Newsletter - Summer 2002
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I have a question for all of you readers. What is green, yellow, brown, blue, rosy pink, and fuzzy all over? Well for starters it is not big bird or cookie monster or for that matter your pet dog or cat -- these are molds. What is a mold? It is a growth of certain types of fungus that grow from spores. Fungi are single celled living forms of life, which inhabit the land, air, and waters of the earth. They are everywhere and are much more highly developed then bacteria and viruses. There are many more species then are found in other microbes. It is estimated that there are well over 500,000 different species of fungi. Fungi have been on the earth since it’s beginning of time and quite remarkably have had little genetic change over that time.

Fungi are survivalists, they can change their form from rapidly growing to no growth over thousands of years such as seen in living spores which have been found in Egyptian tombs. They make poisons called Mycotoxins. Single fungal cells can only be seen under a microscope but a colony of these makes a visible presence in the form of mushrooms, toadstools, molds on food, and habitations. While plants, animals and humans are alive and well, the fungi around us are unable to overcome the natural defense mechanism that higher life forms possess. Once death over takes the living, the fungi are the principal undertakers and managers. They reduce all that have ever lived into molecules from which they were assembled. Biologists call this the carbon cycle; philosophers and religious people call this from ashes to ashes and dust to dust.

There is one exception to this simple balanced equation of life and death and that is that the fungi can attack the living while they are alive. At it’s most simplistic perspective one has many fungi entering the intestinal tract, nose and lungs and organs every single minute of every single day. We generally do not develop an infection from these intruders however, an animal or person may contract a fungal infection, in people this is known as athlete’s foot or ringworm on the skin. At the opposite extreme is the patient with AIDS who faces death threatening fungal infections because that persons immune system has been totally reduced to a horribly ineffective mechanism against the fungi. In between these extremes there are fungal infections associated with diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and other conditions including cross infection amongst humans and animals.

Fortunately the average person or animal does not succumb to a serious fungal infection and the average life expectancy on most people is into the seventies. Where do these spores come from? Certain pre-conditions need to exist for molds to flourish in our feeds. Environment and terrain are all part of the way pH, redox, and resistivity determine the outcome of all feedstuffs. Situations such as the pH of our soil and the pH of the rain that falls, the types of chemicals that we use to control our weeds, the types of bacteria available in our soil, the mycorrhiza (My-cor-rhi-za: an underground living complex that decomposes organic materials, making soils fertile.) and fungi in the soil itself seem to have a long range impact on how our feed will eventually turn out. In Ontario one of the biggest problems we face is a high level of humidity. Humidity is one of the factors that determine the kinds of spores that travel through the air to land on our plants.

Another thing affecting this whole issue are the seed companies. Are we using genetically modified seeds? With what have they been genetically modified? Many corn companies use antibiotic markers in their seeds — what types of antibiotics have been used? Last but not least is the soil food web itself. In this web we have all different kinds of microorganisms. There are bacteria, protozoa, nematodes, arthropods, fungi of different sizes and all of these things figure into the type of soil life that we have and how it will dictate what kind of molds will appear.

Let us look at some of these factors that influence some of the out comes of the kinds of molds or fungi’s that we encounter. First of all the pH of the soil is one influential factor in what types will end up in our soil. We all know that certain types of soil produce different effects on the growth of plants. For example, if we would plant blueberries in a high alkaline soil they would never do very well yet plant them in an acid type soil they will blossom and produce blueberries to no end.

Another example is the rain. Much of the rain that falls is leaden with toxic materials. We know that many people have taken the rain and put it into Petrie dishes where they cultured it and found out how toxic it can be. All of these factors are very crucial. We also know that many of these molds and mycotoxins can be tremendous enemies. During the 1930 and 40’s as many as 1000 compounds that were classifiable as mycotoxins were studied by the pharmacology or drug industry as potential antibiotics only to be discarded in the idea of treating bacterial diseases in animals and people. The reason for this was that they are far too toxic for the higher life forms to be of value. Little if any of the discarded data was ever published, yet what these toxicity studies actually documented was the existence of a large number of fungal derived toxins which caused serious target organ injury in various animal models. Obviously in retrospect what was being seen was the pathology produced by the mycotoxins. In order to understand this toxicity, one only has to look at what problems some these mycotoxins used as medications cause in humans.

One example of a mold in a medication would be Cyclosporin, which is an antibiotic, used for transplantation and can actually cause cancer and arteriolosclerosis complete with hyperlipidemia (swelling of the skin) with many people who received it. Many other people develop gout and other diseases. Having said all of this however there are many areas where molds are beneficial and some such positive examples include cheese making, wine making, and other areas where certain uses have proven to be very beneficial.

One of the biggest problems that we see in our food system is the fact that we are constantly mining our soils. We have paid so little attention to what is going on inside the soil. The soil is nothing more or less then a stomach in an animal or a human being. The soil breaks down much of the stalks and straws and different things into a useable form of carbon, which it puts back throughout the system in terms of growing the next crop. All of the things in the soil such as bacteria, fungi, and earthworms are responsible for helping to break this down. Like miners we are continually taking more nutrients out of the soil than we are putting back. This has to change because the more we deplete the soil the bigger a problem we create with fungi in our food supply. We now know that peanuts are a commodity that hardly anyone can eat, or should eat because of high levels of aspergillus’s or cancer causing type situations in the peanuts themselves. For example as we feed this feed to our livestock animal fat is increasingly becoming more documented to be a major risk factor for human cancers and arteriosclerosis. All of which leads us to ask the questions what are we doing? And why are we doing it in such a way? The answer ultimately boils down to; it is nothing more than the almighty dollar. We have no idea how badly we have depleted the soils of North America and we are only beginning to see the start of the result which is a increasing amount of sick and dying people. Rest assured that our governments will never be able to keep up to the amount of depletion and problems that we are experiencing with human health. All the hospitals and cancer treatment centers they are building will never keep up with the growth in this industry.

In future issues of this newsletter we will continue to look in greater detail at some of these concerns. In conclusion, what is the bottom line for a longer life with the enjoyment of good quality health?

1. A diet to limit the intake of mycotic food and drink.
2. Limit growth of toxin producing fungi in the gut
3. Increase vegetable fiber in the diet to bind and prevent absorption of mycotoxins through the blood stream
4. A diet plus something such as white willow bark tea to prevent heart attacks and stroke.
5. A good program of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes within the diet to help prevent the fungal colonization of the mycotoxin contamination of our system.

Our Lab technician Dana has now been running mycotoxin testing in our lab and yes we can confirm that this is indeed the case - mycotoxins are alive and well.

Trouble Ahead?

Just having returned from a fact finding trip to Saskatchewan in terms of the organic industry has lead to some very troubling and mind pondering conclusions. Are we just satisfied in the organic industry to call ourselves organic and do absolutely nothing about improving the nutritional value of the food that we produce and sell to the consumer? In one of the farms I visited, the mud in the yard was so bad after a rain that I had to wear boots just to cross the yard. Sparrows were flying in and out of the food processing plant. Skids were piled in any building anywhere. Bags were ripped and torn. All kinds of garbage lay in and around the place all over the yard. After viewing this, my thoughts were wow wouldn’t some opponents of the organic industry love to get somebody like Global or CTV or CBC to make a documentary about how terrible we organic people are. I think it behooves each and every one of us to take a look at finding ways of policing our selves at trying to make our products, services, and properties look much better and to produce and provide a product that is safe, nontoxic, supportive and nutritive to the consuming public, both organic and conventional. I am hoping to see all of you at the Bio-Ag Open House coming up on July 10^th for more details see page ____ in this newsletter. u

• Murray Bast, President of Bio-Ag

Adding Diatomaceous Earth to Grain

Since the next newsletter won’t come out until September, now is a good time to point out that adding Diatomaceous Earth (or DE for short) to your grains can be a great way to control weevils and other types of mites that get into the grain when it is put into dry storage. DE kills insects by dehydration so it is not chemically harmful to humans or animals. Adding anywhere from 2 lb to 10 lb per tonne is an excellent way to control these pesky little rascals.

Wanted

We have a client that is interested in purchasing 350-400 tonne of mixed grain at harvest this year. Please call our head office and ask for ________ to get more information if you are interested.

We are now accepting recipes, local farming events, or classifieds to be published in future newsletters. Please phone in or send your submissions to our head office attention to Andrea Bender or e-mail them to andrea@bio-ag.com.

Here is a chance to show the shining artist within. We need your 4" X 6" or larger colour photographs depicting any number of seasonal farm scenes for our upcoming 2003 calendar. Some suggestions are buildings, field work, feeding/handling livestock, milking cows, etc. No aerial shots please. Photos must be submitted by August 1^st to head office, 1400 Greenwood Hill Road, P.O. Box 189, Wellesley, ON N0B 2T0. If your picture is chosen we will give you a $50 voucher for future Bio-Ag purchases in appreciation for your assistance. All photographs will be returned, not all will be chosen so don’t delay!

Congratulations!

Bio-Ag would like to congratulate our Lab Technician Dana Eccleston-McGregor who is now finished her Medical Laboratory Technician requirements through Mohawk College and The Michener Institute. We are very proud of your hard work, and wish you continued success. Well done Dana!

Profile of a Dealer -- Sue Cheeseman

Organic sugar bush, pastures and livestock, characterize Pinnacle Farms and the Cheeseman's philosophy of stewardship.

Sue Cheeseman has been actively involved in horses since childhood, despite growing up as a city kid in a suburb of Montreal. She rode, trained, worked for private owners and was even flown to Ireland to care for the Kruger's foxhunters for a season. This eventually led her to her true passion of breeding warmbloods, which meant buying a farm in Eastern Ontario.

She always ate organically and used homeopathics, so it was a short step into producing organic grain and alfalfa to feed the livestock. Horses were first, followed shortly by laying hens, ducks, meat birds and a few turkeys. A couple of years later a nice herd of Alpine dairy goats was started.

In 1990, a mysterious illness in one of the horses prompted research into finding even better supplements and alternatives to the allopathic veterinary treatments that were not working. Murray Bast's name came up and it was HIGHLY recommended that she get in touch with him. The farm has been using Bio-Ag products exclusively ever since. Living in Eastern Ontario meant having the premix bags mailed in individually (the post office girls were not happy!). Then as orders increased and postage was prohibitive, the trips to Wellesley began. As the flocks and herds grew and people commented on how healthy all the livestock was, people began to want to buy the same products.

Today Pinnacle Farms is involved with helping maintain genetic diversity by raising rare heritage breeds of poultry and has one of the first test bushes in Canada for a world organization of sustainable forestry practices. Experimenting with Bio-Ag products will be critical in saving the ice-storm ravaged sugar bush, which sustained 68.5% crown loss. Fertilizers such as paramagnetic rock and greensand will hopefully save trees that otherwise were destined to die.

After 10 years of using and recommending Bio-Ag products to everyone, she became a dealer. Business has steadily increased to the point where the purchase of pallet forks became a necessity for unloading skids from the transport trucks. Sue's husband Rick does the heavy work of unloading and loading into their warehouse and onto the pickup truck for delivery to farms. They can be reached at their farm in Maberly at (613) 268-2133 or by the farm's web site: http://www.pinnaclefarms.ca

Recipe Corner submitted by Mrs. Herman Kschesinski

This fabulous flax muffin recipe comes from Alive Natural Health Guides #1 and was contributed by Siefried Gursehe. This deliciously healthy snack is sure to feed your body and soul.

Soak flax seeds in buttermilk or kefir for 2 hours. In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients. In another bowl beat eggs and combine oil, vanilla extract and kefir soaked flax seeds. Add liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently stir until smooth. Finally, fold in the chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into 16 medium muffin cups — no more than _ full, and bake for 20 minutes. Let the muffins sit on a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving them. Enjoy!

Testing For Toxins

Bio-Ag’s quality control lab is now able to test for mycotoxins and is now opening this service to the public. There are six common types of mycotoxins we are able to test for. They are:

Zearlenone (Zer-el-no-ne)

Vomitoxin (Vomi-toxin)

Ochratoxin (Oak-ra-toxin)

Aflatoxin (Af-la-toxin)

Fumonisin (Fu-mon-i-sin)

Please note that only Vomitoxin has been verified by Neogen for TMR and Silage and all the other tests are just guidelines. Sampling is very important for reliable results. Samples can be taken of individual susppect ingredients, concentrate rations, TMR or grain, and forages. Dry and wet feed samples must be collected properly to get the most accurate outcome from the test.

Dry feeds are anything with 12% moisture or less. For example dry grains, protein suppplements, dry had and concentrates. (take 10-20 Lbs of 1 Lb samples and mix, then create a 1 Lb sub-sample) Store the sample in a paper bag in a cool dry place or preferable bring the sample to the lab as soon as possible. REFRAIN from freezing sample if it is for mycotoxin testing.

Wet feeds are anything with a moisture level higher than 12%. For example TMR, corn silage, haylage and high moisture corn. Take a 8-12 sub-samples of wet feeds at each site, mix sub-samples and create a sample about 2.5 Lb or 1Kg. Store sample in a thick plastic bag, forcing out air and storing samples in the freezer. Again it is best the get the sample to the lab as soon as possible because the shorter the delay between sampling and analysis the more reliable the results will be. Remember to always mark your samples with your name, a sample name, the date, and the type of analysis that you would like done. Should you need any help collecting the sample or discerning which test you need call the dealer nearest your area or Head Office and we would be pleased to help you.

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