Show Sunday May 211995 The Herald Journal Logan Utah Page 10 j States ask for clarifications on milk guidelines By St Louis tion The conference meets every two years to discuss changes in the federal Pasteur- Post-Dispat- ST LOUIS — Angered by what they say are confusing guidelines state health and agriculture officials want the federal government to make up its mind about labeling milk from cows injected with a Monsanto Co drug “The Food and Drug Administration has passed the buck to the states” said Dan Rackley director of milk sanitation for the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture “This puts me the regulator in a bad position with the consumer” Rackley is chairman of the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shippers which wants an FDA ruling on BST the drug that increases cows’ milk produc ized Milk Ordinance which governs interstate milk sales and sets sanitation standards The conference which has representatives from each state advises the FDA If the agency agrees with — or takes no action on — the group’s recommendations the proposals become federal policy Meeting in St Louis this month the conference passed a resolution opposing labels related to BST also known as bovine somatotropin or bovine growth hormone The resolution only affects interstate commerce said Joseph Nebe the propos- al’s author and environmental health supervisor for the Nevada Department of Health “We are still evaluating what they did" said Judy Foulke an FDA spokes- woman “We weren’t involved in their debate That motion passed without input from the FDA” The labeling debate has dragged on since the FDA approved BST in February 1994 Critics want mandatory labels on products using milk from cows should consumers have choice a saying The FDA rejects mandatory labeling saying that BST isn’t a food ingredient and doesn’t change the composition of BST-treat- ed milk The FDA says there is no practical way to distinguish natural BST from bioengineered BST Monsanto’s BST is genetically engineered but it is derived from a natural cow hormone But the FDA allows “voluntary” labeling in which farmers and grocers could say their products exclude milk from cows Labels must be “truthful and not misleading” and they must say there is no BST-treat- ed difference between milk from treated cows versus untreated cows the FDA says The agency issued preliminary labeling guidelines last year but it hasn’t issued permanent guidelines Wood Warriors 1 See BST on Page II Veterinary study:: Gentler is better when it comes to : navel dipping I Anew ) The result BST supporters and critic agree is an interstate commerce night! mare Wisconsin Minnesota and Maine have voluntary labeling laws Vermont enacted a mandatory labeling law which several food trade groups have challenged as unconstitutional Voluntary labeling laws have had the most impact on fluid milk sales within q state But most milk money is made by selling cheese and other dairy product across state lines s Without clear federal guidance evert the most ardent BST opponents are relucn tant to label products that are shipped out weapon in a fierce battle Strong iodine is not the solution to umbilical health Dipping the umbilical stump of a newborn foal is a routine management procedure on breeding farms Yet' some managers have long observed that stronger solu tions sometimes seem to do more harm than good Now research from the University of Califomia-Davi- s School of Veterinary Medicine has confirmed that when it comes to navel dipping gentler is better A team of researchers compared dipping the naveh stump in four common bactericidal solutions: two pert cent iodine seven percent iodine one percent povi- done-iodisolution and 05 percent chlorhexidine1 solution The dipping was done immediately after birth and again six to eight hours later A fifth group of control foals was not treated with any solution The researchers looked carefully at the various solu- tions’ abilities to reduce the type and number of bacte--l Utah State University ne scientists find rust effective on noxious weed By Lance Frazier staff writer ria which typically colonize the umbilicus I When Karen Flint and Sherm Thomson treated a field west of Wellsville with a rust that lulls dyer’s woad they knew they had a weed-killon their hands- They just didn’t know how efficient it would be A year later the area is dotted with dead woad stalks and what was once a tangled impassable yellow carpet is a green field with only a few patches of woad The once invincible dyer’s woad has met its match Our hero is a naturally occurring rust that prevents the woad from seeding Its effectiveness depends on die climate date of treatment and distance between plants but the rust can cut woad production by as much as 90 percent And you only need to apply it once according to Thomson a plant pathology specialist at Utah State University “Once the rust gets started in an area it perpetuates itself” Thomson said Friday “In some ways we’re discouraged because the rust is so : er They ' 1 I ill Jl Huber - viewed the area with ultrasound to examine the way in which the umbilical vessels regressed and whether they were beginning to abscess In addition they fol- lowed the progress of separation and atrophy of the' umbilical stump and compared the process with the development of complications which have arisen due' to invasion of bacteria The results indicated that seven percent iodine' while extremely effective in eliminating bacteria did its job all too well The strong tincture opened 'V: P ' s '"' iSSiWo V-- i I s &' the-doo- r for infection due to rapid drying out of the V effective” YXi r stump sloughing of adjacent tissue and development 1 of a knag tail giving bacteria a free ride into the blood-:- l stream and opening the door to abscessing systemic! infection ana navu ill Instead the more gentle solu-'-J tion of chlorhexidine diluted with water in solution proved equally effective in controlling bacte--l ria but without the undesirable side effects j The results of the study were presented by John ! Madigan DVM at the Sixth International Symposium bn Equine Reproduction in Brazil late last rail Modern Horse Breeding February 1995 V- one-to-fo- Thomson and Flint had hoped to study how the rust moves and why it kills only woad but it spread so quickly and killed so many woad plants that time was little left to study Flint a plant disease diagnostician with USU’s cooperative extension service said she’s not sure if the woad will build an immunity but it appears the with no side rust is an effective effects “This won’t eliminate woad but it will keep it to manageable numbers” Flint said So far no one is marketing the rust but Flint said anybody who wants to kill a patch of dyer’s woad just needs to find a plant with the brown rust dots on its leaves Tossing the “rusty” woad on healthy woad — or drying it and sprinkling it on fields — can drastically reduce the population within one year Thomson said he knew of the rust for years but didn’t know how effective it was He was petitioning state officials for permission to bring rust from Idaho five years ago when he checked some woad in Sardine Canyon and found rust on the leaves He kept those plants and now the rust is gradually killing the previously immortal weed For years state officials in Utah and Idaho have tried to control woad by pulling plants (which is marginally effective) or spraying them with herbicides (which can kill other broadleaf plants) but the rust offers an environmentally friendly ' urj woad-whack- er nQ nani Rcvanwriorwi jounwi Hint Karen rust Thomson can cut dyer's woad by 90 percent and could easily be Sherm front and say the used in applications of al sizes It is also 'environmentally friendly’ Flint said most farmers control woad pretty well because they till and treat their fields regularly But land that isn’t worked can soon be consumed by woad which chokes out other plants “It’s extremely competitive it produces massive numbers of seeds and it’s very Flint sail “It squeezes out everything else” Wilderness areas are particularly vulnerable but could now conceivably be treated by dropping rust from helicopters Thomson said Sections of Logan Canyon are “almost solid woad now” he said "waning mountain flowers and other plants have been pushed out Flint said the rust probably won’t wipe woad off the face of the earth it’s been in Utah since the late 1800s But the rust could take a considerable drought-toleran- regulators responding to public con- cern that hot-iro- n branding on the bison hurts the aniand cattle of jaws mals unnecessarily are proposing a change in branding requirements The Agriculture Department’s plan would change tire regulations for tuberculosis and brucellosis identification by allowing cattle or bison to be branded only cm the hip ' “We are committed to continually evaluating USDA identification hot-iro- n requirements to ensure that our methods are both humane and effective for livestock disease control and public health purposes” said Patricia Jensen acting assistant secretary for marketing and regulatory programs Under current rules livestock that have contracted or have been exposed to tuberculosis or brucellosis must be letter brand identified with a hot-iron die jaw or on the hip near the base on of thetaiL c r t " w I t” i I 1 1 bite out of the plant that was used to make dye in Europe before being transported to Brigham City as a wool dye or as weed seed depending on which story you like d For now only USU is doing research Thomson aren’t and Flint how sure long although the program will survive without further funding But the rust is so effective that if people help spread it there may not be much woad left to study Thomson estimates that the rust could virtually eliminate woad locally within five years “The natural spread is slow but sure but anywhere we moved it it’s just taken off” Thomson said “It’s such a radical change in one year that it’s unbelievable” 901-95- rust-woa- lb' branding on livestock jaws USDA also is considering alternatives to branding certain cattle and bison that are being moved to another state for slaughter One plan would allow cattle to be moved without branding if they are accompanied by a representative of the department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service or a state representative '1' Brucellosis is a bacterial disease that causes cattle and bison to abort or have weak or stillborn calves slow breeding and lowered milk produc- - 0- 0 tion It can be transmitted to humans as undulant fever through contact with infected carcasses at slaughter or through consumption of unpasteurized milk Bovine tuberculosis is also caused by a bacteria and causes weight loss general debilitation and sometimes death of the animal This disease also can be transmitted to humans but the current resurgence of human tuberculosis is caused by another bacteria f Sjjjm t ii point for freshening? Most producers realize that the weight of a heifer at freshening affects the amount of milk produced during the first lactation Heifers not fed balanced nutritional diets before freshening will not produce at an optimun level since they do not have the body reserves to main tain peak production Likewise a heifer that freshen: i very heavy will not produce as much as she shoulc j because she is too heavy There must be a break-eve- r j point at which a heifer should weigh to optimize first ' lartatinfl pwvhirtirm j Those heifers that freshen from lbs pro- 0 duce 432 lbs more milk than those that freshen at 90Cn lbs or less Likewise a heifer that freshens between! 1201 and 1250 lbs of weight produces 1777 lbsj more milk than one freshening at less than 900 lbs h The difference in milk production for each 50 difference in body weight increases until a heifer ist! lbs After the 1250 lb point thee! between 1201-125- 0 increases are not as great At weights beyond 1450’ lbs milk production actually begins to decrease A producer raising Holstein heifers should aim for a lbs if weight at first test day of between 1200-125- 0 milk production is to be maximized Raising heifers that weigh more than this cannot be justified in the extra milk production produced for the 50 lb increase in body weight Given this information a producer should breed Holstein heifers by weight so they weigh after freshen- ing near 1200 lbs A heifer being fed a good balanced ration should be expected to gam 15 lbs daily during the gestation period Therefore a good rule of thumb would be toL lbs (tit breed your Holstein heifers between 800-85- 0 This a with coupled weight good feeding program should see your Holstein heifers freshening near the a USDA seeks to eliminate WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Break-eve-n : Its v 100-125- 0 range ”'V ' v — '' Don Hubar Is Utah State Untoaraty Extension agent for Cached County 4 |