Spring 2005
Welcome to our April Newsletter! Winter certainly seems to be hanging on with a vengeance. As I look out my window I see a warm looking sun but a cold North wind. Certainly temperatures in March tend to be 4¼C below normal, quite a contrast to February when everything melted and the snow went away.
For those of you that attended our seminars in January IÕm sure that you found them to be of intense interest. We had many farmers show up to hear Brewster Kneen talk about the hunter-gatherer vs. the big Corporate Entity. Many of the things that Brewster talked about certainly seemed to hit home with me. TodayÕs farmer has a myriad of problems, which he himself helped to create by listening to greedy corporations, and many universities who did things for these corporations for a fee. In the end the farmers themselves got caught up in all of the hype and excitement.
One good case in point would be the present BSE or Mad Cow problem that we have. I remember well when the first feed companies came out with tallow and meat meal in many of their dairy rations. I tried to warn farmers, but was basically laughed and scoffed at. Today we can see the end result, and now everyone is suffering for the fact that a few people tended to use this kind of excuse to try to make extra money. It has cost us so dearly, itÕs unbelievable what the cost has been to society and to farmers in general.
Our other speaker Dave Stetzer certainly kept the audience on the edge of their seats, as he continued to give more cases of Canadian studies and tests that he has conducted on Canadian dairy farms for transient voltage. To add to the mix, we have now become very much involved in terms of testing on-farm. David Colling has become the ÒMan-On-A-MissionÓ. Dave, who is a dairy farmer between Kincardine and Ripley, had several years of electrical engineering before he returned home to the farm to take over the dairy operation from his Dad. David is very much convinced of what Dave Stetzer speaks about, and we believe that we have found some of the problems that are plaguing farmers as well as their animals – including dairy and beef cattle, hogs, chickens, etc. All in all it was a great two days for the seminar. For those of you that missed it, you really missed some important and pertinent information.
ANNOUNCEMENT:
It is with some sadness, that I announce the retirement of our Dealer Bill Darlington. Bill has been plagued with some health problems and has decided to announce his retirement. Bill started with us many years ago and has been an invaluable help in terms of helping me to layout the company; and in terms of some of the decisions we have made as a company. Over the years, Bill has been very instrumental in his work with water and water research. Bill had his own lab and tested a lot of the water for many of the farmers. If his health permits Bill wants to continue to do this on an ongoing basis. All in all, Bill was one of the first dealers along with Ted Glauser who started with Bio-Ag as we started to grow and expand. For many of the difficult situations Bill was there to offer help and advice, and give us his expertise. To you Bill, I wish the best. May the sun always shine on your face and the wind always be on your back. Thank you for everything.
This newsletter I would like to deal with a totally new situation that apparently is starting to erupt in a very big way south of the border. ThatÕs right folks, in the US of A!! I was informed several days ago about a new problem in the US called Hemorrhagic Bowel Syndrome. This is a serious problem that has recently surfaced on many dairy farms as well as in some hog operations in the United States. Also at risk are many big beef feed lots. The problem seems to start when high levels of aspergillus fumigates mold penetrate many of the crops that are grown. Very little is known or clearly understood. Most of the problem seems to be showing up in operations that are employing things such as BST, GMO corn, GMO soybeans, BT corn or those farmers with high herbicide use on their fields. Based on what I have been screaming and yelling about for many years, (on environment and terrain) we seem to have run into a brick wall and the biggest bulldozer is not able to break down the wall.
From what contacts I have, I am told that many of the farmers that have these problems have tried all kinds of vaccination programs only to find their animals succumbing more and more to this dreaded problem. As many of you know aspergillus seems to be tied in with tuberculosis. Tuberculosis seems to be tied in with deteriorating skeletal structure, (which results in deteriorating bone marrow function), as well as problems with bronchial and respiratory situations.
One of the biggest problems is that once this aspergillus gets in the body we need to have ways and means of controlling it and certainly the way we are feeding our livestock with a great amount of fermented feed is one of the worst ways, (or one of the best ways - whichever way you look at it) to help promote this fungal growth in the body. Over the years, I have jokingly made the remark that sometimes farmers have a little bit of feed with their mold. This is as a result of the mold tests we get back from some of the labs. I have seen many times lungs that were totally hemorrhaged from hogs that were fed moldy high moisture corn. But nothing comparable to the extent that this is starting to show up in the United States. Many farmers report that they can have a healthy animal (cow, steer, hog, etc.), early in the morning and by afternoon it can be dead with all kinds of hemorrhaging inside the lung and bronchial tract, as well as the bowel and stomach region. These animals in general, basically blow up even in cold weather within an hour or two of their death – this is similar to an animal in the heat of summer.
Many veterinarians have been running up and down the roads apparently trying to promote vaccines as a solution or an alternative to this problem, however, the more the farmers vaccinate, the worse this problem seems to get. One can only wonder exactly what is going on? We know the sell count and immune system is virtually destroyed. When we begin to understand the role of the microflora of the soil as well as the fungi and all of the other little creatures that live in our soil that help to provide the nutrients to the root systems so desperately needed by the plants, we know that this whole ecological balance has been upset with all of the GMO crops and heavy-duty chemical use that many farmers are employing today. In several cases we know of people that are actually taking anywhere from eight inches to a foot off the top of their bunker silage piles to try to make sure that this does not get into the feed of their cattle or the high moisture corn for their hogs. However despite all this, farmers are turning around and hauling this mess back out onto their field and totally inoculating their soil with this dreaded fungus. We know for a fact that there are apparently high numbers of cattle dying on a daily ongoing basis. Only time will tell if the spring will change all of this as new grass and crops start to grow and emerge.
The United States has long touted the fact that their cattle are healthier and better than ours. It will be interesting to see how the mass media and the government will handle this round. Much of the work has been done with Oregon State in the Western United States but apparently data is flowing in from all over the US, and the evidence is absolutely staggering and overwhelming.
CONGRATULATIONS:
Congratulations to customers of ours for over 15 years, Morgrove Holsteins Ltd., Art, Rob and Mark, on being awarded a Master Breeder Shield. To accomplish Master Breeder status is no small feat. Great work folks – we are proud to be part of your success!!