Winter 2004

Message from Murray Bast:

            I would like to thank all of our customers for their on going patronage in 2003. Last year was a very difficult year, particularly for the beef and dairy industries who were hit very severely. To top it all off, our hog producers have also suffered substantial losses with the price of pork being where it is. Many hog loops are suffering severe losses and even going bankrupt. Bio-Ag extends our heartfelt and sincere wishes for a prosperous and better year in 2004.

         Unfortunately as this letter is going to press we have just learned that there is a dairy cow discovered in Washington that is definitely positive for BSE. The last report before printing this is that they are claiming that this cow is of Canadian origin, specifically from somewhere in Alberta. This could be a real tragedy to Canadian livestock producers if this proves to be the case.

            As the year 2003 comes to an end, one has to wonder at what it is that Canada has to atone for with all of the problems that we have had in the past year. About 15 years ago when the whole idea of feeding rendered animal parts back to livestock began to become popular, I remember very vividly saying to farmers there will be a price to pay. 

            The reason that Continued on next page...    I felt so strongly about this is because I believe that we store toxicity in the body especially in fat tissue and spinal tissue, and that this should not be fed back to ruminant animals. Of course at that point in time, the universities were all correct, and feed companies knew everything -- what the heck would some small farmer out in Wellesley, Ontario know about anything? Many people in this neighborhood and in the community were laughing at my convictions.

Somehow, now that I have been proven right in all of the problems that we are having, I don’t even feel like saying I told you so. It is a sad commentary when the greed of humanity becomes so great, that in order to make a few more pennies we would put the health of an entire nation at risk. Cause and effect relationships never seem to be thought about or addressed. When we do the things we do, we never seem to think down the road 5, 10, 20 or even 100 years. We don’t determine what the implications of our decisions are and how future generations will suffer because of them.

            The same things can be said about these multi-national corporations who are into genetically modified foods or materials. While some of these areas have showed promise in making material goods that we do not consume, the whole idea of looking at how the body digests, breaks down, assimilates and utilizes genetically altered food at a cellular level has never been researched from a non biased perspective or from the viewpoint of future generations. In fact, all of humanity as we speak is a massive research experiment for several greedy companies and several greedy governments of this world to try and make profits for moving these products into the main stream. 

            In “The Ram’s Horn”, November 2003 edition  number 216, author Brewster Kneen very clearly points out how the federal government has given $1.2 billion of your tax money to big corporations and small corporations alike to continue to promote and continue to try and develop genetically modified novelty foods. The kind of process that things must go through at a federal level for approval is somewhat of a joke. The companies can do their own work and use their own labs to do the research. There doesn’t seem to have to be any third party involvement. On top of that the government helps them in a big hurry to get this stuff into the market place. The government and these big companies have a big investment in the product and need to get pay back on their millions of dollars of investment to their shareholders. 

            If you are interested in reading about this further go to www.ramshorn.bc.ca and download or print off your own free copy of the book called “The Real Board of Directors” by Devlin Kuyek.

Recent Headlines
As you well know in the last few days we have seen the greed of international people knowing no bounds. First of all there was Enron, then Conrad Black, and now we have Parmalat. Parmalat is an Italian based cheese company whose president has just been arrested on the charge of swindling $800 million dollars and yet there is still $7 to $8 billion dollars unaccounted for. One has to wonder where the morals and ethics of people or of a nation are and to what lengths some of these people will go to make sure that they have filled their own pockets with their own greed. 

I have been following the numbers in the cattle industry in the United States, and I am sure most of you in the dairy business will find it interesting that one year ago to this date there were approximately 82,000 less dairy cows in the US. In the month of November alone, there was a drop of over 10,000 cows. Now if this rate were to continue, we would have something very interesting going on. And I do believe the rate is accelerating. I was informed the other day by one of my US contacts, that the Americans are buying up all the BST that they can get. In fact, Monsanto is proudly announcing that they are going to have to build more facilities to make more product. Why do you think that this is? Because farmers are trying to whip a dead horse. They are trying to make those cows give more milk because they can’t get the replacements fast enough so now they are going to continue to beat them with BST. One of these days the American house of cards will come crashing down, and that day is coming closer with every injection. The average first service conception in the dairy industry in America is in the 30% range & falling. The Americans at some point will have to open up their border because they are killing their cows faster than they can replace them. This has been the case for a long time. We know that Canadian heifers have always found a ready home in the United States. 

What becomes more critical now than ever before, is for farmers to understand the importance of good sound nutrition in their livestock. As we at Bio-Ag have always said, it very important to make regular deposits to the bone marrow bank account. If we build this bank account by feeding proper nutrition we will have animals who have a much stronger immune system, a stronger skeletal structure, and they will probably live longer, reproduce more often, and stay healthy in the process. We know that if we feed the liver, spleen, and the entire endocrine system of the animal that they will function much better. Any offspring will also find the same kind of results that are found in the parents. 

The odd customer who tends to leave us based on things such as price, within six months to a year discovers the serious problems that they start to encounter in the health of their herd as this bone marrow bank account starts to deplete itself. What the farmer does not seem to understand is that in some of these cases, there are long-term implications for short-term gains.  Many farmers believe that production is the be all and end all. It is not production that makes you the most money, it is what you have left in your pocket after you are done paying everyone including your chemicals, your seeds, your feed, your minerals and your vet bills along with all of the rest of your overhead such as electricity, building maintenance, repairs, and mortgages. 

To sum things up, may 2004 be a better year than 2003 and remember that the sun always rises and the sun always sets. As farmers it will be our creativity and our ability to think positively and think down the road in the long term, not just always in the short term that will help us achieve our goalsu

Joke of the day -- Try to grow Chickens

                              A Torontonian yuppie recently moved out to Wellesley and bought a piece of land. He showed up at Bio-Ag during Chick Days last year. He talked to Murray about starting a chicken farm, and ended up purchasing 100 birds.  “That’s a lot of chicks,” Murray commented. “I mean business,” the city slicker replied.

                  A week later the yuppie was back again. “I need another 100 chicks,” he said.  “Boy, you are serious about this chicken farming, “ Murray responded.

“Yeah, “ the yuppie replied. “If I can iron out a few problems.” “Problems? “ Murray questioned “Yeah, “ replied the yuppie, ”I think I planted that last batch too close together.”

Dealer Profile

Bob Comfort & Leslie Bothen have been farmers collectively for over 45 years. Leslie met Bob eight years ago when she started buying hay from Comfort Farms. The couple will be married in the very near future at which point the farm will be renamed Canadian Comfort Farms.

Bob, with his father, has a cash crop operation of a thousand acres, which includes raising 50-100 beef cattle annually. The Comfort farm has been in the family for three generations. Bob has always been interested in working with nature and not robbing the soil of its nutrients. It was therefore, quite serendipitous that 20 months ago he found Bio-Ag, which upholds the same values. When he started using Bio-Ag Mineral and Redmond Natural Trace Mineral (NTM) Salt followed by Homeopathic Remedies on his cattle, their health improved and he felt confident that this course was better than conventional treatments. As Bob learned how to nurture the soil and grow healthier crops, he has reduced the use of pesticides and conventional fertilizers. His current program includes approximately 10 tons of Lime per acre and the use of Soluble Seaweed Extract foliar spray on growing crops. His cattle are also fed Bio-Lac, Black Earth, Live Earth, Bio-Ag Dairy Mineral and NTM Salt, which has improved their general digestion and decreased whole and part kernels in their feces. Bob became a Bio-Ag dealer in January 2003.

Leslie has been involved with breeding and raising light draft horses, Canada’s national breed, the Canadian. The soils in Niagara Peninsula lack calcium and are very acidic which caused Leslie’s horses to have soft teeth. She tried feeding them dried milk powder to increase the calcium content of their food. Since switching to better quality hay grown in soil with adequate lime the teeth are strong. Bob has created a special feed for the horses, which includes Black Earth, Live Earth, Bio-Lac, Kelp Meal, Horse Mineral, NTM Salt, and Flax Meal. Leslie has experienced more strength and vigor in her horses. The mares have consistently conceived and delivered healthy foals with no veterinary bills.

Their sales area is the Niagara Peninsula, and they serve farms that raise sheep, dairy cattle, beef cattle, horses, goats, pigs and poultry. They have also started to support farmers who are growing organic vegetables and cash crops. We invite you to visit Canadian Comfort Farms for all of your Bio-Ag needs.  To contact the Bothem’s please contact Bio-Ag Head Office

The Importance of Healthy Hooves

What Hoof Problems Cost Us

After mastitis and fertility problems, feet and leg problems are the third leading health problem causing financial loss. Research carried out at a prestigious veterinarian hospital in The Netherlands found that 7% of cows with hoof problems were shipped out early costing on average $56.00 per cow. Other problems encountered by the farmer whose barn falls victim to foot diseases are, lowered milk production, difficulty getting the animal into calf, and animals more susceptible to nutritional and health related problems which can all quickly add up to financial losses.

Hoof Problems & Their Causes

Most hoof problems can be broken down into 4 different categories:
1.     Laminitis—a nutrition related problem that usually occurs near calving
2.     Interdigital Dermatitis—a contagious infection caused by bacteria. Starts as a wet and smelly infection causing the cow to walk on the outside of inside toe.
3.     Digital Dermatitis—(Strawberry foot rot) A highly infectious disease causing sore, raw areas to develop on the skin around the heel.
4.     Foot rot—causes sudden and serious lameness. Declined appetite and fever are usual symptoms.

The Solution

Bio-Ag now has Solka® Hoofgel and Hoof-Clear for individual treatment or group treatments.

 Solka Hoofgel® is designed for intensive treatment of animals with serious bacterial hoof problems and can be used in combination with Solka Vet Wrap. A brush is provided with this product for ease of application.

Hoof-Clear® is intended for individual treatment or for use in a footbath as a preventative. For individual treatment, best results are obtained when it is applied with a sprayer. This concentrated product can be diluted according to the severity of the problem. To find out application rates and prices please contact your local sales representative or Head Office.

To see the uncondensed version of this article please call Head Office and ask us to send you information on our new Solka® Hoof Products.

No bacterial resistance!

No milk or meat withdrawal!

Imported directly from The Netherlands, these products contain Copper and Zinc in a chelated form, organic acids and adhesive products. Copper acts as an anti-bacterial and Zinc helps to heal the tissue and improve recovery of the hoof. The importance of healthy hooves cannot be underestimated. After mastitis and fertility problems, feet and leg problems are the third leading health problem in our barns today.

Natural Health Care—Treating Calf Scours Homeopathically

During this time of the year calf scours can creep up on you suddenly. To prevent scours, try using the constitutional remedy Cal-Phos.  

Metallicum Album is helpful in scours with cows or calves, as well as with winter dysentery and IBR. Colocynthis 200c is indicated when there is arching of the back and drawing hind legs forward under the abdomen and if the diarrhea is yellow. It can be given 2 times per day for 3-5 days. If the scour is white, consider giving a dose of China Officinalis 30c every hour for 4-6 hours. This remedy is useful for an animal that is suffering from debility or exhaustion after fluid loss and can be used with other supportive remedies such as electrolytes, or I.V. fluids. In general, bloody, watery, or burning cases of scours try the combination Dysentery remedy which is a mixture of several remedies that addresses a range of symptoms. 

            Finding the correct remedy and quick administration are of paramount importance when treating scours.