every source said it was genetically modified, so nobody did their research. I remember when every station spent the money to research in death before they ran a story, now they all print the same story they get from spin rooms.

    3. Anonymous says:

      They didn't botch the story, they just didn't tell the whole story. Cyanide is common in some grasses during drought conditions, however there is more to this. This grass is now emitting cyanide in large porportions even during a healthy moisture conditions.There is a cover up because this is happening on several farms, all with tifton85. It seems the sygenta the lab who crossed this grass,crossed it with an african grass that was very vervacious but emitted deadly cyanide in any conditions. Their scientists believed they bred out the cyanide poduction. Apparently after several gernerations of crossing in the fields the tifton 85 resorted back to the capability of producing cyanide from the African strain. I live in Central Texas and raise cattle. We have always been aware of certain grasses that accumulate cyanide during droughts, but this is unusual and much more dramatic. The African grass is deadly at any state! Wait untill this happens to more food. It's already happening to corn also. Livestock is dying everywhere!

      1. So after many years of growing all over the US it all of a sudden is a giant cyanide problem under normal growing conditions?

        ????

        Hard to believe. Is there an actual news report of this?

        Also, I'm wondering where you are getting information this is a product of Sygenta. Google Tifton 85 and you end up at University of Georgia.

        Sorry if I don't just accept what you are saying but I'm a fact checking sort of guy. Which is how I found all the problems with the CBS story.

    4. Eric, You are correct. Upon further research, it appears that the grass, Tifton 85 is NOT GMO. Here is some info: "Although we call Tifton 85 a bermudagrass, it is a cross between a bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) and a close tropical relative characterized by a more upright growth than coastal called stargrass (Cynodon nlemfuensis);"

      http://cflag.ifas.ufl.edu/documents/2007EquineIns

    5. Joan Hull says:

      ERIC: Wrong….there is genetically modified grass….produced by Scotts and others….a bag of lawn seeds I bought said genetically modified so I returned them….Scotts has several lawsuits against the company because of this…seeds blown around to a neighbor's grass….I won't use them….my dog eats the grass sometimes and he would be ingesting the chemicals. Get educated on this matter…..Our dictator even gave Monsanto permission to plant GMO soybeans in our Wild Refuges.

      Joan

    6. Soildancer says:

      Yes, and if you check back through Phytopathology to perhaps 1970 -1972, you'll see reference to Dr.Everett S. Luttrel regarding the occurrence of Helminthosporum fungi with Tiftway Bermuda — associated with cattle death in Georgia

  2. I've only recently begun to check this website, and this is already the third time I have come across an article that has been poorly researched and is frankly misleading. I'm surprised that such an established news site can get such simple facts wrong, namely the fact that there is no GM grass on the market at all. Are you honestly taking CBS at its word? It is already difficult enough to find out what agribusinesses are up to. Work like this discredits the real evidence on the dangers of GMOs, and undermines campaign work that is desperately trying to bring the mainstream debate on GMO's back into the real world. Check your facts before you publish please.

  3. Dave Kimble says:

    And it was first released to market in 1983. Now 29 years later all of a sudden its poisonous and GM.

    1. yankee phil says:

      The scientists researching the grass say it seems to be a mutation of the GM. Please read the entire article, if your not a native english speaker then find someone to help you with the translation of the text.

  4. Kenneth Smith says:

    Joan Hull. I am very much interested and concerned about this article. I have been researching Monsanto for 6 or 7 years now and this is the first time I have heard of this. I have a close friend whose last name is also Hull. Could be your related? My email is ksfreedom@mail.com Like to stay in touch if its ok. Let me know.

    1. Soildancer says:

      Quite commonly, particularly among Tift Grasses, the fungus Helminthosporium is found to be the culprit causing cattle death. I'm no fan of Monsanto, but there are other possibilities.

  5. For what this is worth, I want to bring your attention to a newsperson from WPIX named LIONEL who has got to be one of the very few who actually speaks the TRUTH. Not one of your usual PRESSTITUTES or "Ted Baxter media sock puppets". Wow, what a concept! And for the last 8 months have been sending him articles and links and my own issues with the likes of MONSANTO, GMO's, toxic pesticides, herbicides, the entire issue, and he has so far devoted three commentaries on New York News channel 11 on this issue. Many can be viewed in their website or on You Tube. Doing what I can to wake the sheep up…

  6. You may be interested in this statement from the University of Georgia – academic institution highly involved in bermudagrass research and by far the people most familiar with the grass – http://wp.me/pTIK1-1lI

  7. You know King Obama passed some sort of law protecting Monsanto.

  8. Lousy attitude, fella. Testing done over the years since introduction, over and over, has shown many detrimental effects of Roundup. Would you rather we turn our backs on the reality of this toxicity? Remember also that Monsanto has lobbied furiously pro-Roundup and Obama has taken a shine toward them, probably due to campaign contributions. Also, a Monsanto official was put into some part of Obama’s cabinet. No conflict of interest, right?

    1. Nathan Gamble says:

      This is nothing to do with roundup. He’s talking about the grass species, not pesticide.

      It might be “roundup ready”, but that just means it’s resistant to it. Yeah, roundup is toxic, duh, it’s a weedkiller. It’s supposed to be toxic. The issue here is the grass, not pesticide.

  9. Nathan Gamble says:

    It’s not GM, retard. Do your research.

  10. Nathan Gamble says:

    “No they do not, the idea of “a mutation of the GM” doesn’t make any biological sense in itself”

    -Me. A scientist.

  11. MONSANTO; “BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY”
    maybe, maybe not….

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