Monsanto-Funded Front Group Fights Milk Labeling

A new "grassroots" farmers group with close ties to Monsanto has been formed to push for bans on labels that notify consumers they are buying milk from cows untreated with artificial bovine growth hormone (RGBH). Monsanto makes RGBH, or Posilac, which is injected into cows to make them produce more milk. The front group American Farmers for the Advancement and Conservation of Technology (AFACT), which receives funding from Monsanto, was organized by Osborne & Barr, an agri-marketing firm started by two former Monsanto employees in 1988. The founding client of Osborne & Barr was Monsanto. Consultant Monty G. Miller of Estes Park, Colorado, also helped organize AFACT, which was formally launched in California in February 2008. The only contact information AFACT lists on its website is a fax number listed as belonging to "Outer Office." Outer Office provides secretarial and operational support (such as scheduling, newsletters and message-taking) to small consulting businesses. A call to Outer Office seeking the address and telephone contact information for AFACT was not returned.