Health
IConUmMd (torn Pip l|
cattle re-tested," he em
phasized, "otherwise it's a
game of Russian roulette."
According to Guss, some
cows have been sold in
Pennsylvania for dairy
purposes which had been
branded on the check with a
'b' for brucellosis. He
revealed that one Penn
sylvania cattle dealer has
been responsible for half of
the herds in the state which
- - riding DAIRY i
charts sold unlawfully
were depopulated because of
Bang’s disease.
In spite of the charges,
Guss defended the Bureau of
Animal Industry in the
Commonwealth as "the best
we’ve ever had." He believes
strongly that there is a
tremendous opportunity
available for farmers
because of the healthy,
purebred animals raised in
the state. Furthermore, he
would like to sec disease-free
goha certified aa such, tor
example, and challenged the
Industry to bring it about.
"Because of the unique
position we have in the
numbers of healthy
livestock, we should exploit
this," he suggested. Nothing
that Pennsylvania has more
purebred Yorkshires than
any other state, and more
purebred Holsteins than
Wisconsin, he proclaimed
that a cooperative effort
should be started to promote
"this unique thing."
Guss mentioned several
disease which Penn
sylvanians should be on the
look-out for and made a
couple of suggestions to help
overcome them.
Testing is one method he
strongly recommends for
keeping herds healthy and
Pennsylvania on top health
wise. Vaccination is another.
A form of cancer in dairy
cattle is infecting as many as
20 per cent of the dairy cows
in some parts of Wisonsm,
Guss warned. Another
disease to beware of is
Johna’s disease, which
reportedly has the potential
to destroy a herd in a very
short time. Mastitis and
infectious bovine rhinitis
(IBR) weren’t overlooked.
Guss termed the first as “the
most expensive cattle
disease we have," and the
latter as “the most serious.”
The number one disease in
swine is mange, according to
Guss. An effective way to
detect it early is to examine
the ears. “Unfortunately it
isn’t detected very often - we
think it’s natural for a pig to
scratch himself that much,”
the veterinarian stated. He
observed that the disease
was especially strong in
northern counties.
Swine dysentery is con
fined to animals which had
been brought into Penn
sylvania from the Midwest,
and “we’re in awfully good
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(Henry K. Fisher)
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday, Nov. 8.1975
shape as far as this one is
concerned," Guss related.
Metabolic disease are on the
rise and “the present
problem," he continued.
“The ’ milk quality
program has literally gone
down the drain," Guss
revealed, and according to
him, “no effort is being
made by cither government
or the industry to upgrade
requirements.”
He believes that maybe
farmers would be moved to
do something about it if the
resulting milk losses (due to
mastitis) can be made clear
to them. Don Ace, dairy
specialist from Penn State
who also spoke at the
meeting, noted that an
800,000 leucocyte count cuts
production by about 20 per
cent, and at 1.5 million
(when the dairy complains
and threatens to cut the
producer off) the loss is
more than a third.
Both Guss and Ace
revealed that a new somatic
cell tester is being tried out
at the University and it may
be a valuable tool in
detecting mastitis
(especially sub-clinical
cases) directly from the
DHIA samples at some time
in the future. “This somatic
cell tester offers great
possibilities for us,” Guss
remarked.
Another research
development which has
some potential in reducing
cattle disorders is a strand of
alfalfa with a balanced
calcium-phosphorus ratio.
“We’re really excited about
it and believe it would be of
great benefit to farmers,"
the retiring veterinarian
exclamied.
Parasites and breeding
problems are two other
areas of animal health Guss
commented on. As far as
worms are concerned, Guss
said medicines are a good
tool, but not the complete
answer.
Breeding problems have a
variety of causes, but the
“biggest new problem in this
area is the farmer-breeder,”
Guss said. After a short
pause, he added: “And I
don’t know how to handle it.”
According to his findings,
some herds have turned into
disasters because of farmers
not knowing how to breed a
cow properly. At one point
Guss asked the audience if it
could be that an entire
generation of dairymen may
have emerged who do not
even know the signs of heat
in cows. One fellow in the
group interrupted with:
“Maybe farmers never did
know, but in the old days the
bull knew.”
Guss claimed that at one
farm 160 cows were bred and
out of that number five
conceived - “and these were
purely accidental,” he ad
ded. “The farmer was killing
the sperm before he even got
it into the cow.”
In concluding his remarks,
Guss reminded the audience
once more of the importance
of testing cows, vaccinating
against IBR, and controlling
mastitis.
Rare plants
donated
Channel 12, the Delaware
Valley’s public television
station, will have help from
many public gardens and
arboreta in the area for its
auction the week of
November 8-15, 1975. Rare
plants, including orchids,
hollys, azaleas and confiers’
gardening study courses; a
scholarship to a summer
gardening program for a
child; even a personalized
tour through Longwood
Gardens by a high official of
the staff will be donated to
the station for auction at its
fall fund-raising event.
-THRIVE CENTERS
17