Genetically modified grass (not) blamed for mass cattle deaths in Texas

Originally posted by roadgravel
Hydrogen cyanide (with the historical common name of Prussic acid) is a chemical compound with chemical formula HCN.

Formation in grasses is not new.

Most of our medicines come from plants also....but i've never seen anyone or anything die within hours of taking walk from a poisonous gas....

Maybe i'm wrong...from wikipedia;

In plants, cyanides are usually bound to sugar molecules in the form of cyanogenic glycosides and defend the plant against herbivores.

It really is time we stopped talking and started doing something about this.

This is real people!! They really are poisoning ALL of us.

What are we going to do about it ???

Probably nothing. At least not untill it's too late and it won't matter. At this point people are only concerned about money. Making more and spending less.

Know what I'm doing? Having burgers for dinner.

It's eating the grass that did the killing. Is the gassing actually true and backed with info?

I don't think most Americans see Monsanto as bad as they don't really pay attention.

reply to post by EvanB


chicken poo

reply to post by stanguilles7



Thx for the extra info! I wrote this thread up quick before heading out to a party, didn't get time to fully check out other resources! I appreciate it! This is why I love ATS! I've said it before but its like an impromtu think-tank with energized and motivated people throughout the world! Love IT!

reply to post by type0civ


Sugar molecules you say? I still think there be a man made link between this and this newly discovered meat allergy. Not to protein but to sugars. If the plants are using the sugars to produce chemicals to defend themselves... not saying it is this grass and this made made debacle but may be another man made monstrosity. also possibly the ticks that have fed off animals who have been tampered with or have been eating adulterated grass or feed. Sorry being lazy I should link to the ATS thread on it. I will hunt it down and add a link.

Originally posted by roadgravel
The grass is a hybrid. I think someone just added the GM tag to a story, for whatever reason. (We can speculate as to why someone would)

I looked at your link, It says Hybrid.. yet all the news stories, including the CBS one, all state it is GMO?! Maybe your story calls it Hybrid to get away from the GM label? OR maybe it is a Hybrid, and was spliced or whatever.. Im sure if you spliced genes from one or more other grass varieties to combine the 'best' characteristics of the varieties... I guarantee they don't do what Mendel did with his pea plants... That would take too long. That to me is a true Non-GMO Hybrid.. he used nature to gain the characteristics he wanted. In his case, and again I am speculating, I would assume that they splice genes, infuse enzymes, etc etc to gain the characteristics.. It would bypass the countless pairings that Mendel did. I think only a monk like Mendel would have the patience to do that! haha besides he wasn't in it for the money, whereas the companies creating GMO stuff aren't doing it for the research of it.. its for the moolah!

more info on Gregor Mendel - Its pretty interesting if you don't know much about it
en.wikipedia.org...

People could look at sites with info on forage grasses and get background info.

No Tifton 85 at my place, mostly native grass and some comman bermuda and bahia.

Given the large number of cattle in Texas, this is one incident. Texas A&M does warn ranchers to have forages tested at times to monitor levels of prussic acid and nitrogen.

Fabulous. And when this grass finds its way around to nearby cities, states, countries, what then?
this toxic grass is unstoppable because there will be absolutely NO critter that will eat it.
thanx Monsanto... when they write the epitath for this planet, i hope they give Monsanto and their GMO
crap full credit.

reply to post by Nspekta


Given the long list of Tifton # grasses, this development has been going on for a long time. I tend to doubt the lab gene splicing process but I really can't say for sure. Maybe something will turn up to set the record straight.

reply to post by stanguilles7


I got my information regarding the Tifton grass from the report published by the university that was involved with its development.

Droughty sands does not refer to drought. It refers to sand/soil that does not hold moisture and is difficult to grow in, if I remember my gardening information correctly. While the plant did prove to be more "drought resistant" I did not read in the report that drought resistant was a primary factor of the research. If I am mistaken I am sorry.

BTW, why would semantics upset you so much? I did make the point later in my post that unprecidented drought might not have been planned for. It was an observation only, not meant to be scientific gospel.

reply to post by jaguarsky


You stated this wasnt developed for drought. I gave you several sources that show it was indeed developed specifically for drought conditions in east texas, to correct your claim. I have no interest in a pissing match. I'll let the sources speak for themselves.

Originally posted by arufon
Fabulous. And when this grass finds its way around to nearby cities, states, countries, what then?
this toxic grass is unstoppable because there will be absolutely NO critter that will eat it.
thanx Monsanto..

Because people who hate Monsanto will blame them for things they didnt even do.

In the light of "denying ignorance", it must be pointed out once again that although Monsanto arent saints, this particular grass has nothing to do with them whatsoever.
(Which you'd know if you actually read the thread before pounding off a knee-jerk reaction post)

Don't most of the pasture grasses have some level of laetriles/nitrilosides/B-17? That would be the source of the cyanide. Maybe they stumbled upon a buried patch of decaying grasses and it released a deadly gas.
Surely the meat itself is safe. I don't think the poison gas would be wafting up from a grill or frying pan. If the cattle were fattened up on the B-17 rich grasses, that's the choice cut you're looking for.

We eat foods daily that could create cyanide. Don't panic.

A great read from biochemist Ernst Krebs from 1970
The Nitrilosides ( Vitamin B-17 ) - Their Nature, Occurence and Metabolic Significance (Antineoplastic Vitamin B-17)

I think GMO foods do have some problems, and the companies are pretty much scumbags. But, let's think 100, 200, 1000 years into the future. Do you really think that we won't be eating some kind of GMOs? Even artificial designer foods are inevitable. How about in vitro meats and vegetables? No one on this entire forum will have a positive view of these things. I for one think it is the future, so we may as well get on with it. Of course GMOs need a lot of work, but this stuff is brand new really. A few decades. This is not even infancy. This is like zygote stage. As humans do with everything,we will get better and better at making foods better and better. And the masses will fight it all the way. Unfortunately it will take a few generations to get over it. So once all of us are dead, then the real great things will come out of it. OK, now ya'll can go ahead and crucify me as you see fit, as I know you will. Sincerely, Chris

Originally posted by alfa1

Originally posted by arufon
Fabulous. And when this grass finds its way around to nearby cities, states, countries, what then?
this toxic grass is unstoppable because there will be absolutely NO critter that will eat it.
thanx Monsanto..

Because people who hate Monsanto will blame them for things they didnt even do.

In the light of "denying ignorance", it must be pointed out once again that although Monsanto arent saints, this particular grass has nothing to do with them whatsoever.
(Which you'd know if you actually read the thread before pounding off a knee-jerk reaction post)

Very true.. When writing the thread i checked out to see if Monsanto had created this grass, turns out it wasn't them. I think the thing is Monsanto appears to be the 'face' of GMO foods/plants/etc and people automatically assume... which is wrong in this case, HOWEVER this does involve Monsanto as their products have issues as well. I agree that jumping to conclusions and assuming without reading is not denying ingnorance. But, to me people getting upset at ANY GM producer facilitiates discussion and increases awareness and motivation to seek the truth.
Thx for the post!

Originally posted by Vandelay Industries
I think GMO foods do have some problems, and the companies are pretty much scumbags. But, let's think 100, 200, 1000 years into the future. Do you really think that we won't be eating some kind of GMOs? Even artificial designer foods are inevitable. How about in vitro meats and vegetables? No one on this entire forum will have a positive view of these things. I for one think it is the future, so we may as well get on with it. Of course GMOs need a lot of work, but this stuff is brand new really. A few decades. This is not even infancy. This is like zygote stage. As humans do with everything,we will get better and better at making foods better and better. And the masses will fight it all the way. Unfortunately it will take a few generations to get over it. So once all of us are dead, then the real great things will come out of it. OK, now ya'll can go ahead and crucify me as you see fit, as I know you will. Sincerely, Chris

Thx for the post..
My concern is the testing and experimenting on an us! Its like the FDA, there must be human trials at some point on drugs and such BUT after much animal and other testing to ensure its safe, or relatively safe. Now, The FDA doesn;t have the best track record (Gardisil, etc) but the example is what i'm trying to get across. There may be safe GMO's however, as you pointed out, in the infancy/zygote stage, this should not be allowed to be tested without limits!

In the Netherlands we use gmo grass
Cant do anything about it, my uncle even uses it.
He says when the cows eat that grass they produce more milk, cause that grass has more sugers in it.

I am sick of al this gmo crap. The balance of NATURE must be restored.
Law of nature is the rule, not playing GOD.

reply to post by Nspekta


The bottom line is that you cannot mess with Mother Nature. These so-called "scientists" who think they can do one better than God best think twice. One thing these scientists don't have is a contingency plan for all possible outcomes; nature does. How long before GMO's start killing people by the thousands before it's caught? It will happen. It's just a question of when.

And the really horrific part is that because the government is in bed with these criminal corporations, they will cover for them and allow the blame to be placed elsewhere. Just like weather modification; eventually it will go horribly wrong only because these people are so full of themselves

This thread makes me think of the Martian Red Weed from War of the Worlds that ends up crowding out all other plant life on Earth