Vol. 11, No. 1, March 2001
With spring just around the corner, it's a time to reflect on the coming agricultural season. As we ponder, permit me to share this story with you.
One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry. He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal, he asked for a drink of water.
She thought he looked hungry, so brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly, and then asked, "How much do I owe you?"
"You don't owe me anything," she replied. "Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness."
He said, "Then I thank you from my heart." As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt strong physically, but his faith in God and man was strong also. He had been ready to give up and quit.
Years later, that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease. Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes. Immediately he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room.
Dressed in his doctor's gown, he went in to see her. He recognized her at once. He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day he gave special attention to the case. After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to him for approval.
He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge and the bill was sent to her room. She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill.
She read these words... "PAID IN FULL WITH ONE GLASS OF MILK" (signed) Dr. Howard Kelly.
Tears of joy flooded her eyes as her happy heart prayed: "Thank you, God, that Your love has spread abroad through human hearts and hands."
(Used by permission of Maitreya - http://mysticalguide.com)
Regards,
J.W. Schroeder
Extension Dairy Specialist
"My cows are not milking the way they should. Why?" This is a frequent question from dairy farmers to extension dairymen, nutritionists, consultants, feed salesman, co-op reps and neighbors. There is often no simple or obvious answer. One must ask and answer several questions hoping to eliminate possibilities and find an answer.
Some questions to consider to make sure cows are getting the nutrients to support milk production are the following:
Look at the calculated ration that is supposed to be fed to the cows. Next test the ration that is being delivered to the cows. Is it different? Then test the feed ingredients that are going into the ration, especially the forages and by-products. The nutrient composition of these feeds will vary greatly. If the ration delivered is the same as the calculated ration, then test what the cows are eating. Test the weigh back to see if the cows are sorting the ration. For example, are they leaving the longer forage particles? Also check the delivery system to make sure that the ration is not over mixed or is deposited in the bunk separately so cows eating at one end of the bunk are eating more carbohydrates than the cows at the other end.
If the ration is correct, make sure the cows are eating the amount calculated. If they are not eating enough, then the nutrients will not support the level of milk production desired. How much feed is wasted? Are the cows spilling feed? Feed disappearance is not the same as feed eaten.
Watch the cows. Do they want to eat? Is feed available, or are there periods when cows can not find feed? Is there adequate bunk space for cows to eat? Twenty-four inches per cow is recommended. Eighteen inches is minimal. Do timid cows not find any place to eat? Do cows have time to eat or are you moving them frequently? Are cows standing in the wash pen for hours when they could be eating? Is the feed clean or is there old moldy feed in the bottom of the feed trough?
Is plenty of fresh clean water available? Are water troughs located so cows can get to them? Your water system may be fine for the cool months but can not handle the added need of the summer months. Are some water troughs located so only a few cows use them?
Observe the cows body conditions. Check cows in different stages of lactation. Are the cows on target? Are a lot of the cows in late lactation? Are you feeding them for 75 pounds of milk when they should be dried off?
Do your facilities encourage your cows to eat? Are there areas of the bunk where cows eat only when it is the only feed left? Does wind, rain, or sun keep cows out of feeding areas? Can cows get around or do two cows at the water tank block passage?
There are other questions, but this is a good start. There often is not a simple answer to the question, "Why are my cows not milking like I expect?"
Adapted from L.O. Ely, Extension Dairy Scientist, Univ. of Georgia
Cause: Unknown; possibly tissue trauma due to cold weather stress on teat tissue (tissue hydration).
Predisposing factors: Sudden drop in temperature (warm to cold). Teat and animal stress.
Characteristics: Triggered by sudden drop in temperature. Self-curing after teat acclimates to conditions (cold weather). Mastitis (secondary bacterial infection) increases as evidenced by cows with increased somatic cell counts.
Identification/Visual signs: Manually turn up teat ends to observe tissue around teat opening.
Initially winter teat-end lesions appear as a small crack on the teat end, sometimes accompanied by a small, white circular or horseshoe-shaped ring around teat opening. As the lesion worsens, eversion (turning inside out) or protrusion of teat end with vertical cracking followed by a dark scabbing over/inside teat orifice. Some winter teat-end lesions will not avert, only scab on the teat end. Appearance of these lesions may be confused with mild frostbite.
Prevention/Control:
- Prevent/control spread of secondary bacterial infections.
- Keep teats healthy and soft.
- Minimize stress, esp. teat ends.
Teat care: Avoid washing teats in cold weather, if possible. Washing removes natural oil from the teat and the washing/drying action can be abrasive. Blot teats dry instead of rubbing to minimize irritation. Consider using a pre-dip, as it is passive and bathes all areas of the teat and lesion. When using a pre-dip, it is very important to dry teats prior to milking to avoid milk residues. Post-dip teats with an effective germicide that also contains maximum skin conditioning potential. Choose teat dips that have been clinically proven to be effective. It is preferable to use a commercial teat dip containing 5%-10% skin conditioners (or one that provides the equivalent conditioning potential). Do not add extra skin conditioner to commercial dips as this may inactivate the germicidal properties or alter the overall product effectiveness. Use salves sparingly as they provide an excellent spread mechanism to all cows' teats via greasy hands and can result in greasy milking equipment.
Source: L. Timms, Extension Dairy Specialist, Iowa State University
The recent feedlot incident in Texas has strived a lot of hub-bub about the safety of beef consumed in this country and abroad. Here's an update on the status of mad-cow disease or BSF (bovine spongiform encephalopathy).
Early last month, the FDA confirmed that over 1,200 head of feedlot cattle had been fed ruminant-derived meat and bone meal in direct violation of the ruminant to ruminant feeding ban on meat and bone meal which has been in place in the U.S. for about four years. In this case, the violation was reported voluntarily by the feed company. Since that time, the feed company has purchased all 1,221 cattle. As a precautionary measure, these cattle will be destroyed and will not enter the food supply.
BSE is a cattle disease which causes the brain to become sponge-like. It is expressed in cattle between two and eight years old and is always fatal. The most plausible cause of the disease is a prion, a "self-replicating" protein, rather than a bacterium or virus. Meat and milk have not been shown to carry the infective agent and measures have been taken to exclude those parts known to carry the infective agent (primarily brain and nervous system tissue) from the food and feed supply.
BSE is related to several other transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), including scrapie (sheep and goats), chronic wasting disease (deer and elk), transmissible mink encephalopathy (mink), and feline spongiform encephalopathy (felines). In humans, diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), new variant-CJD, Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker syndrome (GSS), fatal familial insomnia (FFI), and Kuru are all transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.
BSE is thought to be spread in tissue from the central nervous system, some of which is present in meat and bone meal.
BSE was first observed in Great Britain in April, 1985, and was specifically diagnosed in 1986. By June, 1990, there were some 14,000 confirmed cases (out of an estimated population of 10 million cattle) in Great Britain.
Since 1986, more than 173,000 cases of BSE have been identified in Britain. The epidemic peaked in 1992-93 at almost 1,000 new cases per week. Control measures have since reduced incidence of the disease, and currently less than 100 new cases are reported per week (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Time course of epidemic bovine spongiform encephalopathy in the United Kingdom, 1986-2000, with dates of major precautionary interventions. The mammalian ban on meat and bone meal in March 1996 extended a 1994 ban for farmed food animal species to include all mammalian species. SBO = specified bovine offals (brain, spinal cord, thymus, tonsil, spleen, and intestines from cattle >6 months of age); MBM = meat and bone meal (protein residue produced by rendering). Adapted from Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy and Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease: Background, Evolution, and Current Concerns. Paul Brown, et al. 2001. CDC.
This fall, several cases of BSE were reported in western Europe, increasing consumer fears regarding food safety across the globe. To date, however, no cases of BSE have been found in the United States and the risk of BSE here is small.
Since 1989, the U.S. has prohibited importation of ruminants and most ruminant products from countries affected by BSE. A total of 496 cattle were imported from the United Kingdom and Ireland between January 1, 1981, and July, 1989. Only four of these animals are known to be alive and they are currently under quarantine and monitored by APHIS personnel.
The USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has also conducted a trace-back effort to locate each of the cattle imported from BSE affected countries between 1980 and the implementation of the importation ban in 1989. No evidence of BSE has been found in any of these animals.
Since May, 1990, the United States has had an aggressive surveillance program to ensure timely detection and response in the unlikely event that BSE is ever detected in the U.S.
As a precautionary measure, the FDA implemented a ruminant to ruminant feeding ban for meat and bone meal in December, 1997. This law prohibits the feeding of ruminant-derived meat and bone meal back to ruminants.
Also in December, 1997, APHIS banned importation of live ruminants and most ruminant products from Europe.
As of October 31, 2000, 11,700 bovine brain specimens had been examined by an ongoing BSE surveillance system in the United States, and no evidence of BSE was seen. Regularly updated numbers of bovine brain samples tested as part of the nationwide BSE surveillance program are available on the World Wide Web at: www.aphis.usda.gov/oa/bse/bsesurvey.html#charts.
APHIS continues an active surveillance program to identify potential problems. However, the beef, dairy, and feed industries need to remain vigilant to prevent any possible introduction into the United States.
(Adapted from RanchHand, February 2001, G. Lardy, NDSU)
Not just for big dairies, advisory teams help identify problems and prepare strategies for improving margins.
That's the lead-in sentence from the February 25, 2001 issue of Hoard's Dairyman, p. 135. It's a page right out of our dairy diagnostic program. As the dairy business becomes more complex, using off-farm expertise can help you identify critical from challenges to success.
We're happy to announce that we have received a third year of funding for the North Dakota Dairy Diagnostic Program (ND3P) and hope to expand our participation in the near future. If you're interested, give me a call at (701) 231-7663. In the meantime, check out the article in Hoard's.
There are now more full-time prisoners in the U.S. than there are full-time farmers. If Holland implements European environmental rules as written, it will have to reduce dairy cow numbers by 50% in the next few years (by 2004). U.S. farmers over the age of 65 outnumber those under 35 by 3 to 1.
Aventis CropScience has canceled the registration of StarLink corn and has offered to purchase the total production from the 300,000 acres of corn grown with the StarLink trait. This corn would be fed to livestock or processed into ethanol. Dennis Avery, director of global food issues at the Hudson Institute, is concerned that agriculture will lose on biotechnology issues. The reason, he says, is that the opposition is well funded and "because we're cheap, defensive and feel inferior."
Thought for the day --
Some people start with nothing and are actually able to hang on to most of it.
Dairy Connection -- Vol. 11, No. 1, March 2001
NDSU Extension Service, North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Science, and U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating. Sharon D. Anderson, Director, Fargo, North Dakota. Distributed in furtherance of the Acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, 1914. We offer our programs and facilities to all persons regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, Vietnam era veterans status, or sexual orientation; and are an equal opportunity employer. This publication will be made available in alternative formats for people with disabilities upon request, 701/231-7881.
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