A3O-Lancasler Farming, Saturday, March 27, 1993
Milk Producers
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Farming Staff
EPHRATA (Lancaster Co.)
One key ingredient to help ensure
milk quality and keep residues out
of the tank is to establish a good
veterinarian relationship. In the
long run, producers can protect
themselves from problems in the
future, and prevent outcries from
haulers, processors, and
consumers.
To help producers ensure milk
and dairy beef quality, a special
Quality Assurance Program was
recently begun. Established by a
committee made up of members of
the American Veterinary Medical
Association and the National Milk
Producers Federation, the program
helps dairy farmers manage the
procedures involved in the use and
application of drugs through a spe
cial Ten Critical Control Point
Program.
All 58 pages of the 10-point
program were scrutinized on Tues
day night at Ephrata High School
during a special meeting of the
Ephrata Area Young Farmers
Association with the help of Dr.
Waller K. Trumbaurer, a local
veterinarian.
Trumbaurer said that he knew of
two instances where drug residues
were found in the tank, and what
happened.
Both were caused by “depar
tures from the normal routine,” he
said.
“1 think you all have your rou
tine for the treated animal,” he
told the 30 producers present.
“You either milk her last or use a
cheater pale or separate pale.
When you break the routine, that’s
when it happens.”
In one case, a producer placed a
dry-tested cow on antibiotics with
the milking cows, and the milker
was put on by accident.
In the other, a known, tested
cow was accidentally placed in
with milking cows. The milker
was put on. The milk was going
through the pipeline, and the work
ers decided to unhook the pipes
nearest the tank, hoping to stop the
flow of the tainted milk. It didn’t
work.
In both cases, the producers
should have tested the tanks to
determine if there were antiobio
lics present, using several com
mercially available testers.
One farmer at the meeting
admitted they were pushed to get
the milking done on time, and the
cheater pale was pushed aside and
the milker accidentally put on. The
lank was contaminated. “I find the
hurrier I go, the bchinder I get,’ ’ he
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Here’s How To Control Drug Residues
All 58 pages of the 10-polnt program were scrutinized on
Tuesday night at Ephrata High School during a special
meeting of the Ephrata Area Young Farmers Association
with the help of Dr. Walter K. Trumbaurer, a local
veterinarian.
told the other farmers,
In most cases of residue prob
lems in milk, Trumbaurer said it is
only a perceived problem in the
mind of the public, not a real
problem.
“Consumers have been increas
ingly concerned about what they
eat, and the news media has been
printing reports that the food they
cal is tainted with drug residues,”
Trumbaurer read from a statement
about the 10-point program. He
commented, “There are very, very
few instances in human medicine
where reactions have occured to
residues of drugs in milk and meat.
There are some, but they’re very
few.”
Many limes, according to the
report, residues end up in the milk
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for the following reasons; poor
treatment records, treated animals
not identified, recommended with
drawal times not followed, drugs
used in an extra-label manner, and
lack of veterinarian advice, espe
cially when using extra-label
drugs.
What the program is all about,
according to Trumbaurer, is main
taining the public’s confidence in
the food supply.
“The public is frightened and
the press overemphasizes it,” he
said. “Every lime you hear about a
residue or something bad in the
food supply, the farmers get bad
press.”
By following the 10-point prog
ram, producers can stop the bad
press and protect themselves from
410 E. LINCOLN AVE. (RT. 422) j
liability.
The 10 points are:
1) Practice healthy herd man
agement. Investments in disease
prevention are more cost effective
than treatment, and include proper
milking management, good hoof
care and trimming, calving cows in
a sanitary environment, and proper
vaccination. Preventive herd
health management practices are
critical for profitable milk produc
tion and growth, improved animal
health, decreased costs and milk
discard, efficient drug use, and
reduced potential for milk and
meat residues. “The idea here is to
do things that help minimize treat
ment,” said Trumbaurer. The less
producers rely on drugs, the less
likely they will have to worry
about drug residues.
2) Establish a valid
veterinarian/patient relationship.
The veterinarian should know you
and your cows well enough to be
able to prescribe the best treat
ment. If you’re going to use a drug
extra-label or prescription drug,
said Trumbaurer, legally you can’t
do that unlesss you have a valid
vet/client relationship. The vet is
responsible for regulating the
health of a a herd, has to have suffi
cient knowledge of the herd, and
must be able to continue follow-up
health management. If using drugs
in extra-label manner, according to
the veterinarian, the use is not
technically legal it’s not sanc
tioned by the FDA, except when
the immediate survival of the ani
mal is at stake. But it often puts
much of the onus, he said, on the
vet.
3) Use only FDA-approved
over-the-counter (OTC) or pre
scription drugs with veterinarian’s
guidance. OTC drugs are those
;hat producers can buy at the store,
take home, and use on the cattle,
and are labeled such. Prescription
drugs are those with a caution label
that are only to be administered by
a licensed veterinarian. According
to Trumbaurer, “extra-label”
means using the drug for a condi
tion or reason not described on the
label, a dosage form not on the
label, or administering the drug by
a different route. One “extra
label” use of a drug is using aspi-
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rin on lactating cattle. “There are
people who are allergic to aspi
rin,” he said. “If you give a cow
aspirin, it may say on the label
what the dosage is for cattle and
horses. It doesn’t say anything
about lactating cattle and extra
label use.”
4) Make sure all drugs you use
have labels that comply with state
and/or federal labeling require
ments. OTC drugs must have name
of the drug, active ingredients,
directions for use, withholding/
withdrawal times, and name of
manufacturer or distributor on the
label. Prescription drugs must
have the same, but also the name
and address of the dispensing vet
erinarion and the caution
statements.
5) Store all drugs correcdy. On
the certification, producers can gel
docked if the drugs aren’t stored
correctly. “You know what you’re
going to use it for, but the milk
inspector doesn’t,” said Trum
baurcr. Non-lactatingand lactating
drugs must have separate shelves.
Exceptions are topical drugs. Also,
keep in mind that some drugs are
perishable, and must be refriger
ated. Producers who store drugs in
the house and away from the herd
proves “to the milk inspector that
you’re hiding something,” he said.
“It’s proving to me that you’re
using drugs you don’t know how to
use and that’s why you’re hiding
them.”
6) Administer all drugs proper
ly and identify all treated animals.
The important point, according to
Trumbaurer, is to make sure the
treated animals are labeled, using
either leg bands or paint sticks.
7) Maintain and use proper
treatment records on all treated
animals. This point is “the most
difficult,’’ said Trumbaurer,
because it emphasizes keeping
written records, which some far
mers find hard to do. Records must
be kept to show treatment dates
and limes, diagnosis, dosage, route
of administration, person who
administered the drug, withdrawal
times for milk (hours) and meat
(days), and residue test informa
tion, including test used, day, time,
and results.
(Turn to Pag* A 34)
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