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i2B-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 13,2001
Penn State Cooperative Extension
Capitol Region Dairy Team
AN OUNCE
OF PREVENTION
Dr. Arlen Mills
Extension Veterinarian
Capitol Region
Ask yourself, “Is it more prof
itable to prevent a disease or to
treat it?” I think we all would
agree that an ounce of prevention
is worth the proverbial pound of
cure. And that is precisely what
“biosecurity” is all about dis
ease prevention.
Often when we think of biose
curity, we think of confined
areas, disinfectant solutions, dis
posable clothing, and more.
These all may have a part in bio
security in some way, but is this
what biosecurity has to be on
your farm? Probably not. So how
do you know what you should be
doing? Let’s do some planning.
To keep things simple, let us
first look at what we want to pro
tect. Of all the animals on a dairy
farm, which groups or individu
als are at greatest risk for dis
ease? The answer is that the
calves and fresh cows are proba
bly most vulnerable. So this may
be the place to start.
Next, consider what disease
may be potential threats to these
livestock groups. With calves this
may be a viral disease such as
BVD or IBR. Now I need to
think of logical ways that I may
prevent these diseases from in
fecting those calves. Good quality
colostrum may be one way, and
this would require a cow vaccina
tion program to provide this co
lostrum. So vaccination is one
part of a biosecurity program.
And the calf needs to receive the
proper amount of colostrum in
the right time frame to be effec
tive. For the Holstein calf, I rec
ommend feeding two quarts of
colostrum within two hours of
birth and two more quarts within
eight hours. Thus colostrum
management is another part of
biosecurity.
Another step in disease pre
vention may be aimed at limiting
or preventing exposure to infec
tions. This may involve exposure
from animals, people, or vehicles
coming onto the farm or from an
other animal group already on
the farm. Again, consider careful
ly what disease agents may pose
a risk to your farm or animal
group and how it may be spread.
Using BVD as an example,
BVD could be brought onto the
farm by animals entering the
herd or perhaps a show heifer re
turning to the farm from a show.
A BVD outbreak can be prevent
ed by making sure all stock are
properly vaccinated, herd addi
tions have been tested and found
negative for BVD, and that all
stock coming onto the farm are
isolated from the herd for two to
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Dr. Arlen Mills
three weeks. These same prihei
ples may apply to other disease
agents as well.
Johnes’ disease and Salmonel
la infections are two bacterial dis
eases which are commonly
spread though manure. But re
member that Johnes is primarily
infective to the young calf while
Salmonella can infect both the
susceptible calf and the cow.
Remember that the fresh cow
is particularly susceptible because
the stress of calving has de
pressed her immune system. So
plan farm traffic to avoid track
ing manure from other areas of
the farm to the fresh-cow and
calf area. And how about restrict
ing outside traffic such as live
stock haulers from these two crit
ical areas? Plan a way that bull
calves and cows to be culled can
be picked up from a location out
side the areas where the animals
most susceptible to infections are
housed.
Feed, feed equipment, and feed
personnel may be another way to
either bring disease onto a farm
or to spread it about on a farm.
Arrange to have feed supplies de
livered to noncritical areas from
where it may then be distributed.
Be sure that sick animals, either
cows or calves, are fed last and
that feed or feed equipment does
not go from the hospital area to
the other parts of the farm. There
may be benefit in placing a “boot
wash” in the area so that it can
be used before leaving the hospi
tal area. But these must be used
and maintained properly. This
subject will be addressed in a fu
ture column.
As you can now imagine, each
farm may have its own biosecuri
ty needs and challenges. But it all
starts with three simple ques
tions:
1. What are the part or parts
of my farm that should be my
biosecurity priority?
2. What disease or diseases
should I be concerned about?
3. How are these diseases
spread and how are they best
controlled?
erfarmin
Milk Premiums, Pooling, Dairy
Compact Under Spotlight In Pa.
DAVE LEFEVER
Lancaster Farming Staff
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) The Pennsylvania Milk
Marketing Board (PMMB) heard
testimony Oct. 3 from dairy in
dustry representatives asking
that the over-order premium paid
to Pennsylvania milk producers
be increased to a total of $1.65
per hundredweight.
The over-order premium is es
tablished by the PMMB in re
sponse to various weather and
market conditions for Class I
(beverage) milk. It is currently set
at $1.35 per hundredweight
Dr. John H. Schwartz
Foundation Begins
ANDY ANDREWS
Editor
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) PennAg Industries has
announced its intent to admin
ister the Dr. John H. Schwartz
Memorial Foundation, with
funds generated to be awarded
each year to local students
pursuing an agricultural de
gree.
The Poultry Council of
PennAg Industries, headed by
Jim Shirk, has offered to ad
minister the Foundation, it
was announced Monday at the
Poultry Management and
Health Seminar at Kreider’s
Restaurant.
FBI Alerts Pesticide Dealers
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) At the request of the FBI,
and in view of the current nation
al situation involving recent ter
rorist attacks, the Pennsylvania
Department of Agriculture
(PDA) is notifying all licensed
pesticide dealers of the impor
tance of reporting any suspicious
sales, attempts to purchase, and/
or use of pesticide products.
An important component of
surveillance is identification of
“sentinel events” (unrecognized
warnings) that may precede a
terrorist attack and could provide
opportunities for prevention.
These events may include the
attempted purchase of quantities
of extremely toxic pesticides, gen
erally classified as restricted use.
Also, suspicious inquires regard
ing these products by the general
public, or inquires or purchase of
equipment, especially Ultra Low
Volume (ULV) application
Land O’Lakes
Percent Pooling Of
CARLISLE (Cumberland Co.)
Land O’Lakes, Inc. is calling
for a change in a regulation re
cently published by the Pennsyl
vania Milk Marketing Board
(PMMB).
If approved, the current regu
lation will pool 45 percent the
Pennsylvania Over-Order Premi
um among all Pennsylvania dairy
producers. On behalf of its mem
bership, Land O’Lakes has asked
the PMMB to revise the regula
tion to approve 90 percent pool
ing.
“We commend the PMMB for
drafting a regulation to pool the
premium. However, the only way
to create a fairly-distributed pre
mium system in Pennsylvania is
to pool it at 90 percent,” said
above the price mandated by the
federal government (federal
order).
The board had voted in June
to decrease the premium from
$1.65 to $1.35 in response to testi
mony from some dairy represen
tatives who had indicated im
proved conditions for dairy
producers at that time.
At last week’s hearing, Ed Gal
lagher of Dairy Marketing Serv
ices (DMS), along with represen
tatives from Suiza Foods and the
Pennsylvania State Grange, re
quested that the premium return
to $1.65 per hundredweight
through December.
A board will meet annually
to select the candidates. The
Lancaster County Poultry As
sociation and other industry
associations will solicit dona
tions from memberships and
conduct the annual golf out
ing. The annual spring golf
outing has already been re
named the John Schwartz Me
morial Golf Outing.
For more information, or to
send donations, contact Jim
Shirk, PennAg Industries,
2215 Forest Hills Drive, Suite
39, Harrisburg, PA 17112,
(717) 651-5920, ext. 225.
equipment by individuals who
you feel have no legitimate use,
should be reported.
Non-malicious misuse should
continue be reported to the PDA.
However, if there is suspicion of
terrorist activity involving the
sales and distribution of pesti
cides or equipment, contact the
Philadelphia field office of the
FBI immediately at (215)
418-4165.
The Pennsylvania State Police
have also requested to be notified
in case of an incident. The tele
phone number for the local State
Police Field Installation is locat
ed on the first page of your tele
phone directory, or by calling di
rectory assistance.
For information regarding this
alert, contact Joe Uram, PDA
Pesticide Enforcement Specialist,
at (717) 772-5212.
Calls For 90
PMMB Premium
Gordon Hoover, Land O’Lakes
corporate board member and a
dairy farmer from Gap.
“Even at 45 percent pooling,
one dairy farmer could be getting
as much as $3,500 more annually
than another farmer in Pennsyl
vania. Both farmers produce the
same quality milk under the
same economic conditions. It’s
just not fair that the one would
get that much more of a benefit
than the other.”
The premium was created to
help all Pennsylvania dairy farm
ers when faced with economic
and weather-related hardships. It
is collected on all Class I or fluid
milk produced, processed and
sold in Pennsylvania. The in
formation used to determine the
level of premium is derived from
The PMMB scheduled an Oct.
12 meeting to vote on the issue.
Results of the vote were released
after Lancaster Farming went to
press this week.
Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania
House and Senate Agriculture
and Rural Affairs Committees
are considering a new PMMB
proposal on how over-order milk
premiums are distributed among
Pennsylvania dairy producers.
The over-order premium is
paid only on Class 1 milk that is
produced, processed, and sold in
Pennsylvania. The amount of
premium that any given Pa.
dairy producer receives depends
on the percentage of their deal
er’s milk sales within Pennsylva
nia that qualify as Class I.
Consequently, producers ship
ping milk to dealers who sell rela
tively low percentages of Class I
milk to Pennsylvania markets
will receive less of a premium on
their milk than producers ship
ping to dealers with a higher per
centage of Pennsylvania Class I
sales.
In February of this year, the
PMMB voted 2-1 to distribute or
“pool” 45 percent of the over
order premium among ah dairy
producers in the state. The deci
sion came in response to petitions
made in 1998 by Land O’ Lakes
Inc., the Pennsylvania Farm Bu
reau (PFB) and other groups.
The PFB and several dairy co
operatives, including Land O’
Lakes, have petitioned for 90 to
100 percent pooling of the over
order premium, while other
groups, including the Pa. Associ
ation of Milk Dealers, the Pa.
State Grange, and other dairy co
operatives. have asked for zero
pooling.
Legislative review is required
before the new policy can be en
acted by the PMMB, including
review by the Agriculture and
Rural Affairs Committees.
Public comment on the pooling
issue will close on Oct. 22. Com
ments can be sent to Sharon
Grottola, chief counsel of the
PMMB.
In related news, existing feder
al provisions for the Northeast
Interstate Dairy Compact as well
as for creation of a new southern
interstate compact have expired
as of Sept. 30.
Among groups supporting
dairy compact legislation is the
Pennsylvania Farm Bureau
(PFB).
In a Sept. 28 statement, PFB
President Guy Donaldson urged
Congress to either allow a vote to
include dairy compact legislation
in the Farm Bill currently under
debate or provide stand-alone
legislation.
all farmers in the state, not just
those in the PMMB handler
pools.
However, the premium is paid
back to the dairy farmers in the
PMMB handler pools, regardless
of whether or not the statewide
data applies to their specific op
erations.
The over-order premium is
funded by an II.S-cent surcharge
on every gallon of milk sold in
Pennsylvania.
“Pooling the over-order premi
um at 90 percent would not af
fect the price the consumer pays
at all,” Hoover said. “Fm grate
fill that Pennsylvania’s consum
ers are willing to aid farmers
when there is a need. We should
make sure that aid is equitably
distributed among all fanners.”