Milk-boosting hormone at center of controversy

After more than a decade since its original approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Monsanto’s recombinant protein hormone — formulated to help dairy cows produce more milk — is under fire.

The hormone, Posilac, is a form of recombinant bovine somatotropin. BST is naturally produced in dairy cows as a trigger to produce milk.

Posilac was approved for use in dairy cows to get more milk during their natural lactation cycle.

The use of the rBST originally was approved by the FDA in November of 1993 and has been widely used across the United States, as well as several other countries.

But in recent years, dairy cooperatives have asked their producers to stop using the hormone in order to sell rBST-free milk.

The cooperatives said their buyers have requested the specific order. These buyers said their customers have spoken up and asked for the hormone-free milk.

“But the reality is that in milk you have over 25 hormones, and a lot of consumers aren’t aware of that,” said Kevin Holloway, president of Monsanto Animal Agriculture

The strangest factor about the rBST-free request, however, is that science has proven time and again there’s no difference in the milk that comes from cows treated with Posilac and milk from cows that are not treated.

Due to labeling by some bottlers, which marks some milk as being rBST-free, Monsanto said consumers and producers get confused because it implies one kind of milk is better than another.

“There are retailers that are sharing with consumers or building the perception that there is good milk and bad milk – and, quite honestly, milk is milk, and we all know this,” Holloway said.

Even though several states are home to cooperatives that have asked their producers to stop using Monsanto’s product, Holloway said the company hasn’t seen any fall in demand.

“As we look at the sales from our fiscal year last year compared to the orders that are on the books this forthcoming year, they exceed what we sold all of last year,” he said. “That tells me that producers are very supportive of the product and our business.”

Producers may be supportive of the product, but that didn’t stop companies such as Kroger and Dean’s from deciding to be rBST-free with their liquid milk supply by February.

Many of the cooperatives to which Indiana’s producers belong asked their members to sign an affidavit to clarify they will no longer use rBST in their herd. The reason producers have to promise not to use Posilac is because there’s no test that can be done to prove these producers are or are not boosting their milk supply with the hormone.

“When this occurs with cooperatives, most producers are asking for a choice with their cooperatives,” Holloway said.

“Where we have seen the process work is where the cooperative is capable of satisfying the rBST-free requirement and on the other side of that, producers still retain their freedom of choice.”

“Yes, there are retailers asking for rBST-free milk. But let’s be cognoscente of the fact that fluid milk, which people are going to drink, represents roughly about 25 percent of the 182 billion pounds of milk that is produced in the marketplace a year. As a result of that, there is only some portion of that 25 percent that is rBST-free,” he clarified.

While Holloway didn’t seem concerned the company would suffer if Hoosier dairy producers quit using their Posilac, he did say Monsanto had an obvious interest in why retailers are requesting the rBST-free milk. The labeling issue, he said, is bigger than just rBST.

“False and misleading labeling is not just an issue relative to Posilac,” he stressed.

“It is also a lot broader, and, yes, we are concerned — and producers share this with us — about how people could be building perceptions around good milk/bad milk when the reality is of the situation is that all milk is healthy.

“The other side of it, too, is that producers are asking us to try, and also our peers in the industry, to be an advocate in support of this.

“And I think the most important thing is that producers themselves have to communicate effectively with retailers and share their concern about losing valuable technology and also how they are positioning milk in the category within the stores.”

Asking producers to speak up for themselves and fight for their right to use a safe technology is Monsanto’s strategy for combating the uprising of rBST opponents.

Holloway said producers need to not only be good and respected stewards in their communities, but they need to be sharing their message at every opportunity – even if that means winning over one person at a time.

“That’s the challenge we have when we start talking about educating our consumers, I think it starts in the home,” he said.

“We are asking our sales people to be advocates in their communities, but its almost belly-to-belly discussion by individuals that is going to get us to the right place.”

Monsanto is also a member of several organizations that promote milk and that educate consumers on the importance of getting the required amount of dairy a day — whether that is organic, rBST-free or conventional dairy products, he added.

“We are listening to our customer base. We’re supporting them in areas around advocacy and asking them to participate and be a part of that,” Holloway said.

“We feel very good about how producers are voting, and that’s based on the sales that we are fortunately receiving in the business, and we feel good about the next 12 months based on the orders that are in the books.”

He added that when farmers are able to produce more with less, as is the case with rBST, the environment wins, too.

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Milk-boosting hormone at center of controversy