Newsletter - June 2000
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Spring has sprung and the grass has riz. Besides all that nonsense, do you think the drought may be over? We certainly have more than our fair share of rain especially in the last month's time. Of course, it's only making up for what we were lacking over the past two years and as the experts would say, on average, it should be just about right. Now you know what the definition of average is - if you put one foot in a tubful of boiling water and the other foot in ice cold water, on average you should be comfortable.

Geneticallv Modified Food Debate

For those of you that are watching the genetically modified food debate with some intrigue and interest, I just came across something that I feel is of great interest to all of us. This is an article that came out of the London Guardian, Wednesday May 31st and it is written by a James Meikle. The title of his article is "Soya gene find fuels doubts on GM crops". It is all about our favourite company Monsanto, that pioneered the use of genetically modified crops. It is now finally revealed that Monsanto's most widely used GM product contains unexpected gene fragments, raising fresh doubts that the technology is properly understood. Unbelievable!

Two extra gene fragments have been found in modified soya beans that have been grown commercially in the US for four years and used as an ingredient in processed foods sold in Britain for a similar period. The British government and the company are both insisting that the beans were no more risk to human health than conventional types.

However, don't you think that something such as this will probably cause even further problems for the government people trying to prove that they can manage or monitor the introduction of this type of technology no matter what country they are in? We also know that Monsanto alerted the British government about this problem on May 19, only two days after ministers of the government revealed that thousands of acres of oilseed rape or canola had been grown unwittingly from conventional seed contaminated by genetically modified material. Now the interesting part is that German research has suggested that a gene used to modify rape seed could leap the species barrier into the guts or G.I. tract of bees. The test that they did, actually showed that two "inactive" pieces of genetic material were inserted at the same time as the whole gene. The spokesman for Monsanto says "All this means is we are able to see genes in soya more clearly now. It is like putting a telescope in orbit allows astronomers to see stars better." They insisted that these fragments were in the product when it passed safety assessments by US authorities in 1992 and Britain in 1996.

They also insist in a letter to the British government that nearly 100 million acres of such beans have been cultivated around the world since 1996 without adverse effects on the environment or human health. They have also been widely consumed in Europe in foods and animal feedstuffs without adverse effects.

The Department of the Environment in Britain said its own preliminary study suggests that "the risk from these beans when used in food or animal feed is no different from conventional soya beans".

A fellow by the name of Andy Tait, GM campaigner for Greenpeace said "This shows exactly what we have been saying for years, that genetic modification is inherently unpredictable and will have all sorts of knock-on effects once released into the environment." Isn't it interesting how these gung-ho biotech scientists have been proclaiming far and wide how great this genetic engineering is because it is so much more PRECISE and PREDICTABLE than conventional plant breeding? Now it turns out that they don't even know what all genetic material is being inserted along with their desired foreign genes. Tell me again that it is perfectly safe, please!

You can only find what you are looking for. They barely know what they're looking for at that! And for how many years did the tobacco companies hide the facts they knew about the health effects of smoking nicotine addiction? Oh, but I'm sure we can trust these guys. These are the same people who brought us PCBs, DDT and Agent Orange and all of those wonderful things that made our life so much better.

Molds & Mycotoxins

On a more serious note, I'm sure that many of you reading the newsletter get tired of my talking about molds and mycotoxins. However, as bad as it was in dry weather for one type of mold, it is almost worse this year with the types of molds we are going to have with wet, damp, rainy weather. If any of you have sealed silos, it would probably not hurt to blow some HALT into the silo initially before you start to fill, to stop or treat any kind of potential problems you may have with old dust in your silos hanging around the inside walls. If you have breather bags in the silos, treating with Halt will stop molds from dropping down onto the feed when we have warm weather and cool nights. I cannot emphasize how dramatically important this is to control mold. One of our clients has just told us that when he stopped feeding corn out of his sealed silo, all of the little mastitis flecks on his milk filter disappeared. Hog farmers tell me time and time again how bad molds and mycotoxins can be in their feed.

Culbac Forage

With the year the way it is and the types of molds that are out there, I cannot emphasize enough the need for farmers to use a good silage inoculant. It may sound like I'm tooting BioAg's horn and indeed I am, but our Culbac Forage is a tremendously good product and should work very well under this year's conditions. To make sure you have properly fermented feeds is one of the best things you can do to stop the mold problems in your livestock, this goes for dairy cattle, horses, sheep and also for goats. It is very, very crucial to have a properly fermented product! While I still believe that goats have not adapted very well to fermented feeds, if this is your intention, make sure it is properly fermented and free of mold!

Adding Diatomaceous Earth to Grain

Another thing I would like to point out as our next newsletter won't come out again until September is that we would like you to think seriously about Diatomaceous Earth. When D.E. is added to the grain when filling the grainery, it will help control weevil and other types of mites that run around in our grains especially if we are putting them in dry storage. The addition of anywhere from 2 lb to 10 lb per tonne is an excellent way to control these rascals.

ManureBuster - Manure Treatment

Last but not least, I would like to talk about ManureBuster. We have seen dramatic and terrible water problems in Walkerton and now the scare tactics are running wild all over Ontario. I would like to point out to you as farmers that one way we can have our house in order and be able to publicly say we care about the environment, we care about people and we care about our natural resources is to use our ManureBuster in your manure pits. This is an excellent time of year to be applying it when your pits are empty to get a fresh start to breaking down these bad bacteria that have been excreted in the feces. In addition, you will actually get some good bacteria into your pits and get the whole biomass changed into something that will be environmentally friendly when you haul it out to your field and work it into your soil. It will contribute to the natural cycle of growing things and recycling waste.

Welcome! Our Open House will be held on Wednesday, July 5"'. We would certainly love to see all of you during the day. As in past years, barbecue beef will be available all day and a 5% discount will be given on all product picked up and paid for that day. In order to serve you better, if your order for product is placed ahead, we will be able to prepare it ahead of time for ease of loading on the 5"'. All the best for a wonderful growing season in 2000!

BIO-AG DEALER PROFILE : TED GLAUSER

A background in dairy fanning has given Ted a practical education to help him promote Bio-Ag products. After being raised on a dairy farm, he worked in partnership with his wife's parents on their dairy farm near Fullarton in Perth County for 5 years, managing a herd that he purchased from his father. In 1985, Ted, Betty Ann and their two children, Adam and Melissa moved to Waterloo County along with their dairy herd to a farm they had purchased there.

At this farm west of Kingwood, they began to experience some breeding and mastitis problems in their herd. Through a neighbour, Ted contacted Murray Bast to help him remedy the situation. After selling the herd in 1988, Ted became a dealer for Bio-Ag full time, but kept active in agriculture by relief milking. Ted is Bio-Ag's Dairy Specialist covering cattle, goats and sheep as well as having experience with hogs. His sales area includes Wellesley, Elmira, Fergus, Mount Forest, Listowel, Stratford and surrounding areas.

The exposure that Ted has had with Bio-Ag clients over these last 11 years has given him a comprehensive understanding of the agricultural industry. He feels he has learned more since leaving farming than when he had his own operation.

The Glauser family now resides on a small acreage in Wellesley. Keeping it all in the family, Betty Ann joined the Bio-Ag team in 1998 as our Ration Specialist working out of head office in Wellesley where you can contact either Ted or Betty Ann, (519) 656-2460 or Toll free 1-800-363-5278.

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