A2B-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 28, 2003
Penn State Cooperative Extension
Capitol Region Dairy Team
PINKEYE SEASON
HAS ARRIVED
Dr. Arlen Mills
Capitol Region
Extension Veterinarian
Summer is here. With the
warmer weather, it’s time to plan
ahead for some of the problems
that are a part of summer.
One of those problems can be
what is commonly called “pink
eye.” Historically, pinkeye was
considered to be an infection with
a specific bacterium called Mo
raxella bovis. This attitude has
resulted in numerous treatment
and prevention failures.
This is because there are many
contributing factors in the envi
ronment as well and several dif
ferent types of infectious agents,
including viruses, bacteria, and
mycoplasma that may be involv
ed in pinkeye problems.
The first sign of pinkeye is
tearing. Affected eyes are light
sensitive so the eye may be held
shut. As the disease progresses,
the cornea (the clear covering
forming the front of the eye) will
begin to take on a cloudy appear
ance. If not treated, the cornea
may rupture, which often leads to
permanent blindness in the af
fected eye.
Pinkeye outbreaks may occur
at any time of the year, but the
highest incidence is usually dur
ing the warmer months of the
year. This seems to be because of
the variety of contributing factors
which are more common in the
warmer seasons of the year.
One of these contributing fac
tors is the increased exposure to
sunlight. The ultraviolet rays
from the sun make the cornea
more susceptible to infections, so
providing shade for stock will be
helpful in prevention.
Another factor in pinkeye in
fections is the common face fly.
These flies irritate the eyes of cat
tle, making them more suscepti
ble to infection but also transfer
infections from eye to eye. This
fact spreads the infection quickly
among susceptible cattle.
Cattle with more pigment
about the eye seem to be more re
sistant to pinkeye infections. An
exception to this is the Jersey
breed. Although the area about
the eye is pigmented, their eyes
are very prominent, which may
expose the cornea to more sun
light.
factors listed for best success.
Young stock are usually more The primary factor in success
susceptible to infections than are ful treatment of infected eyes is
older animals. This may be be- early intervention. Treatment
cause the older animals have de- given when the first cloudiness is
veloped some resistance to more seen in the cornea is usually suc
infectious agents because of pre- cessful. Treatment may include
vious exposure. I have often seen an injection of long-acting tetra
pinkeye outbreaks start in the cycline, fly repellents applied to
young stock only to spread to the the face of the affected cattle, and
older animals. Primary control protection of the eye. This protec
measures should perhaps be tion may be confinement to an
aimed toward the young stock. inside pen or an eye cover glued
Other conditions that cause ir- over the eye.
ritation to the eyes of cattle and If infection is further ad
are considered important are vanced, antibiotics injected into
dusty conditions, tall pasture the tissue about the eye by your
grasses, and windy conditions. I veterinarian and then sewing the
have also seen outbreaks in cattle eye closed for a week can salvage
feeding from large round bales, many an eye.
Reaching into the bales as they Now is the time to think about
ate was causing eye irritation, pinkeye. If it was a problem last
which was leading to infections, season on your farm, it most like-
Individual animals may develop ly will be back this year unless
cornea injuries from feeding from you take some preventative ac
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Dr. Arlen Mills
differentiated from pinkeye infec
tions.
Prevention of pinkeye requires
dealing with and eliminating as
many of the listed causative fac
tors as possible. This involves
providing shelter, keeping pas
tures clipped, and controlling
flies. Fly control may be accom
plished by the use of ear tags or
topical agents applied either indi
vidually or by the use of sprayers
or “rubbers.”
Vaccination to prevent infec
tions is an option if the infectious
agent is known. Available vac
cines contain the bacteria Morax
ella bovis, but as mentioned, this
is not always the main problem.
IBR virus can infect the eyes, so
be certain that animals have been
vaccinated for this disease.
Some believe that the “eye
form” of IBR vims may be differ
ent than the usual respiratory
form, but this has not been prov
en. Some herds have had out
breaks of eyes infected with a
strain of Mycoplasma. The pink
eye vaccines available will not
prevent these other infections. In
the last several years, another
type of related bacteria has been
isolated by some from resistant
cases of pinkeye. Vaccine compa
nies are trying to adapt their vac
cines to include these new strains.
For vaccination to be of help in
pinkeye control, it must be done
before problems occur. Two doses
need to be given at the beginning
of the season now. Couple this
with control of the contributing
Dairy Farmers: Relieve Heat Stress On Cows
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) The highest producing
cows are the ones most vulner
able to the damaging effects of
heat stress, warns Dennis Buf
fington, professor of agricultural
and biological engineering. Milk
production decreases as heat
stress increases. Buffington
points out that even greater eco
nomic loss results from the re
duction in cows’ conception rates
as heat stress rises.
“First and foremost, the cows
need to be protected from direct
solar radiation,” he said. “The
shading system must be designed
so that the animals have full ac
cess to quality feed and water
while in the shade. Sufficient
floor space needs to be provided
under the shade structure so that
the animals do not crowd togeth
er to stay in the shade.
“The underside of the roof
needs to include insulation ma
terial to reduce the thermal radi
ation load on the cows. Finally,
the shade structure needs to be
high enough and include a ridge
opening so that natural ventila
tion will be enhanced.”
Evaporative cooling systems to
reduce heat stress levels on cows
are common in the southern U.S.,
but few are used by Pennsylvania
dairy farmers, according to Buf
fington. He anticipates that evap
orative cooling systems will be
come more popular in
Pennsylvania as production lev
els of cows increase and as pro
ducers search for effective ways
to reduce heat stress.
The evaporation of just one
gallon of water per hour at 85 de-
Growers
To Conduct
Wool Pool
CARLISLE (Cumberland Co.)
Cumberland Cooperative
Sheep and Wool Growers will
conduct their Wool Pool Tues
day, July 1, from 8 a.m.-ll:30
a.m. at the Carlisle Fairgrounds
along Rt. 34 in Carlisle near the
H.R. Gutshall & Sons-John
Deere Dealer.
Enter the fairgrounds by using
the “K” Street entrance. Wool
from all counties in south central
Pennsylvania is welcome!
This year the pool will not be
graded or weighed at the site.
Each producer’s wool will be
graded and weighed at a later
date by the purchaser, Greg
Groenewold, Groenewold Fur
and Wool Co., Forreston, 111., the
same as last year.
Call Donna Duncan (717)
243-8069 or any of the board of
directors for any additional in
formation or to get burlap bags.
The directors are Robert Holtry,
(717) 582-4039 (Perry County);
Richard Myers, (717) 258-3850
(Cumberland County); Darlene
Anderson, (717) 258-6967 (Cum
berland County); Ben Bow, (717)
867-1305 (Lebanon County); Ken
Staver, (717) 534-2619 (Dauphin
County); Waldo Hartman, (717)
334-7221 (Adams County); or
Steve Ebersole, (717) 741-1407
(York County).
Prize Winner
Selected
EPHRATA (Lancaster Co.)
Lancaster Farming recently se
lected the winner of a free one
year subscription to the newspa
per at Family Farm Days at Ore
gon Dairy. The winning entry
goes to Paul Gantert, Stevens.
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grees provides nearly the same
cooling effect as a ■% ton air con
ditioner unit. “This amount of
cooling can handle the heat pro
duced by, on average, two lactat
ing cows,” he said. “The actual
amount of water that can be
evaporated depends on the hu
midity level of the air.”
Different approaches to pro
viding evaporative cooling for
dairy cows have been used over
the past several decades. Buffing
ton believes the use of a sprinkler
or misting system in conjunction
with forced ventilation is most ef
fective. “It is not sufficient sim
ply to cool the air with evapora
tive cooling and hope to
significantly reduce the damag
ing heat stress effects on the
cows,” he said.
“It is essential to wet the cows
and to provide forced ventilation
to speed up the rate of evapora
tion,” he said. “The direct wet
ting of the cows cools them only a
limited amount it is the rapid
evaporation of the water that re
ally does the cooling. The need
for rapid evaporation is why it is
essential to use fans in conjunc
tion with sprinklers or misters.
Natural ventilation is not suffi
cient, at least in the climates of
the Northeast, to provide the
quick evaporation.”
During heat stressing condi
tions, cows must be wetted inter
Fore FFA Golf Tournaments
To Host FFA Chapter Teams
STATE COLLEGE (Center
Co.) The Pennsylvania FFA
Foundation, Inc. has added a
new feature to the Fore FFA
2003 Golf Tournaments the
Chapter Golf (Challenge.
FFA chapters throughout the
state have been invited to recruit
teams to represent their chapters
and to compete for $4OO in Lead
ership Scholarships, as well as
trophies, plus they will be eligible
for all tournament prizes.
Chapter can recruit more than
one team, but may only win one
of the scholarships. The tourna
ments are limited to 20 chapter
teams at the Hatfield tournament
in Lancaster County and 10
teams at the Hoss’s tournament
at Scotch Valley. Teams will be
accepted on a first-paid and
space available basis.
The Hatfield Fore FFA Golf
Tournament take place, Monday,
July 14, at the Fox Chase Golf
Course in Stevens, Lancaster
County. That is a two-course
event with Hawk Valley being
the overflow course after 288
slots are filled in the order they
are received. The FFA chapter
teams will play at the Hawk Val
ley course.
The Hoss’s Steak and Sea
house tournament is planned for
Monday, August 4, at the Scotch
Valley Country Club in Duncan
Open English, Western
Horse Show Scheduled
DELTA (York Co.) The
Mason-Dixon Fairgrounds will be
the setting for the 3rd Annual
Open English and Western Horse
Show on Sunday, June 29.
The event is slated to begin
promptly at 8:30 a.m., rain or
shine. The horse show is open to
all breeds and is APHA PAC ap
proved. AQHA rules will apply
and proper show attire is re
quired in all classes.
There are more than 50 classes
including open, adult novice,
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mittently so that the water can
evaporate from the surface of the
cows. Effective evaporative cool
ing systems generally provide a
spray of water for about a minute
every three or four minutes with
the fans running continuously.
An evaporative cooling system
should be developed with enough
flexibility so that the wetting du
rations and intervals can be easi
ly modified in the field.
The water spray should be di
rected onto the back and sides of
each cow, Buffington explained.
“Ideally, all the water should
evaporate on the back and sides
of a cow so that none of the
sprinkler water comes down to
the udder because of the danger
of contaminating the teat open
ings with bacteria from the hide,”
he said. “It also is important to
keep the floor surfaces and bed
ding materials dry.”
Buffington contends that in
vestments in effective systems to
relieve heat stress for dairy cows
will pay dividends in increased
cow comfort, milk production,
and conception efficiency.
“As the production levels of
dairy cows increase, they become
more vulnerable to heat stress,”
he said. “Therefore, it behooves
dairy farmers to utilize evapora
tive cooling systems to reduce the
effects of heat stress on their ani
mals.”
sville. This tournament is set up
for 144 entries in the order they
are received.
The scores of the teams repre
senting FFA chapters will be re
viewed by the golf pro, and the
team with the lowest score will
receive chapter challenge tro
phies. The FFA chapter that is
represented by the winning team
will receive $4OO in Leadership
Scholarships. They will also take
possession of the traveling
“Chapter Challenge Golf Tro
phy.”
Each year the names of the
winning team members and the
chapter they are representing will
place on an engraved plaque on
the trophy. The trophy will be re
turned to the tournament each
year to be awarded to the winner
of the FFA Chapter Golf Chal
lenge.
For more information on the
FFA Chapter Golf Challenge,
call Kerry Richards at (814)
880-0013.
To participate in the main
tournament and/or to provide
financial support for the fund
raiser, contact the Pennsylvania
FFA Foundation Inc., P.O. Box
10493, Calder Square, State Col
lege, Pa. 16805; phone/fax (814)
867-9230.
youth, and beginner youth. Entry
fees are $8 per class plus $2 office
charge per rider. Debbie White of
Dover Delaware will be the
judge.
Premiums will be paid the day
of the show after the last class.
The Mason-Dixon Fairgrounds
are located on Route 74 in Delta.
Food will also be available. All
proceeds benefit the Delta-Card
iff Volunteer Fire Company. For
more information, contact Deb
Ohl at (717) 456-7202.