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Dairy Herd Magazine - Alert 1/7/04

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FYI. Here's Dairy Herd Magazine's upbeat damage control on the mad cow

crisis. Also of note, towards the end of the announcements, our local

Maine dairy, Oakhurst Dairy, amazingly won a settlement in which

Monsanto tried to wipe them out for saying "our milk is produced without

growth hormones." They have to say "FDA doesn't find anything wrong

with growth hormones," but I don't think that will hurt them much --

since the FDA didn't find anything wrong with Ephedra or feeding dead

cow products to other animals either.

 

Anyway, here's Dairy Herd's propaganda:

 

*************************

Special Section

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, also known as Mad-Cow Disease, has

shown up in Great Britain, Japan and Canada in recent years, destroying

the beef economies in those areas and hurting beef demand worldwide. On

Dec. 24, 2003, the United States was added to that list. Learn more

about it on www.dairyherd.com

 

Top Stories:

Class III price drops below $12

The Class III price ended the year below $12. According to the USDA's

announcement of class prices on Jan. 2, the December Class III price

landed at $11.87 after falling $1.60. The 2003 average Class III price

was $11.42 -- the seventh lowest in 10 years, says Phil Plourd, vice

president of research with Blimling and Associates in Cottage Grove,

Wis. Further erosion in the cheese market could send the January Class

III price a bit lower. For more details,

 

Milk-feed ratio falls below 3.0

The milk-feed price ratio fell to 2.80 during December -- a decline of

0.25 points, according to the USDA's "Agricultural Prices" report,

released Dec. 31. The reduced ratio is the result of an 80-cent decline

in the all-milk price and rising corn and soybean prices.

During 2003, the ratio averaged 2.61 -- just 0.01 higher than the

2002 average. For more details,

 

News and Notes:

Poll: Consumers say U.S. beef supply safe

Consumer reaction is always a wild card, but a recent poll shows that

about 66 percent of adults surveyed Dec. 30 and Jan. 1 believe the beef

supply is safe.

The CNN-Time poll -- conducted one week after the USDA announced

that a cow slaughtered in Washington state tested positive for bovine

spongiform encephalopathy -- also found that roughly 75 percent of

consumers think the beef purchased at their local supermarket is safe.

About 63 percent reported that their beef consumption remained the same

as before the news. Still, nearly 25 percent of respondents said they

have either quit eating red meat or reduced their beef intake since Dec. 23.

 

DNA test confirms cow came from Canada

USDA officials announced Tuesday that two sets of genetic tests confirm

that the BSE-infected cow in Washington state was born on a dairy in

Alberta, Canada. Records indicate she was born in April 1997 -- just

four months before feed restrictions were adopted in Canada and the

United State. The 86-cow dairy is no longer in business, as the cows

were sold when the owner retired. Eighty-one of those cows were exported

to Washington. The USDA is still trying to track down 70 of those animals.

 

In other BSE news, USDA officials announced Monday that 450 calves

at a Sunnyside, Wash., bull-calf operation will be slaughtered. Since

insufficient records make it impossible to positively identify which

calf was born from the BSE-infected cow, all calves of a similar age

will be slaughtered. Even though the chance of maternal transmission of

the disease is very slim, officials have opted for an extra margin of

safety.

 

Can calves contract BSE?

There is much we don't know about BSE. However, researchers have spent a

great deal of time and effort to learn more about disease transmission,

especially as it relates to infected cows and their calves. The latest

Calf Notes takes a look into this area, and says that while there is

some means of maternal transmission of BSE in cattle, most researchers

are skeptical of the cow-to-calf link. To read more,

 

Reduce downer cows

The recent controversy over BSE has shed new light on "downer" cows. The

cow diagnosed with BSE happened to be a downer.

According to the 1999 National Market Cow and Bull Audit conducted

by Colorado State University, 1.5 percent of all dairy cows going to

slaughter were downer or non-ambulatory. The audit was conducted at 21

cow-slaughter plants.

For suggestions on reducing downer cows,

 

Dispose of downer cows properly

What should you do with downer cows now that the government has banned

them from the U.S. food-supply chain?

"The plausible options are: (1) euthanize them and send them to

rendering, (2) bury the carcasses (depending on local, state and federal

regulations), or (3) compost them," says Frank Garry, professor of

clinical sciences at Colorado State University.

For more information on euthanasia, You will need Adobe

Acrobat Reader software.

 

Pediatricians want soda out of schools

Good news for folks working to oust soft drinks from schools: The

American Academy of Pediatrics recently drafted a policy statement

stating that soft drinks should not be served in elementary or high

schools. The policy appears in the January issue of Pediatrics.

 

It urges doctors to contact their local school districts to help

ensure that children receive healthy alternatives to soda. The Academy

data show that 56 percent to 85 percent of school-age children drink at

least one soft drink daily.

 

Calf weight not affected by short dry period

A shorter dry period does not hurt calf growth, according to a

University of Wisconsin study. The study showed no difference in birth

weight between calves born from cows given a 28-day dry period and those

born from cows given a 56-day dry period. Calves in both treatment

groups weighed about 90 pounds at birth.

 

Milk-labeling dispute settled

In a battle over milk labeling that gained national attention, Oakhurst

Dairy and Monsanto have reached an out-of-court settlement.

Oakhurst of Portland, Maine, has agreed to modify its label. At

issue was the wording, "Our Farmers' Pledge: No Artificial Growth

Hormone Used." Under the agreement, Oakhurst can maintain its farmers'

pledge but also must include an additional qualifying statement: "FDA

states: No significant difference in milk from cows treated with

artificial growth hormone."

 

Study will evaluate dairy producer health

If you live in the Iowa counties of Dubuque, Delaware, Clayton,

Allamakee and Winneshiek, watch your mailboxes. About 800 dairy

producers in these five counties will receive a questionnaire in

mid-January to help researchers assess the incidence of muscle and joint

pain and its effect on daily living. Completed surveys will be put into

a drawing for $100 in each county.

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