http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/news-37/120085616698430.xml&storylist=cleveland1/20/2008, 2:03 p.m. EST
The Associated Press
WOOSTER, Ohio (AP) — Dairy farmers throughout Ohio are being pressured to stop using a synthetic hormone that boosts milk production in cows, angering large-dairy farmers who claim the move will reduce profits and increase retail milk prices.
Recombinant bovine somatotropin, or rBST, is banned in Canada and Europe, primarily due to concerns that it leaves cows more prone to illness. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration insists the hormone is safe and the agency approved rBST to boost production in dairy cows in 1993.
Still, many consumers concerned about possible safety risks are choosing milk that is free of synthetic hormones. A growing number of retailers, including grocery chains Safeway and Kroger Co., have begun selling it.
As the market for milk from cows using the hormone dries up, Dairy Farmers of America has asked its nearly 790 members in Ohio to stop using rBST, and Dairy Marketing Services, which markets milk for about 575 independent producers in Ohio, has told farmers that they must sign an affidavit promising not to use the hormone or it won't pick up their milk...