10—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 29, 1972
Editor's Note: Lancaster Farming begins
a new series of articles this week as guest
editorials. Featured will be agri
businessmen, farmers, farm organizations,
and youth.
We urge any or all of you to contribute
your thoughts, ideas and opinions. Maybe
your past experience with a problem and
how you successfully solved it may be the
key to anothers problems and the answer,
or the partial answer.
The first article this week is contributed
by Dr. Emmett I. Robertson, director of
nutrition with John W. Eshelman & Sons
Lancaster.
Feed Additives
Much has been said and written about
feed additives during the past two
decades. These technological tools or
man-made hazards, depending on one's
point of view are again in the news. Now
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has
proposed eliminating feed use of a sizable
number of antibiotics and combinations
unless their safety and efficacy are re
established. Otherwise, such compounds
may be used only on prescription of a
veterinarian. This is the gist of the FDA
Task Force Report that was released in
February of this year.
FDA commissioner, Dr. Charles C. Ed
wards, appointed a 15-member Task Force
Committee with Dr. C. D. Van Houweling,
director of Bureau of Veterinary Medicine
as chairman. After 20 months of study, this
committee rendered its report early this
year.
To render judgment based on facts
rather than fears or prejudices that have
been created by the uninformed or the
misinformed, let’s review about 20 years of
history and worldwide experience of using
these technological tools in animal feeding.
Prior to 1950, coccidiosis was the bane of
every chicken raiser. Losses in broilers
usually were 10 to 20 per cent, sometimes
higher, and lowered performance of sur
vivors also. It took 12 to 14 weeks to get
broilers to marketable weight.
Replacement pullets often were per
manently injured by scar tissue, preventing
sustained egg production after housing
Sulfaqumoxaline, developed by Merck &
Co., was approved by FDA and feed
manufacturers obtained new drug ap
plications (NDA) after submitting data
showing effectiveness of the compound
and the feed manufacturer’s ability to
accurately mix one-fourth pound of
compound in a ton of feed.
Since this breakthrough in preventive
medication, there has been a series of
effective coccidiostats and other com
pounds that have permitted broiler
production to become our most efficient
industry in converting feed to food to
provide quality meat within means of all
consumers. While there have been
tremendous advances in genetics anc
nutrition, maintaining health by
preventive medication from antibiotics and
UNCASTER FARMING
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Guest
Editorial
Dr. Emmett I. Robertson
other compounds has provided benefits to
all consumers.
The conclusions of the Task Force Report
to limit use of antibiotics in feeds and to
require safety and efficacy of compounds
to be reestablished on criteria not yet
established by FDA, yet permit such
compounds to be added to feed by
veterinarians’ prescription, has raised
many questions. Scientists in academic
institutions, industry, and in government
service question the reported imminent
danger of developing drug resistance m
bacteria from continuous feeding of low
level of antibiotics to animals. Instead, drug
resistance in bacteria may more likely be
caused by their use in hospitals.
The American Feed Manufacturers
Association, through its anitbiotic com
mittee of which the writer is a member, has
filed comments voicing its concern on the
“apparent intent of a bare majority (eight
of the 15) of the Task Force to eliminate
without sound documentation a long
established and successful approach of
using disease prevention in preference to
disease treatment as a means of promoting
animal health and the economic production
of high quality foods of animal origin.”
More than 20 years of widespread ex
perience have demonstrated that present
practices of preventing disease, promoting
growth, and improving feed efficiency
(documented in the Task Force Report) is
more efficient than allowing disease to
develop before action is taken. It was
pointed out that therapeutic ad
ministration of antibacterial agents
directly to humans or animals could be the
greatest and possibly the only significant
source of any antibacterial resistance that
might pose a hazard to human and animal
health. It appears unwise to abandon a
system that has proven itself over a period
of 20 years of disease prevention in favor
of a system with inherent problems that
may result in less supervision than at
present.
Follow Recommendations
What are present safeguards on use of
antibiotics and other feed additives
(collectively termed “drugs") that feed
manufacturers and feed users must
follow? Before any new compound can be
included in feed, the feed manufacturer
must submit and obtain approval of a new
drug application from Food and Drug
Administration. This in essence is a permit
to manufacture a medicated feed and the
feed manufacturer must describe the
procedure used in purchasing drugs,
maintaining a “drug room” under
supervision of a mill superintendent, ac
counting for the use of the compounds,
maintain laboratory facilities for testing,
and prepare medicated feed tags showing
the purpose of the compound, the active
drug ingredient, feeding directions and
withdrawal of the medicated feed before
marketing, if that be required.
(Continued un Jfage 13)
Questions Raised
s
To Plant Proper
Corn Population
The com planting season is at
hand and when weather permits
many acres of this important
grain crop will go into the ground.
Growers are urged to take time
to study the planting rate wanted
on their fields and be sure the
planter will drop the right
amount. Allowance should be
made for some mortality from
birds, insects, and poor ger
mination. The idea should be to
plant thick enough to get the
number of matured plants per
acre and not the number of
kernels dropped per acre. (10 to
15 per cent seed loss can be ex
pected). The com population
should be matched with the
fertility of the field. The 1972
Agronomy Guide gives some
very useful information regar
ding com planting rates. Plan
ters should be operated slow
enough to permit the com to be
dropped accurately.
To Cut Forages at
Proper Maturity
One of the most important
things to do in order to get quality
hay or silage is to cut the forage
crop when it is at its peak of feed
nutrients. This will vary ac
cording to the crop but growers
are urged to obtain data regar
ding the best time to cut. Winter
rye is growing rapidly and if it is
to be made into silage, it should
be cut at heading time; other
small grains are best in the
blossom stage. Grasses are best
at heading time. Most all forage
crops should be wilted to get rid
of excess moisture.
To Prevent Soil Erosion
Every land owner should adopt
EXPENSIVE
LOYALTY!
Lesson for April 30,1972
Background Scriptur*. Luka 24-45-49:
John 17 4-23; Acts 13:1-3
Davalianal loading; John 17 11-26.
In Foochow, China, according
to E. Stanley Jones, there are
three graves side by side all bear
ing the same last name. Two of
these mark the burial place of
two daughters of an Australian
widow. They came to Foochow as
Christian mission
aries and were
murdered to stop
the work of Christ
in that area.
Oan you ima
gine the feelings
c of this mother
when she received the news that
both her children had been killed
in a senseless crime? There was
nothing more left of her family
but herself. Surely she had given
enough to Christ!
Apparently the Australian wi
dow did not think so, for at the
age of «2 she sold all she had
and went to Foochow, not for re
venge or even justice, but to
learn the language and give the
remaining years of her life teach
ing school for J*sus Christ in that
The widow knew that her life
was committed to the Master.
Therefore she sent her daughters
to China instead of her good
wishes and intentions. Later, in
stead of money, she sent herself.
Her loyalty to Jesus Christ was
expensive. The three tombstones
in the Foochow cemetery offer
mute testimony to that fact.
The cost of sending the gospel
into the world is high. Jesus paid
with his life and he warned his
disciples' that they should be pre
pared to pay the same cost. Jesus
prayed: “As thou didst send me
into the world, so I have sent
them into the world" (John 17:
18). There is no cut-rate bargain
basement way of spreading the
good news of Jesus Christ. There
never will be.
‘‘While they were
The writer of Acts tells us that
“While they (the disciples) were
worshipping the Lord and fast
ing, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set
apart for me Barnabas and Saul
for the work to which I have
caUed them” (13.2). You might
say, “How wonderful that God
spoke to them in that way!” Yet
that experience is not so rare as
we might think. Don’t you think
God speaks to us that way while
we are worshipping him? He
does, you know, even though we
may not listen to him. He is
speaking to you, but you may not
want to pay the price.
How much is
“enough?”
Ml •uttlnM CMyrifhtad by th«
DlvWm *f Christian Ewcsmii, Naliwwl
Cauncil si ths Church** *f Christ In th* U.SA
R*l*as*ri by Community Pr*w Sarvlc*.)
practices that will prevent the
soil and water from running off of
the land. This is not only true for
farmers but for developers,
builders, and contractors. We
often see areas of land that are
left open for several months after
all construction is finished. The
effort should be to get a ground
cover (sod) on the land just as
soon as possible. Many tons of silt
are washed into our streams,
which is pollution, that does not
come from farm land. Steep
slopes should be covered with
sod, crown vetch, or honeysuckle
plants. When water is allowed to
run down slopes that do not have
any vegetative cover then we
have soil erosion and eventually
stream pollution.
To Be Careful With
Lawn Mowers
The lawn mowing season has
arrived and everyone should
realize the danger of mowers and
especially rotary mowers. These
sharp blades are turning very
rapidly and can pick up objects
and throw them through windows
or into human beings. All owners
are urged to clean up their area
of all objects every time before
they mow in order to prevent
accidents. Children should be
warned about the dangers of
these rotating blades and to keep
all parts of the body out of reach.
On steep terraces or banks the
rotary mower should be used
carefully in order to keep toes
and feet out from under the
blades. Riding mowers should go
up and down steep slopes rather
than risk upsetting from going
across the slopes. Be very
carefull with all rotary mowers:
haste and carelessness will
result in possible injury.
hostile land. She had given him a
great deal already, but because
she was committed to Christ with
out reservation, she thought in
terms of Christ’s need, not her'
own loss
worshipping ”