Agricultural News
Biotechnology Offers Society Tremendous Benefits As Used in Animal Agriculture
Thu, 18 Apr 2013 04:15:42 CDT
The breeding of dairy and beef cattle, hogs and even poultry have all been aided tremendously for decades by biotechnology- according to University of California-Davis Professor Dr. Alison Van Eenennenaam. Her definition of "biotechnology" is the use of any technology to aid in the advancement of a living organism. She includes well accepted practices like artificial insemination which have been used since the 1940s in livestock.
Dr. Van Eenennenaam is our guest on today's Beef Buzz. She describes the fears that were in place when AI was first being adopted- of the talk of animals that would be somehow unnatural being created. She equates the fears found in the early years of AI to today's unfounded fears of genetically enhanced technology. She points out that billions of meals of genetically modified crops have been eaten in the more than twenty years since GMOs have been in commercial use- and that the fears of "what if" have never come to pass as there has never been a documented case of a person becoming ill from eating a meal that has plant material that is genetically enhanced.
Farm Director Ron Hays talked with Dr. Van Eenennenaam during the 2013 Annual Conference of the National Institute for Animal Agriculture.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network- but is also a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show- and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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