Dairy Herd Management - Mad Cow, Prions, etc 1/14/04

[Guest guest]

Here's the current news summary from Dairy Herd Management. More mad cow

stories. USDA is beginning to slaughter cows on that Washington state farm.

 

ys

hkdd

 

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

 

Top Stories:

 

**Corn and soybean prices move higher**

Corn and soybean markets opened sharply higher Monday 10 cents for

corn and 30 cents for soybeans following two USDA crop reports that

showed production was much lower than expected.

 

The soybean report showed production at 2.418 billion bushels in 2003

34 million bushels less than the USDA's estimate last month. And, the

USDA pegged the 2003 corn crop at 10.114 billion bushels down 164

million bushels from last month's estimate. The USDA slashed its ending

corn-stocks estimate by 318 million bushels.

 

**USDA starts slaughter of 129 dairy cows**

After going through records at the 4,000-cow dairy in Mabton, Wash.,

where the BSE-infected cow was from, the USDA has determined that 129

cows are "at risk" and must be slaughtered.

 

The first nine, which originated from the same dairy in Canada as the

cow that tested positive for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, were

slaughtered Saturday. The other 120 cows are considered "at risk"

because herd records indicate they arrived at the Washington dairy

during the same general time frame as those from Canada.

 

Click here to see the latest news on BSE in Dairy Herd Management's

special section.

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

News and Notes:

 

**Digester can destroy deadly BSE prions**

Incineration is usually the method-of-choice to destroy diseased animal

carcasses, especially in the case of BSE or chronic wasting disease.

However, this process may not always destroy the abnormally shaped

proteins (called prions) that are responsible for the disease.

An Indiana company has patented a process that uses a solution of sodium

or potassium hydroxide, combined with heat, inside a stainless-steel

container to convert prions into amino acids. For more information,

 

 

**More BSE headlines**

For those of you who would like to keep up on the latest BSE

developments, click on the headlines below to be linked through to more

news.

· AMI to host BSE briefing

· California legislators want all cows tested for BSE

· USDA wants faster BSE test results

 

**Pepsi to unveil dairy drinks**

Pepsi is "highly likely" to join rivals Coca-Cola and Dr Pepper/7 Up in

the milk-based drink market this year, according to the Jan. 9 issue of

Beverage Digest. Pepsi recently applied for trademarks for three

dairy-based beverages: "Smooth Moos,Milkquakes" and "Milk Chillers."

The value-added side of milk is fast becoming a lucrative option for

soft-drink makers.

 

**Construction on S.D. cheese plant stopped **

The company building a $50 million cheese plant in Lake Norden, S.D.,

has been ordered to stop construction. Davisco Foods apparently lacks

some necessary permits and could face fines for starting construction

without them. For more details,

 

**ISU receives grant for odor research **

Iowa State University researchers have received a USDA grant to

investigate dietary strategies to reduce gaseous emissions from

livestock. The researchers will first establish baseline emissions of

hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, methane and volatile-organic compounds from

swine, broiler chickens and lactating dairy cows. Then, they will modify

the diets to determine what feeding strategies work best to reduce

emissions. Researchers at the University of Maryland and University of

California-Davis will assist.

 

**Free Trade Agreement with Australia bad for U.S. dairy **

An analysis by the National Milk Producers Federation shows that the

proposed Free Trade Agreement with Australia would force more than

one-fourth of U.S. dairy producers out of business. It also would remove

about 113,000 jobs generated by milk production and processing

activities in the United States. For more details,

 

**Parmalat's demise may affect U.S. dairy producers**

When Parmalat Italy's largest dairy processor filed for bankruptcy,

many U.S. producers didn't give it a second thought. However, according

to Dairy Field magazine, Parmalat is the 25th largest dairy processor in

the United States, with dairy sales of $625 million in 2002. The company

has six plants in Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, New Jersey and New York.

And, while some states have funds to compensate producers in the event

of processor default, others do not. For more details,

[Guest guest]

> **ISU receives grant for odor research **

> Iowa State University researchers have received a USDA grant to

> investigate dietary strategies to reduce gaseous emissions from

> livestock. The researchers will first establish baseline emissions of

> hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, methane and volatile-organic compounds from

> swine, broiler chickens and lactating dairy cows. Then, they will modify

> the diets to determine what feeding strategies work best to reduce

> emissions. Researchers at the University of Maryland

 

If this is expanded to include humans, I can offer some cross sectional

field analysis from an early period in NV history. It has been clearly

demonstrated that a lunch of barley, cabbage, and undercooked chapaties

followed by a vigourous kirtan produces gaseous emissions well in excess of

baseline.

[Guest guest]

Mark Middle Mountain wrote:

 

>>**ISU receives grant for odor research **

>>Iowa State University researchers have received a USDA grant to

>>investigate dietary strategies to reduce gaseous emissions from

>>livestock. The researchers will first establish baseline emissions of

>>hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, methane and volatile-organic compounds from

>>swine, broiler chickens and lactating dairy cows. Then, they will modify

>>the diets to determine what feeding strategies work best to reduce

>>emissions. Researchers at the University of Maryland

>>

>>

>

>If this is expanded to include humans, I can offer some cross sectional

>field analysis from an early period in NV history. It has been clearly

>demonstrated that a lunch of barley, cabbage, and undercooked chapaties

>followed by a vigourous kirtan produces gaseous emissions well in excess of

>baseline.

>

LOL!! Maybe you should write those guys with your insight into the problem.

 

ys

hkdd

 

>

>

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 1/14/2004 8:10:37 AM Central Standard Time,

npetroff (AT) bowdoin (DOT) edu writes:

 

 

>...method-of-choice to destroy diseased animal carcasses...

>An Indiana company has patented a process that uses a solution of sodium

>or potassium hydroxide, combined with heat, inside a stainless-steel

>container to convert prions into amino acids. For more information,

>

 

-----------------

WTF?!?

 

These people are sick -- very sick!

[Guest guest]

------------------------------

Content-Type: message/rfc822

 

Return-path: <Dasgopal (AT) aol (DOT) com>

Dasgopal (AT) aol (DOT) com

Full-name: Dasgopal

Message-ID: <15c.2b0f7871.2d375a0d (AT) aol (DOT) com>

Wed, 14 Jan 2004 21:50:53 EST

Re: Dairy Herd Management - Mad Cow, Prions, etc 1/14/04

gourdmad (AT) ovnet (DOT) com

MIME-Version: 1.0

Content-Type: multipart/alternative;

boundary="-----------------------------1074135053"

X-Mailer: 9.0 for Windows sub 5007

 

 

-------------------------------1074135053

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

 

In a message dated 1/14/2004 11:40:26 AM Central Standard Time,

gourdmad (AT) ovnet (DOT) com writes:

If this is expanded to include humans, I can offer some cross sectional

field analysis from an early period in NV history. It has been clearly

demonstrated that a lunch of barley, cabbage, and undercooked chapaties

followed by a vigourous kirtan produces gaseous emissions well in excess of

baseline.

 

---------------

::: rolling on ground ::: tears in eyes :::!!!

 

Once again, you've made my day!

 

Hare Krishna,

Gopal

 

-------------------------------1074135053

Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII"

Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

 

<HTML><HEAD>

<META charset=3DUTF-8 http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; charse=

t=3Dutf-8">

<META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2723.2500" name=3DGENERATOR></HEAD>

<BODY style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fffff=

f">

<DIV>In a message dated 1/14/2004 11:40:26 AM Central Standard Time, gourdma=

d (AT) ovnet (DOT) com writes:</DIV>

<BLOCKQUOTE style=3D"PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue=20=

2px solid"><FONT face=3DArial>If this is expanded to include humans, I can o=

ffer some cross sectional<BR>field analysis from an early period in NV histo=

ry. It has been clearly<BR>demonstrated that a lunch of barley, cabbage, and=

undercooked chapaties<BR>followed by a vigourous kirtan produces gaseous em=

issions well in excess of<BR>baseline.</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>

<DIV> </DIV>

<DIV>---------------</DIV>

<DIV>::: rolling on ground ::: tears in eyes :::!!! </DIV>

<DIV> </DIV>

<DIV>Once again, you've made my day!</DIV>

<DIV> </DIV>

<DIV>Hare Krishna,</DIV>

<DIV>Gopal</DIV></BODY></HTML>

 

-------------------------------1074135053--

[Guest guest]

Oh God that was funny

 

ys syam

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 1/14/04 3:00:48 PM Eastern Standard Time,

npetroff (AT) bowdoin (DOT) edu writes:

 

 

> LOL!! Maybe you should write those guys with your insight into the

> problem.

>

>

 

Wait a minute here, perhaps it isn't a problem, I'm wondering if we could

harness this energy as a cheaper resource than solar power??

[Guest guest]

Dasgopal (AT) aol (DOT) com wrote:

 

>In a message dated 1/14/2004 8:10:37 AM Central Standard Time,

>npetroff (AT) bowdoin (DOT) edu writes:

>

>

>

>

>>...method-of-choice to destroy diseased animal carcasses...

>>An Indiana company has patented a process that uses a solution of sodium

>>or potassium hydroxide, combined with heat, inside a stainless-steel

>>container to convert prions into amino acids. For more information,

>>

>>

>>

>

>-----------------

>WTF?!?

>

>These people are sick -- very sick!

>

I'm actually not sure what to think of this. Lets say that somehow we

had a devotee cow which died of mad cow disease.

 

Of course, in the Teachings of Queen Kunti, Srila Prabhupada mentions

that a cow is very useful that even after its death it's leather and

horn can be used.

 

Nevertheless, as it turns out, this is not so practical on most of our

farms. Instead, my impression is that devotees usually bury their cows.

(Am I correct in this? Or do different farms do different practices?)

Another alternative is to compost the body of the dead animal.

 

At Hampshire College, my son had a job of driving a tractor and

composting all the garbage on campus. The Hampshire College Farm Center

also had some sheep. On a couple of occasions, a sheep died. They

simply took the body to the compost pile to dispose of it. Asto said

that within two weeks the body would be completely broken down by the

composting.

 

But, the problem that the farmers are trying to address here is the fact

that by burning, burying or composting a cow with mad cow disease, the

prion which carries the disease is not destroyed. It is not a regular

bacteria or virus. It's more like a molecule -- so it can be destroyed

only by a chemical process which will alter molecular structure. That's

why they have come up with this system. To protect the remaining

animals from getting infected.

 

Similarly, we would not want an infected cow to infect other animals in

our herds either. So, once it died, what would we do with the body?

 

I can understand that if you don't dispose of it by chemical means, then

the prions can still do destructive work on other animals. Thus,

composting the bodies would see risky, since the molecules are recycled

in to crops and feed -- potentially to be taken up again by the cows.

 

But, on the small scale that devotee farms operate, it does seem to me

that we could bury the individual bodies. Even though the prions would

remain intact, once the bodies were deeply buried it seems like there

would be little chance of their being taken up by plants and brought

into the animal feed system again.

 

Other thoughts?

 

your servant,

 

Hare Krsna dasi

[Guest guest]

In the UK any animals that die have to be disposed of off site which means

incineration or hunting dog food. We used to bury on site but the mad cow

disease stopped all that.

 

ys syam