a C2-lancaster Firming, Saturday, December 10,1988 Pennsylvania Bull Senior Champ At American Royal *4* - Utrillo, a January 1986 Slammer son, was named senior champion bull at the recent American Royal In Kansas City. Earlier in the week the bull, owned by Bittersweet Sal ers in West Grove and Shadow Ranch in Del Norte, Colo., captured the reserve divi sional title at the Eastern Regional in Louisville. The Royal is the Central Regional Sal ers Show, one of five regional shows sanctioned by the American Salers Association. Swine Brucellosis WASHINGTON, D.C.— “Thirty years ago, when I was a young practitioner, brucellosis posed a personal danger to every veterinarian who worked with swine and cattle,” says Dr. Mitch Essey, who now works for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “I know this from personal experience,” says Essey. “One day I was working with a cow that had difficulty calving. Suddenly the cow strained, and fluid from her uterus sprayed into both my eyes. The herd was infected with brucel losis, and I knew I was likely to get very sick.” What Essey feared was undulant fever, the common name for brucellosis in humans. His fear was justified. He was seriously ill for two years and still suffers an occasional relapse. Brucellosis is an infectious bac terial disease. In cattle and swine, infected females abort or give birth to weak offspring. State and feder al governments cooperate on era dicating brucellosis in both kinds of livestock. The plan to finish the cattle brucellosis eradication program has received considerable atten tion. Similar progress also is being made in the swine program but with less fanfare, according to Essey, who currcndy coordinates that eradication effort as staff vet erinarian for USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. In 1962, when the slate-federal swine brucellosis eradication program had its official start, almost 6 percent of the swine lots tested were positive. The program focused on eliminating brucellosis from swine herds selling breeding stock, which dramatically reduced the spread of brucellosis. Today, the infection rate is down to about .03 percent. Most veterinarians practicing today have never encountered the dis ease. Known cases are confined to a few pockets of infection, located mostly in the southeast. In fact, 17 states plus Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands haven’t reported a single case in the last 10 years. “The two hardest steps in an eradication program are the first and the last,” Essey says. “The first 4 % r To Final Eradication step, organizing the porgram, is boosted by enthusiasm. The last step, ferreting out undetected infection, is impeded by compla cency. At this point, we must look harder for the disease in states that have not yet been declared free of infection.” At the 1986 meeting of the U.S. Animal Health Association, offi cials decided to put special effort into completing the last step. They agreed on a five-year plan, with a deadline of Sept. 30, 1991, for gathering positive evidence so that no remnants of the causative bac teria lie smouldering in today’s swine herds. The program categorizes each state on its level of participation. The top category, Stage 111, con- le Rarlck > pi .'e-' ig purebn named reserve champion bred and owned female and reserve champion female of the Junior show at the Eastern National Livestock Show In Timonlum, Md. Kenlanne and her heifer, KSR Ladybird, have won several other titles this year, en abling Kenianneto win the Bronze Award from the American Simmental Association. The award Is based on the person’s knowledge of beef cattle, specifically Slmmentals, and promotion of the Simmental breed. ♦ . ■v \ * 1 ■’ y- * * Countdown Berks County Girls Wins National Award tains 32 states plus Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, which already are validated brucellosis free. In Stage 11, there arc six states actively engaged in a testing prog ram leading to validation. Stage I includes nine states that have not yet started systematic testing. Only three states remain uncategorized because they have not yet entered the program. “Help from an unexpected source has boosted the program in several states,” Esscy says. “These states started to eradicate another swine disease, pseudorabies, and they found that brucellosis and pseudorabies tests could be con ducted on the same blood sample with little extra effort.” (Turn to Pago C 4) Some Considerations On Handling And Storing Drought Stressed Corn For Poultry According to the November 1988 Crop Report, the U.S. com crop for 1988 is down 34 percent to 4.67 billion bushels from 7.06 bushels in 1987. The all time high for com harvested in the U.S. was 1985 at 8.87 billion bushels. For Pennsylvania, the com crop in 1988 is down 36 percent to 61.4 million bushels from 95.4 million bushels last year. Yields per acre this year in PA averaged 62 bushels compared to 90 last year. The all time high for com harvest in PA was in bushels per acre. For Pennsylvania this means that at least one-half or more of the com will have to be imported in order to maintain the present ani mal and poultry populations. Because the drought was nation wide, corn will have to be imported from further away, thus ultimately increasing feed costs for PA producers. Regardless, most of this year’s com, either locally pro duced or imported, probably will be drought stressed. Drought-damaged com is usual ly softer and will break easily as compared to normal com. Usually the proportion of soft white starch to hard yellow starch will be high er. Test weights per bushel will average two to five pounds lighter Lowdown on Layers by Owen Keene Associate Professor of Poultry Science Penn State University than non-damaged com. However, the feed value on a weight basis should be equal or better than nor mal com. Nutrient content could vary more than normal, therefore nutritional analysis of com used as feed would be a wise investment Stress increases the chance for mold invasions. If com appears moldy, have it tested for toxins, primarily aflatoxins and the tri chothecenes (T 2 and vomitoxin). FDA prohibits the interstate trans portation of com containing more than 20 ppb (parts per billion) afla toxin, if the com is to be used for human food or feeding dairy ani mals or immature animals, includ ing poultry. Com containing less than 100 ppb aflatoxin can be shipped if it is to be fed to breeding cattle, swine, Or adult poultry. Com containing less than 200 ppb aflatoxin can be shipped if it is to be used to feed finishing pigs and, less than 300 ppb if it is to be used to finish beef catde. Producers should be aware that it is illegal}#) blend aflatoxin-contaminated coflj with uncontaminated com. How-, ever, because the com crop is so small this year, FDA will prpbabjjf allow some blending. Molds will attack broken kernels; screening and cleaning out the fines arjdhro ken com kernels is method of reducingnmycotoxin concentrations. Drought-stressed com will be more difficult to dry and more energy will be needed. Again, con sider cleaning before drying, parti cularly if a low temperature is used. If grain gels hot (above 140 degrees Fahrenheit) during drying, breaking potential increases. Improve the chances for better quality grain by avoiding rapid transition between heated and cooled air. Other considerations are to combine in-bin cooling with mechanical drying procedures, or combining high and low tempera ture mechanical drying. Drought-damaged com will be more prone to breakage, so handle it as little as possible. Avoid grain impacts on mclal or concrete surfaces. During storage, monitor the temperature and moisture of drought-stressed com weekly. Do not attempt tp economise on aera tion for temperature control. Stressed com should be stored at a moisture level at least one percent below sound com, given the same temperature conditions. When you use com from the storage bin, look for clumping where spoilage has occurred. These areas should be discarded and not used for feed. Remember, this year feed prices will be high and com quality will be generally poor. Poor quality com can be used as long as you know it’s quality and how to handle it.
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