A22-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 1,2003
I
Survey Will
Measure Farm
Financial Health
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) Fanners of Pennsylvania
will have the chance to help farm
organizations, agribusiness, and
Congress in evaluating financial
performance of farm or ranch
businesses by participating in the
2002 Agricultural Resource Man
agement Survey.
This survey provides vital sta
tistics about the economic condi
tion of production agriculture.
These statistics will also help the
agriculture community and Con
gress make policy decisions affec
ting agriculture.
Data collected will present the
only objective, true picture of the
financial well-being of farm oper
ators in the U.S. and is used in
developing legislation such as the
2002 Farm Bill. These data are
also a resource when policymak
ers determine Federal assistance.
In 2001, direct government pay
ments totaled $103.6 million for
Pennsylvania and $20.2 billion
for the U.S., down 12 percent
from the previous year.
Approximately 375 Pennsylva
nia agricultural producers have
been chosen to participate in
these surveys. Participation in
this survey is a very important
contribution to the overall wel
fare of Pennsylvania’s farmers.
All individual data collected are
held strictly confidential by law
(Title 7, U.S. Code). Only statisti
cal totals are published for select
ed geographic regions and the
Nation.
Producers chosen to partici
pate in the 2002 Agricultural Re
source Management Study will
be visited by an interviewer be
tween February and April to
complete the report at the farm
operator’s convenience.
Results from these
surveys will be used by
farm and ranch opera
tors, farm organiza
tions, commodity
groups, lenders, uni
versity researchers,
news media, local
USDA agencies, farm
suppliers, and others
to compute prices
paid, evaluate eco
nomic challenges fac
ing America’s food
and fiber producers,
determine the need for
farm assistance, mea-
sure the cost of agri
cultural production,
and assess the ability
for producers to main-
tain sustainable farms.
“Farm Production
Expenditures” will be
released .1 uly 17. For a
copy of the finished re
port or to obtain other
agricultural statistics.
\isit the Pennsylvania
Agricultural Statistics
Website at
Service
w ww .usda.gov/nass7.
Lancaster
Farming
Ch^ck
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We^ite
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www lancastarff mina com
Mycoplasma,
Feeder Cattle
(Continued from Page A 1)
period “will be the same as his
buddies,” he said.
Catching up, though, comes at
a cost, as feeders suffering from
mycoplasma infection may lose
50 marbling points at the packing
house.
“That’s half a grade,” said
Griffin.
“It doesn’t just affect lungs.
We also know it affects joints,
and in a cow herd we know it
causes mastitis,” he said.
Difficulties with mycoplasma
are “not an uncommon problem
in well-managed cattle.”
Therefore “I think we must as
sume that are cattle are exposed
through their mother’s milk or
from being commingled in the
feedyard,” he said.
Additionally, “We almost al
ways see associated diseases”
such as coccidia colitis, renal con
gestion, liver zonal congestion, or
central nervous system (CNS)
congestion.
Most producers follow the
“seek and treat” method of fer
reting out illness in cattle. How
ever even experienced eyes can
miss calves that are running a
temperature or are in the begin
ning stages of mycoplasma infec
tion.
The problem may be more
widespread. “Day in and day out,
we see those lesions,” he said.
“They are in 30 percent of the
cattle we look at.
“It’s a significant problem
from a performance standpoint
because the cattle don’t do well.”
Respiratory disease was found
in 72 percent of sick cattle, which
created scarring in their lungs. In
addition, in Griffin’s observances
in the packing house, 58 percent
of cattle not identified as sick
also had lesions in their lung.
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At far right Dr. Dee Griffin, beef production management veterinarian at the Universi
ty of Nebraska, shares his knowledge of mycoplasma with producers at a recent meet
ing.
With prevention, “isolation is a
big deal,” he said. He further rec
ommended vaccinating at four
weeks with all vaccines boosted
before the calves leave the farm.
Griffin does not use a killed vac
cine.
He also was a proponent of
keeping movement to a min
imum, advising producers to
“minimize hospital comming
ling” at the feedlot.
“It’s best if the cattle were
never removed from their home
pen to be treated. At the very
least, treat using a multiple-day
antibiotic and return the animal
to the home pen without com
mingling with other cattle,” he
said.
As for vaccine, “our best in
formation says that the vaccine
response takes four weeks,
and that just doesn’t seem
like a reasonable option,” I
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he said
Mass medicating the animals
off the truck, through injection or
feed, may be costly but does re
sult in mycoplasm-free animals.
“Sometimes the value doesn’t
pay for the cost, but I’ve never
had a truck (of cattle) go bad,”
said Griffin. “The number one di
lemma is to figure out who is at
risk, but the good side is that if
you are really paying attention,
you might have a little time” to
pick up on the infection early.
“It’s tough on a pen basis.
We’re talking about really having
to pay attention. Your real issue
is going to be in that first three
weeks in which the problem
starts,” he said.
Intake decrease could be the
first indicator of a problem, he
said.
Recognizing mycoplasmas in
the early stages yields good re
sponse to therapy, “but don’t let
them get lost in the pen” and
stop treatment, he said.
If a producer catches a myco
plasma infection early, they may
need to mass medicate through
the feed, because earlier on may
be the time of most rapid dissem
ination, according to Griffin.
“The bottom line is, I think
you have to assume that there is
a pretty high carrier rate. Your
best shot is to isolate,” he said.
“The way I’m looking at cattle
is, ‘I don’t care where you’re
from or how good you’re back
grounded, you may have it,”’ he
said.