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Use And Implications Of Bovinesomatotropin For The Wisconsin Dairy Sector In The 1990s, B. Barham, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith, S. Moon

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Seven years have passed since the U.S. government approved the commercial use of recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST), a synthetic relative of a naturally-occurring growth hormone that stimulates milk production in cows. Prior to approval, national controversy over rBST, more popularly known as BGH (bovine growth hormone), raged for almost a decade (Barham, 1996). Opponents and proponents alike envisioned rBST as a juggernaut technology, one that would change the dairy industry in dramatic ways, first and foremost by substantially raising herd productivity and overall milk production and then perhaps by driving away consumers from dairy products. With these concerns in mind, …