A decade ago, any development regarding Monsanto Corp. and its milk-boosting synthetic hormone BGH would have made headlines all across the dairy state.

But a ruling by federal regulators last week against the agricultural products giant barely made the business pages.

For those who missed it, the Federal Trade Commission turned down a request from Monsanto to stop dairy companies from advertising their milk as free of synthetic hormones.

The genetically-engineered hormone, technically known as recombinant bovine somatotropin or rBST, had created a firestorm around Wisconsin and the State Capitol in the early 1990s.

A cause-minded state senator named Russ Feingold of Middleton had pushed for requiring mandatory labels on dairy products from cows injected with the hormone. The idea was to protect Wisconsin's family farmers and consumers from a then-unknown product, sort of like the fight against oleo margarine here in the 1960s.

Monsanto, seeing Wisconsin as a battleground state for rollout of its genetically engineered hormone that triggered cattle to produce up to 10 percent more milk, worked overtime to block the effort.

Then Gov. Tommy Thompson was wise enough to stay on the sidelines, saying it was a national issue that needed to be settled by the feds.

Both politicians have since moved on and rBST has largely disappeared as an issue in a state where some 14,000 dairy farms of all shapes and sizes remain in operation.

But St. Louis-based Monsanto, which markets the hormone under the brand name Posilac, has continued to push the FTC to investigate companies that advertise their milk as free of synthetic hormones.

One ad from national dairy leader Borden says: "We work exclusively with farmers that supply 100 percent of our milk from cows that haven't been treated with artificial hormones. So, who do you trust when it comes to your family's milk?"

Monsanto has claimed those types of ads mislead consumers into thinking that milk from cows not treated with rBST is healthier or safer than dairy products from cows treated with the hormone. Indeed, it's impossible to tell the difference in chemical testing.

But the FTC said Borden's ad and other dairy ads were fair since they did not claim milk from cows injected with Posilac was unsafe. Mark Kastel of the Cornucopia Institute, an organic foods advocate who was active in the initial rBST fight in Wisconsin, said he was absolutely stunned by the ruling.

"How come some federal regulators are acting in the interest of the citizenry?" he quipped. "First we had the legal action against the merger between Whole Foods and Wild Oats and now the FTC confirming that consumers have the right to intelligently choose their food products. What gives?"

All sarcasm aside, the decision against Monsanto comes as Starbucks coffee said it would stop using the milk from cows treated with rBST.

The developments leave one wondering about the future of Posilac, which is already banned in Europe and Canada in part over opposition to genetically modified foods and fears it leaves dairy cows more prone to illness.

The issue has died down in the U.S. largely because food producers have been responding to consumer concerns about the purity of milk. Witness the growth of operations like Organic Valley in La Farge. Even mainstream grocery chains like Safeway and Kroger Co., have also switched to milk free of synthetic hormones.

Monsanto officials maintain the issue all along has been "accuracy in labeling" but have admitted that pressure from retailers for milk free of synthetic hormones could limit long-term demand for Posilac.

But the company isn't shedding too many tears over the FTC milk ruling.

Investors remain bullish, with shares of Monsanto (MON) trading near their 52-week high of $70. The company had a gross profit of some $3.5 billion last year.

And late last week, regulators in Argentina OK'd use of Monsanto's genetically modified seed corn that contains both an insect protection trait and an herbicide resistant trait.

In other words, Monsanto won't be backing down from its effort to market genetically engineered products worldwide as long as there is money to be made.