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Newsletter
- December 1998
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1998 In Review
As I sit here contemplating getting ready to
leave for Acres USA, I have many reflections on things that have
occurred over the past year. In my wildest dreams, I would never
have imagined that in my lifetime we would witness some of the
dramatic things that we have seen in this past year. Some of these
are listed here for you to also think about:
1. In Canada, the actual revelations that have
come out about Monsanto and BST and the people at Health &
Welfare Canada, have been quite revealing.
2. A great awareness of the types of toxins, toxicity and reactions
that are coming about because of vaccines and vaccinations.
3. The genetically modified organisms (G.M.O.s) and the devastating
or detrimental effects that we are starting to witness. One prime
example is Roundup Ready Canola on breeding spray resistant mustard.
This canola is crossbred with mustard and now they cannot hardly
destroy the mustard anymore with any other type of chemical.
4. The verbal attempts by Health & Welfare Canada to order
farmers to cut antibiotic use to their livestock or else they
will do it for us.
5. All of the numerous articles on the effects of chemicals on
us as a species, our health, our central nervous system, our reproduction,
etc.
6. Last but not least, the dramatic increase in birth defects
that are rising at alarming rates.
As I think about this, my mind goes back to
1989/1990 when I met Theo Colbourne in Minneapolis. Theo was on
the Scientific Committee of Americans and Canadians who were looking
at the Great Lakes in the early 80's. Over lunch, my friend and
I quizzed her on her book, Great Lakes-Great Legacy. Theo
back then explained to us how badly we were soiling our nest.
I resolved at that time to have my wife and I and our children
on as much drug-free, chemical-free and hormone-free food as we
could possibly have available to us. One day in 1992, I phoned
Ottawa to try to get a report on this Great Lakes study. However,
I was told by the man in charge that the effects found on birds
and animals had absolutely no bearing on people whatsoever.
Witness 1998 and reread what I have written about. Needless to
say, I never got the report and over the years I figured that
it would probably be by the end of my lifetime that maybe we would
start to wake up as to the damaging effects that we are doing
to the creation.
Over the years, there have been one or two
farm reporters who have not taken kindly to my position on many
aspects of agriculture. They have proceeded to ridicule me for
taking a stand against chemicals, excessive antibiotics, somatic
cell counts, vaccines, etc.
An article in a recent edition of Farm &
Country, written by Tom Button brought this to the forefront.
Two full pages detail the effects of overdosing drugs, hormones,
vaccines and chemical sprays. The thing that jumped out at me
was the following fact. Sperm counts have decreased by 50% in
50 years. Male births normally at 105 males to 100 females now
is 102.8 males to 100 females. Reading this it may seem of no
significance, however the thing of interest is that this rate
had been constant for 10 centuries or 1000 years.
Some other significant findings were a 50%
increase in males with penis deformities at birth. The University
of Minnesota checked custom spray applicators' children, 4,935
children, who were born between 1989 and 1992 against 210,000
born to the rest of the population. Rates for all and every category
of deformity were higher for the children of the sprayers and
really seriously higher for children conceived during the spraying
season. This, as I see it, is one of the greatest opportunities
to exist at any point in time on this planet. Why do I say this?
I truly believe that farmers are suddenly going
to realize, as well as consumers, that G.M.O. free grains, soybeans,
meat, milk or eggs which are all relatively chemical free are
going to be the only way to ensure healthy offspring. If someone
had told me that we would see this kind of article this quickly,
I would never have agreed with it. Yet folks, here it is, in front
of our eyes in 1998!
We at Bio-Ag feel very fortunate to be on the
cutting edge. By the time you get this newsletter, our new premix
plant should be on stream. What does this mean to you, a customer
of Bio-Ag?
1. A high level of commitment to quality.
2. A high level of commitment to service.
3. A product that will be G.M.O. free.
4. A product that will be totally antibiotic free. In this new
system, there will be absolutely no chance for contamination.
There are no conveyors, elevator legs or buckets to hold contamination.
This air blower system will not allow for any of this material
to accumulate.
This plant will probably be the first plant
in North America that is a state of the art facility that will
be Organic Crop Producers and Processors (O.C.P.P.) certified
as a plant to produce product for the organic trade.
At this time of year, Florence and I would
both like to wish each and every one of you a wonderful and blessed
Christmas. We want to thank each of you for your continued patronage
and we want to reaffirm our commitment to you, the farm community,
along with our great staff at Bio-Ag to continue to provide you
with quality, service and reasonable prices. None of this could
ever have been made possible without the loyal support of you,
our customers, and that of our truly dedicated staff. Thank you
for being a part of our lives. We wish for all of you, happiness
and success for 1999. As we look to the future, may we always
remember that God's creation was never supposed to be tampered
with and maybe it's time that we get back to understanding more
about biology and a little less about chemistry.
- M. Bast
BIO-AG CALENDAR
Our 1999 calendar has now been printed and
most of you have already received a copy. Please call the office
if you have not received it and we will gladly send one to you.
We have several featured specials as well as special days marked
on the calendar. Thank you to our dedicated customers who helped
with this calendar by submitting their family farm pictures!!
A NEW FACE AT BIO-AG
Betty Ann Glauser is working part time as our
Ration/Accounting Clerk. Betty Ann lives in Wellesley and is married
to Ted Glauser, our dairy specialist. Please call Betty Ann with
changes to your ration formulas and she will be happy to assist
you.
DOC BOB'S SPOT
Why do minerals cost so much?
Why is there such a difference in the cost
of some mineral supplements? Minerals are the machinery of the
body of both plants and animals. They are responsible for the
skeleton and many of the vital parts of other organs. Life is
not possible without a continual supply of minerals. There are
two basic classes of minerals because of the way they are distributed
in the body.
Major Minerals
The ones in greatest quantity in the body are
called the major minerals. They are Phosphorous, Calcium, Magnesium,
Potassium and Sodium. A 100 lb calf would have about 4 lbs of
these five minerals in its bodily makeup.
Trace Minerals
The other group of minerals are the trace minerals
and there are a lot of them but if you took the total amount of
all the trace minerals in that same calf, they would not make
1/2 oz of total mass.
Scientists continue to discover that more minerals
are involved in metabolism than we thought just a few years ago.
The reason they are difficult to find is that most of the trace
minerals are present in any one protein molecule as a single atom.
A protein molecule could have 100 or more atoms of different kinds
and if there is only one elemental atom of Selenium, for example,
it would easily escape detection.
The trace elements are responsible for the manufacture of antibodies,
enzymes, hormones and other very complex and specialized proteins.
These very complex molecules are the key elements in the immune
system. The ability of the animal to digest depends upon the ability
to manufacture enzymes. The body uses hormones as chemical messengers
to regulate many of the processes we call life.
The trace elements are minerals; most are actually
metals. Most metals are never found in their pure state in nature.
This means the metallic element will be combined with another
element like Oxygen. Rusted iron is Ferric Oxide. Iron would also
combine with the Sulfate radical SO3 to make Ferric Sulfate. To
further complicate the way Iron could be used by the body, Iron
can be combined in two different ways and the two kinds are Ferric
and Ferrous. There is a difference in the valence of iron and
the iron ion will have either a double or triple + charge. Some
of the trace elements are very poisonous if taken in improper
dosage. The example is that a dozen iron supplement tablets could
kill a curious 2 year old child.
Chelated Minerals
Bio-Ag on the other hand uses a series of 5
super chelated minerals-Copper, Iron, Cobalt, Zinc, Manganese-all
choline citrate based. Availability is 100%, not 1% to 3% based
on oxides, carbonates or sulphates. The amount of any trace element
added to any mineral mixture for livestock supplementation becomes
a very accurate and precise blending. There is no room for guesswork
or error.
Some elements are more easily absorbed by the
animal's intestine. We know that oyster shells are a better source
of Calcium than limestone taken out of a partially ground layer
of limestone rock. The difference is that oyster shell has already
become a part of a living animal so all the Calcium in oyster
shell has been absorbed once before by the oyster. Steamed bone
meal is also a mineral that has been part of a skeleton so it
is in a form that the body can absorb. Today however, bone meal
is very rarely used due to heavy metals such as lead which now
has high concentrations. All these factors demand that the process
of formulating mineral supplements for livestock be done with
the knowledge of the type of metallic salt. Is it readily absorbed
by the body or is it only partially available?
The partially available raw material may cost
as much on a percentage basis but because of the precise blending
requirements, the cheaper product could be almost worthless for
a dietary supplement.
All these many potential ways to cut costs
and yet guarantee the proper percentage of material on the label
make way for the unscrupulous manufacturer to sell a cheaper product.
The person who buys on cost alone is the victim of being fooled
by a desire to get the cheapest. When you buy mineral supplements,
a certain amount of trust is required. Always buy from vendors
who have some knowledge of what they are doing and who get their
source of raw materials from reputable companies.
I was involved as an expert witness one time where a farmer had
purchased some cheap limestone. It had not been defluorinated
but nobody had bothered to tell him and the Fluorine in the Limestone
rock poisoned the cattle and the resulting damage to the cow herd
amounted to thousands of dollars. Buy from a reputable dealer
you can trust, like Bio-Ag!!
Dr. Bob Scott, D.V.M.
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