Western Ranchman now carries ORGANIC LAY PELLETS

Julie July 8, 2010 at 1:28pm

If you're wanting Organic and affordable, our price for PPG member is $23.50 for 50 pounds of lay pellets and $24.50 for 50 pounds of organic starter/grower crumbles.

Monica June 20, 2010 at 8:39am

I bought some of the Western Ranchman Organic layer pellets and they were terrific, nice and fresh, no powder in the bag, and it smells good too. I did notice it has 16% protein, which is a little lower than OH Crouse but the bags are lighter and easier for me to handle too.

Debbie Fishell > Monica June 20, 2010 at 10:42am

When my current feed runs out I'm going to try it. My hens have slowed down their egg laying in the past couple of weeks and lower protein won't change anything. I suppliment with kitchen scraps anyway. I have a broody hen, so I let her have 6 eggs to hatch, just for fun. :) Oh yea, in case you're wondering - I do have a rooster. He's not too loud and I ok'ed it with my neighbors when he started to crow.

Rachel June 20, 2010 at 12:07am

http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?type=simple;c=ecfr;cc...

This link is what you get when you search the www.ams.usda.gov organic policy. It comes from the exact same site you looked at. Like city code, it's a long list of regulations you just have to be thorough. It is very definite that GMO's are prohibited by USDA organic standards.

Debbie Fishell > Rachel June 20, 2010 at 11:02am

Thank-you both for sharing your research on this topic. Sometimes I think these regulations are so convoluted that it's really just left up to interpretation. I understand that GMO is definetly not in organic products, according to the info you quoted, but that is only the 100% or 95% organic, right? If a label reads “made with organic ingredients” it only needs to be 70% organic and can have 30% whatever. I would have assumed that phrase meant is was 100% organic and I would have been wrong. I may just be a skeptic... I think all we can do at this point is go with organic and hope for the best. Thanks again for digging into this!

Rachel June 19, 2010 at 6:13pm

Debbie- In this country no one is required to label GMO's, which is why you should always buy organic. It's safe to assume that anything in the grocery store or feed store not labeled organic does contain GMOs.

Chris, please stop stirring this pot. GMO's are NOT permitted under USDA organic guidelines, here is a quote directly from the USDA federal regulatory code:

Excluded methods. A variety of methods used to genetically modify organisms or influence their growth and development by means that are not possible under natural conditions or processes and are not considered compatible with organic production. Such methods include cell fusion, microencapsulation and macroencapsulation, and recombinant DNA technology (including gene deletion, gene doubling, introducing a foreign gene, and changing the positions of genes when achieved by recombinant DNA technology). Such methods do not include the use of traditional breeding, conjugation, fermentation, hybridization, in vitro fertilization, or tissue culture.

Rachel June 19, 2010 at 8:23am

Organic standards in North America aren't supposed to permit GMOs. I know I've signed tons of OCA petitions about keeping them out, so it must be written in the guidelines somewhere. I just wrote O.H. Kruse, the miller of the organic available to us here and asked them how they verify their soy is GMO free. I'll keep you posted with whatever response I may get.

Rachel > Rachel June 21, 2010 at 11:44am

Here is the response I got from OH Kruse when I emailed them asking about the soy in their feed:

In talking to our supplier , there is no problem in the GMO concerns with the
soybeans. It will pass any test taken with the product.

Thanks
Jeff Moore
Debbie Fishell > Rachel June 19, 2010 at 10:36am

Wow, you all are well informed! I'm glad someone has the time to actually read and try to decipher the government regulations. Of course, then you have to trust that they are being followed...which is why we are trying our best to control our own personal environments, food & water sources, etc. I've heard most corn is also GMO, so I only buy organic and hope for the best. I'm not sure GMO products are heavily regulated in the US, and what about products coming from other countries? There are some powerful (Monsanto) groups behind the GMO process. I do see labels on some items in the supermarkets like TJ's and Sprouts that specifically say 'no GMO', but I think that is voluntary. Who verifies it? Is there a requirement for seeds that farmers buy to say GMO, if they are? I am interested in whatever you find out about the links between organic and GMO products, thanks for researching it!!! :)
Debbie Fishell > Debbie Fishell June 19, 2010 at 4:52pm

If they use no pesticides and only organic fertilizer on the GMO crops, is it organic? Sounds like they can get away with it that way. Seems to me GMO can be "organic" according to what I'm hearing. But, are they required to label a product GMO?

Micro Livestock

Western Ranchman now carries ORGANIC LAY PELLETS

Replies