High Price Of Corn Forcing Farmers To Feed Candy To Livestock

[DeSwiss]

WPSD - Local 6
Reporter - Robert Bradfield
Photojournalist - Jason Thomason
Story Updated: Mon Aug 13, 2012 5:01 PM

MAYFIELD, Ky. - At Mayfield's United Livestock Commodities, owner Joseph Watson is tweaking the recipe for success. "Just to be able to survive, we have to look at other sources for nutrition," he said.

His 1,400 cattle are no longer feeding off corn. The prices, Watson said, are too high to keep in stock. So earlier this year, he began to buy second hand candy. "It actually has a higher ratio of fat then (sic) actually feeding them straight corn," Watson said.

Which is important, because all of the cattle will be brought to slaughter. Watson wants them to gain weight and by feeding them chocolate, it gets the job done. "It's hard to believe it will work but we've already seen the results of it now, so we're pretty happy with it," he said with a smile.

Watson believes it is healthy. He monitors the cattle's daily intake and said there haven't been any health problems and the proof is in their weight.

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- They might be gaining weight eating chocolate candy, but he'll have to deduct a few dollars to cover for the cost of the dental bills, the lost teeth and the cavities. And I won't even mention the cost of cow braces.....

[hedgehog]

1. I know a farmer who feeds his pigs left over donuts!

[DeSwiss]

5. Yep. Pigs will eat just about anything. n/t

[LondonReign2]

2. It's OK, its Candy Corn

nt

[DeSwiss]

6. Ah. The Halloween candy that usually gets eaten last, if at all.

Now it makes sense that they'd have a lot of that candy leftover to feed the cows.

[Egalitarian Thug]

18. Actually it's the same as the fruit cake. There's only one bag and it's just perpetually re-gifted.

[immoderate]

3. If they drink seltzer, they can give egg creams!

Yum!

--imm

[DeSwiss]

7. That. Is. So. Funny.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

4. Hey, it's mostly HFCS anyway.

It's the next best thing to corn.

[DeSwiss]

10. Talk about a diabetic double-whammy! n/t

[bluesbassman]

8. Well then chocolate milk should be easier to come by.

[DeSwiss]

11. Pre-sweetened?

[surrealAmerican]

9. Second hand candy?

Is that "used"? Where does it come from?

[DeSwiss]

12. Probably candy that is.....

...beyond the ''sell-by'' date as well as stuff from truck crashes, and other kinds of damage during shipment.

- The weren't specific so that's just a guess....

[Scootaloo]

13. Unsold product, I imagine

Along with damaged or expired stuff. Chocolate does have a shelf life, which gets shorter the more humid it is. The fats start to separate and it gets brittle and grainy.

[4th law of robotics]

14. Lucky cows

on the plus side perhaps high grain prices will get us to rethink the way we produce cattle in this country.

[DeSwiss]

20. As for the lucky cows......

...you ever tried getting candy from in-between your teeth with hooves?

- As for the other, I doubt very much......

[sadbear]

15. The marbling in that ribeye?

Nope, not fat. It's chocolate.

[DeSwiss]

22. The only thing I think that might be worse?

Peppermint marbling in your ribeye.

[notadmblnd]

16. don't discount the medial costs of treating their onset of TYPE II Diabetes.

[DeSwiss]

24. Or they could offer.....

...cow meat candy wrapper coupons. Good for one heart by-pass or one month's supply of insulin at any emergency room in the continental US!

[obamanut2012]

17. Does this not bother anyone other than me?

There is no way that is good for the cattle. I don;t care if they are going to be slaughtered. They have a right to have a decent diet and life while still alive.

[GCP]

19. Me too

I'm lucky enough to see cows and sheep eating grass in pastures. Feeding cows something so unnatural disgusts me. I've also heard of them being fed cardboard.

[Egalitarian Thug]

21. It would but if you know cattle at all, you know that they are really quite happy about

this strange new ambrosia they're getting now. Livestock is really easy to please. Sadly(?) none of them will live long enough to feel any of the ill effects of this diet.

[snooper2]

23. I was waiting for the "who will think of the cows" post

Has anybody asked them if they like candy better?

[DeSwiss]

28. Here ya go:

[DeSwiss]

25. Yea, that's why I'm joking about it.

Because if it's too serious or requires thought and individual judgement, most people will ignore it immediately.

[font size=4]Besides, who wants hamburgers!?!?!?![/font]

Cows are ruminants, a species that evolved to eat GRASS. And ONLY GRASS. We feed them corn and soy -- and now apparently out-of-date Baby Ruths. That's one of the main reasons why we have seen such an increase in illnesses like diabetes and heart disease. But scientific ethics is a work in-progress. And meanwhile, scientists are in the pockets of BIG PHARMA.

- And they gotta push them pills, now don't they???

[catchnrelease]

26. Yes

This is why I'll be sticking with pastured beef if I'm going to eat meat. Hi grain diets are bad enough for ruminants, let alone giving them candy. Article at the link explains that these animals are meant to eat hi fiber forage or they end up with stomach ulcers and liver abscesses etc.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/05/010511074623.htm

[Joe Shlabotnik]

42. Yes. It's very disturbing and illustrative of how messed up our food system has become. n/t

[Care Acutely]

47. Yes it is. And it took just one really bad year to expose

how fragile and fucked up things have become.

What will happen with another year?

[Joe Shlabotnik]

48. they'll be feeding cattle tar sand

[fleur-de-lisa]

27. Gross . . .

Yet another reason to eat vegeterian.

[DeSwiss]

31. I'm working on it.

- Most of my meals look like this now:



YUM!

[4th law of robotics]

32. I try but there are laws preventing me

[Motown_Johnny]

29. I was expecting more chocolate milk jokes.

I guess it is just me.

[DeSwiss]

33. Yeah.... with all this political correctness.....

...you can't even make a decent chocolate milk joke anymore.

[Motown_Johnny]

35. How often do you get a set up like "Farmers feeding chocolate to their cattle" ?

[FirstLight]

44. moo?

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[bkkyosemite]

30. Right cows should eat grass

Not GMO corn anymore...now candy and he has been feedling this to his cows for months now. Just make them fat doesn't matter what it does to the quality of the beef.

Let's see I'm sensitive to caffiene and chocolate as it has caffiene in it. Does that mean that when I buy a steak it will be loaded with caffiene. I dunno.

We are being poisoned by the food crops. There is a youtube that's been out for a while now that explains what Monsanto and those like them are doing to the food supply. Corn and Soy are our main crops now. Our veggies and fruits mostly come from places like So. America and China and that is scary. The Valleys of CA have been paved over where it used to be the food basket for us. If there were a crisis in the world we would not have supplies of food here to eat. Plant your own garden and get a green house it's getting pretty bad out there. Our food is not nutrious as it was once upon a time.

[DeSwiss]

34. Exactly.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=1181351

[northoftheborder]

36. This whole thread needs to go to the DUZY list. How do you send it to Administration, again?

[Bluerthanblue]

37. this is really nothing new-

I know of at least two dairy farms who have been adding ground up "charleston chew" to their feeding ration for over 10yrs.

[Fawke Em]

38. How about feeding them grass and hay...

you know... that stuff they LIKE and are made to eat.

[Beaverhausen]

43. yeah, there's a thought

I don't eat cows anyway but still, they should be eating what their bodies are able to digest.

[demosincebirth]

39. I don't know what type of corn they feed livestock, but here in California (East Bay) they're

selling corn at Luckys Stores, 6 ears for a dollar.

[Fire Walk With Me]

40. There are five important issues behind the curtains on this one which must be known:

1. Disaster-area drought levels in over some 50% of the country. Climate change will likely see even worse results next year.

2. Already obvious food shortages as a result. Increase the drought, increase the shortage.

3. Monsanto. Too many corn crops are GMO, and they go into cola and other foods as unlabelled ingredients.

4. Lobbyists who manipulate crops and farming for profit and with no regard to human need. This will have to change and will become known/discussed.

5. Meat will become more expensive as a result of increasing feed costs.

[part man all 86]

41. Great, candy prices will go up, this is my basic food group! Now I will have to eat veggies, yuck!

[cherokeeprogressive]

45. ONE farmer... n/t

[DeSwiss]

46. Eye no.....

...I knou, spelt it worng dedn't thay? Mayed it plurul whan ti shud hav bean singilure. Nough one seams two bee Abel too spiel enymure. U knowticed???