mad cow

Right, and there is one grain producer near here who has a ton of filler in his grains, the filler is AKA dirty feed (weeds etc). Now the one who we buy from now, does do his research and mixes it accordingly. He won't do custom stuff because he isn't big enough, and would cost him more than it is worth. For example, he wont put together calf grower, simply because he doesn't have enough demand, and a custom mix would lead to more and more. The great thing with his feed is, it is clean, and he grinds it himself. No animal bi-products, etc.

Now the great thing about organic feed, is the fact it has to be natural, you CANT have animal bi-products in it, and im glad im going this way. Nothing on the farm will have any animal bi-products. I do know this tho. I read on a label from a commerical grain manf. and it said "this that, etc etc.. Blood meal. I find it interesting how a herbivore needs blood meal. Apparently it is an easy alternative to add that, vs producing quality feed. Perhaps it is cheaper. This is why we won't buy grain that either said "Agway" or something else. Agway im not sure if they still have their name out there, I know they were killing themselves off. Now another little disease out there is CWD, and that too was blown out of praportion. With Mad cow, people have died from it, but there is another arguement that it isn't as bad as it was made out to be. Also the slaughtering of the animals in Europe, I agree was overdone. My biggest thing with the border, is beef prices, etc. Sorry but I don't beleive it when someone says "prices are high because of the market". Sorry, but the minute the border is wide open, there will be a flood, maybe not. But beef prices here are .70, and have been .70 since it closed. Disagree if you must, but there are other reasons why I like the border situated like it is .


Jeff

If CWD can be passed through discarded antlers, bear in mind they are a source of calcium for a number of forest mammals, such as squirrels and porkapines (sp?). Bones from any dead animal may be chewed on my others for the marrow and calcium. Say a dead CWD deer was devoured by wolves or coyotes and the bones broken for the marrow. A bird pecks at any remaining marrow. That bird just happens to crap in a cattle feed trough. A BSE-susceptible cow eats feed out of the same trough. Now the opportunity (well long-shot possibility) for CWD to turn into BSE has occurred.

IMHO vCJD is an acceptable risk for our beef supply.

Ken Scharabok

Jeff, I have to ask you how long you've been raising cattle? Is your herd closed or have you purchased cattle? Do you vaccinate or are you so organic that you choose to perpetuate disease? If you've ever bought a cow, you know very well that she is the product of someone else's feeding program so your boasting about running the perfect operation is moot. I appreciate your desire to hang onto 70 cents a lb but I'm not so very sure that your inflamitory statements are benefitting yourself or anyone else. You sound very idealistic and that's not a bad thing but you're missing the point, if your feel your cows are clean but BSE is found in the US, you are also hooped. Are you also aware that both our countries allowed a grace period after the feed bans were imposed that would allow old inventories of controversial feed to be used up, there was never a recall or seizure of banned feeds in EITHER country? Tell me, since 70 cents is the only thing that matters to you, what happens if you have a cow down? Will you shoot, shovel and shut up to protect 70 cents or call for a test?

How wonderful to finally see some intelligent, well-informed posts regarding BSE. Thanks, people, for taking the time.

Although I've never raised cattle, my father was the local AI guy here for over 30 years, plus I worked at a feed store for a couple of years, so I have had some contact with the farming community here in Northern Ontario.

wr, when you mention Nutralix it all starts to make sence. For those of you who don't know, this stuff comes in a tub the size of a washtub, and the local farmers here would order 6 at a time, which might amount to a couple of years supply - and our Northern Ontario beef producers are small operations compared to those in the west. This makes it easier to see how if supplies weren't rotated properly at a feed store, and then the farmer bought in quantity, a tub could be overlooked and not used up until well after the feed restrictions were put in place. A farmer could also change his feeding practises and use another mineral supplement for a while, and then change back using up stuff he had on hand. (Not saying that's what happened, but makes it easier to see how it could happen). Deliberate irresponsibility on someone's part? Not likely.

And 'lick' also helps explain why some cattle would have more exposure than others. These tubs would be placed out where all animals could get to them free choice, with the theory being that the animals that were lacking minerals would seek them out - therefore some animals might spend a lot more time at the lick than others.

The tagging identification system was an absolute nightmare when it started. These CCIA (I think it's Canadian Cattle Inspection Agency) ear tags are big and ugly. When you purchased a cow from someone else, that initial tag is the one that remains with the cow, to enable them to trace the entire life of the cow. (Correct me if I'm wrong - I quit at the feed store 2 years ago). And of course, you couldn't use your old tagging gun with them - didn't fit - had to buy a special one! Cattle that arrive at an auction barn without a tag are refused. The local abbatoir cannot process an animal that doesn't have a tag - which makes it almost impossible for a hobby farmer to raise a calf for their own consumption and have it taken to the abbatoir for slaughter unless they purchase tags (which at the time I left the feed store came in packages of 25 at a cost of $2 plus per tag). Why bother for the small guy? For the exact reasons someone posted above. The 'pet' cow that had the run of the yard, was fed by children, and could conceivably get out and get into the pig feed, the chicken feed or God forbid the dog food runs the biggest risk of contracting the disease.

Now, with this latest case of BSE, it shows how the system is working. They can trace not only this cow, but its herd mates and 'family' very easily, and hopefully determine the source of the disease. When cases of BSE are found in the U.S., how do they expect to quickly and efficiently deal with the situation without an identification program in place? Mass indiscriminate slaughter of every animal ever possibly in contact with the infected animal? Wonder how that will affect beef prices?

Bernadette, they did modify the tags so that you could use almost any tagging pliers and they did loosen up enough that a person can buy single tags but now things have changed a bit, we've moved up to a tag that carries a microchip, worth about $10.00 each. They're actually pretty sweet, it's only a disc about the size of a twoonie and the button is similar but the only drawback is that they don't work at all with standard tagging pliers and allflex and other brands are scurrying to catch up. I'm very proud of our tracking system, it's progressive and really does work. I think Alberta is one of the heaviest supplement users because of our seasonal calving and weaning hitting at the onset of late fall/early winter, with the idea that the poor little things have had more than enough stress without adding extreme cold to the equation. During that period of time, it was very hard to find reliable suppliers because the product was just becoming popular so a guy would stock up as we could and if more came along, we'd hold. If we ran out, we'd go to the local feed & seed store and pick up local made products that were inferior because nobody else had perfected the baking technique so the new product was soft, allowing animals to take huge bites out of the block. I think every person in cattle thought that there was a changeover when the new regulations came into place, I know I did and just about fell off my chair when I heard this morning that both Canada and the US allowed a grace period for that feed to pass through the system rather than making a deadline and keeping a deadline.

wr - glad to hear they improved the tagging system. The worst thing about those original tags is they were so BIG!

Weatherwise, Alberta isn't a lot different from Northern Ontario, right down to the selenium difficiencies.

I worked at our local Co-op in the garden centre from spring of 1999 to spring of 2003 when it closed. I then worked in a different garden centre for the season, then worked for a local goat farmer before moving to the hardware store. Just this fall I've changed jobs again and am now a receptionist in a physiotherapists office! Anyway, at the Co-op we sold a nutritional supplement tub and based on my employment timeline above, we would have handled them from spring of 2000 through to probably 2002 when they suddenly were not being handled by our supplier any longer, and then were replaced by a far inferior product. But this timeline seems to be much later than it should have been if the new feed laws were in place and these tubs were still from the original manufacturer, doen't it? Hmm. And again, it comes right back to reliable suppliers, and TRUST now, doesn't it?

Note: Product name was different that the one wr referred to in the posts above. B.