F36-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, January 9,1993
I
I
Livestock Notes
(Continued from Page F 35)
hours) and use of antiproslaglan
dins and oxytocin may be your
best assets. One must question the
use of any antibiotics and anti
inflammatory agents. Frequent
milking is essential. The rumen
has also stopped functioning, so
restarting the rumen with another
cow’s cud or similar products may
be valuable to restoring appetite.
The acute infection occurred
because of an unsanitary environ
ment. Use of drugs will never
solve an environment problem,
but new bedding and an active
manure removal program may
prevent the problem.
Certainly, the three examples
do not come close to covering all
possible situations, but I did not
intend to cover all situations. My
point is very simple. If it is it a
Strep, ag. infection, why ar you
treating it? Why keep looking for
a magic drug? There arc none.
Instead, identify the organism
causing the problem and change
your management program to pre
vent the problem.
The cost of lactation therapy is
very high with little or no benefit
Lactation therapy also results in a
false security as clinical signs
seem to disappear after therapy
but the bacteria is still present. A
CMT tester DHI SCC run 2-3
weeks after treatment will tell far
mers of the high failure rate of lac
tation therapy.
The extensive use of antibiotics
not only increases risk of addition
al mammary gland infections, but
also increases the risk of antibiotic
residues in milk and meat. The
dairy industry has and will be
more closely monitoring milk sup
plies for residues starting January
1. 1992.
In summary, lactation therapy
for organisms other then Strep, ag.
is not cost effective nor effica
cious. Reliance on therapy only
delays implementation of a masti
tis prevention and control prog
ram. Mastitis problems can be sol
ved thorugh good management.
Lactation therapy should be used
as a management tool and not to
hide management problems. Next -
time you grab a syringe containing
antibiotics to treat mastitis ask
yourself why am I doing this and
will it benefit the cow and my cash
flow?
Lamb and Wool Marketing
A new resource is available to
aid sheep producers in the direct
marketing of lamb and wool. Dr.
Steve Umberger, Sheep Specialist
at VPI and SU has recently pub
lished a guide entitled “Direct
Marketing Lambs and Wool to the
Public."
If you are interested in this
publication, call or write Umber
ger at: VPI & SU, Department of
Animal Science, Blacksburg, VA
24061, (703) 231-9159.
William R. Henning
Penn State Animal Services
A new anti-beef book entitled
“Beyond Beef' by Jeremy Rifkin
will be released soon. The fact that
Rifkin is the author increases the
chances that the media will quote
from the book. He is a well-known
activist and a compelling spokes
person. You may recall his previ
ous efforts to prevent the use of
BST. Now, he has attacked the
cattle industry and the cattle
culture.
The book certainly supports the
premise of many activists that
Americans should “eat lower on
the food chain.” If one word could
be used to describe the motive of
the book, it is vegetarianism.
"Beyond Beef," subtitled “The
Rise and Fall of the Cattle Cul
ture," represents a total and com
plete elimination of the cattle
industry worldwide. Cattle are
referred to as the second most
destructive force on earth sec
ond only to the automobile.
“Cattle literally threaten the
future of the earth,” asserts the
author.
The book is highly critical of
USDA meat inspection, conclud
ing that their Seal of approval
offers no protection to the public
from contaminated meat. It also
contains a section on the diet
disease allegations surrounding
fat and cholesterol. It doesn’t con
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tain any new material on these
subjects, although the section on
meat inspection is quite vivid and
will probably be effective in creat
ing a negative image among
readers.
Endangered Livestock:
Swine
Swine provide more animal
protein for human diets globally
than any other animal except poul
try. Yet swine breeds (along with
poultry) are the most endangered
of all livestock, both in North
America and around the world.
Some dramatic facts have been
turned up by the 1990-1991
American Minor Breeds Conser
vancy (AMBC) livestock census.
There is only one North American
herd of Gloucester Old Spot pigs,
and only three herds of Large
Blacks. Both breeds are globally
threatened.
Two herds of Saddleback
swine, a breed thought extinct,
were discovered as part of the cen
sus research.
Other facts:
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• There may be as few as five
breeders of traditional Berkshires
in the United States and Canada.
• The number of Ossabow
Island pigs has increased on the
mainland, but the future of the
Island population is far from
secure.
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• Red Watlle/Waddle pigs have
three registries, but only one
would give information to the
telephone census inquiry. The
response was not encouraging.
Fewer than 50 pigs were regis
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registrations are doing real good.
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The very small number of
breeders for several breeds of pigs
is even more compelling when
received in the context of the
information gathered in the
AMBC member-funded extinc
tion project published in 1991. Of
the dozen breeds which have dis
appeared in the last century, eight
were breeds of swine.
As the pork industry becomes
even more specialized and inten
sive, the variability between
breeds is reduced. This means less
diversity within breeds and less
diversity between breeds.
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