DB-Lancaster Farming Saturday, May 12,1990
Livestock Notes
Wool Pool Update
The directors of the Berks
County Sheep and Wool Growers
rejected the wool pool bid of 400
per pound at the State Wool Sale
recently. The directors have met
and have reviewed a number of
options which will be decided at
the annual meeting on May 10th.
The options include
• Not having a Berks County
wool pool in 1990.
• Having a pool on June 30 or
July 28.
• Having a pool in the fall.
• Wool could be taken to other
markets. If a pool is held under #2
and #3, there is no guarantee the
price would be higher than the 400
bid received at the state sale.
If a pool is held later this year, it
is essential that wool be stored
properly.
Animal Rightists
Use New Tactic
Reports from California note
animal rights activists are turning
to law enforcement officials to
execute their program. The Cali
fornia Cattlemen’s Association
relates that four of its members
were cited by the Los Angeles
Department of Animal Control for
failure to provide their cattle with
“shelter and protection from the
weather.” The citations carry up to
a $5,000 fine and jail if the offense
is found to be willful.
PA. Hampshire
Field Day
For anyone interested in Hamp
shires, the annual field day will be
held on:
Date: May 19, 1990; Time:
10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.; Place: Blu-
Acre Farm, home of the Brubaker
and Fleener families near Robeso
nia; Program: Judging contest,
marketing lamb and breeding
lamb evaluation, breed association
meeting, and speakers on health
issues; Lunch: Sandwiches and
drink will be provided. Please
bring covered dish, place setting
and chairs.
Beware Of
Toxoplasmosis
Lots of cats and confined sheep
(ewes and feeder lambs) do not
mix well, especially when cattf
the warmth of a hay feeder
the convenience of ground
as a substitute sand box.
sect
and
feed
A couple reports have indicated
the possibility of sheep abortions
because of toxoplasmosis parasite.
For a ewe to abort from toxoplas
mosis, she must contract it when
she is pregnant. After the first
infection, the ewe will not abort
again, even if reinfected.
Symptoms include loss of appe
tite, weakness, difficult breathing
with stillborn, or birth of weak
lambs. In young lambs, much the
same symptoms occur, but some
muscular incoordination and sub-
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sequent death can result, primarily
from starvation.
Sheep contract toxoplasmosis
by eating oocysts, the egg-like
form of the parasite, in contami
nated feed or water. Cats are the
only animals known to pass the
parasite in their feces. They con
tract the parasite from eating other
infected animals.
No effective vaccine or cure for
toxoplasmosis is known.
. To prevent the disease, reduce
the amount of toxoplasmosis by
avoiding contamination of sheep
feed and water with cat feces, and
by preventing cats from eating
raw meat
Pregnancy-Testing
Ewes
Several methods of pregnancy
testing ewes have been evaluated
at the experiment station of
Dubois, Idaho. Some of these
methods are available to sheep
producers now. Others could be
available soon.
A. Pregmatic 3:
The Pregmatic 3 is a simple and
affordable ultrasonic device that
could be used by any properly
trained technician. The overall
accuracy of the device is 97 per
cent when it is used in mature
ewes at day-51 or later of gesta
tion. Some studies have shown the
error rate to be as high as 52 per
cent if ewes are tested before
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day-60 of pregnancy. Accuracy is
directly related to the gestation
stage at which the animals are
tested.
B. Real-Time Ultrasonic
Scanning:
An accuracy of 100 percent has
been reported with this device
when ewes are tested between 36
and 93 days of gestation. This
method is also quite accurate in
diagnosing twins or triplets. The
main problem with this device is
its cost. Nevertheless, a wool pool
or other organization could pur
chase the device and hire a techni
cian. The cost per producer and
per ewe could be minimized in
this manner.
C. PSPB (Pregnancy-specific
protein B) blood testing:
PSPB has been isolated from
bovine' placental membranes. A
valid, sensitive radio
immunoassay has been developed
to measure PSPB in bovine blood
and has been shown to be a reli
able test for pregnancy testing
cows. This test has been adapted
for use in sheep and has proven to
be 100 percent accurate in ewes
after day-30 of gestation. The test
also shows some promise in
detecting twins or triplets. At the
present time, the procedure is to
take a blood sample from each
ewe and send it to the lab. It is
anticipated that in the future the
PSPB test will be conducted by
placing a dipstick or test strip into
a few drops of blood and observ
ing a color change.
Pregnancy testing in large com
mercial flocks may be impractical.
Nevertheless, there are several
large commercial operations north
of Utah that are pregnancy testing
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ewe lambs on a regular basis. In
addition, pregnancy rates in older
ewes are reasonably high. Howev
er, rates in flocks of ewe lambs are
often near or less than 50 percent.
Pregnancy testing may not be eco
nomically important in the former
case, but in the latter there may be
a considerable advantage. An
NCGA, Others
Payment Limitations
WASHINGTON, D.C. The
National Com Growers Associa
tion (NCGA) and other agricultur
al organizations recently asked
Congress to reject any new
attempts to target farm program
benefits or impose new means
tests for program participants.
“Such efforts to limit payments
would prove to be damaging to
those who are intended beneficiar
ies the typical commercial
sized family farm and would
redder our farm programs ineffec
tive,” the groups said in a letter to
members of both the House and
Senate Agriculture Committees.
Rep. Dick Armey (D-TX) has
proposed ending program pay
ments for farmers with adjusted
gross incomes of $lOO,OOO or
more. The House Agriculture
Committee will also consider a
form of targeting a 40,000
bushel limit on indexed target
prices for com proposed by Rep.
Tim Penny (D-MN).
The groups argued against
Armey’s proposal because:
• Gross income does not necessar
ily correlate with profitability.
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owner could cull non-pregnant
ewe lambs early and still sell them
at lamb prices. If the owner waits
until after the lambing season, the
animals must be sold at ewe prices
and the advantage is not realized.
Sources:
Provo Sheep News and Veterin
ary News, Nov. 1989.
Oppose
• Income measures will affect
producers of commodities such as
livestock differently from crop
producers.
• This type of limit will dis
courage diversification of the
fanning operation at a time when
much of the policy direction for
consideration and environmental
purposes would enourage more
integrated production practices.
• Large producers who are
forced out of the program will
grow additional quantities of these
crops and disrupt the production
adjustment objectives of the prog
ram. Those still in the program
will pay the cost in terms of higher
set-aside requirements.
Co-signing the letter with
NCGA were the American Farm
Bureau Federation, American
Soybean Association, National
Association of Wheat Growers,
National Cattlemen’s Association,
National Cotton Council, National
Council of Farmer Cooperatives,
National Milk Producers Federa
tion, National Pork Producers
Council, and Rice Growers Legi
sl .live Group.
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