MINIMIZING BIOSECURITY RISKS

As we see reports of the highly pathogenic H5N1 we have tips for decreasing your biosecurity risk on your farm.

• Have dedicated non-porous boots for your barn.
• If visiting a different farm wear booties or disinfect boots before going back into your barn.
• Have dedicated clothing (coveralls) for the barn.
• Don’t wear your barn clothes or boots off your farm.
• Personal hygiene – Wear gloves and wash hands after being in your barn.
• Limit contact with feces.
• Dedicate storage containers and equipment for feed and feces.
• Dedicate a drop off area for deliveries.
• Transportation vehicles should be clean, disinfected and if traveling between farms.
• Proper storage and disposal of used consumable items.
• Observing self-quarantine if highly contagious diseases are suspected.
• Contact your veterinarian if you suspect an illness.

For poultry specific tips have a look at this announcement from Feather Board Command Centre https://www.fbcc.ca/file.aspx?id=624e56a9-eaca-4ca5-a8c5-9ea5f33b95d6 

Mycotoxins are toxic chemicals produced by (fungi) molds.

Modern farming practices are depressing the plant’s immune systems and microbiome, making them more prone to severe fungal infections. Mycotoxins can develop in the field pre-harvest and during storage post-harvest.  Post harvest mycotoxins develop when high moisture feed is not stored properly. If consumed by livestock these chemicals can have toxic effects on the animals.  Cleaning moldy grains can help reduce levels of mycotoxins, as the fines usually have the highest amounts.  Mycotoxins rarely occur in isolation; Additive and synergistic effects can make seemingly low levels of mycotoxins dangerously detrimental to animal health.

Heat treatments and processing DO NOT inactivate mycotoxins. Don’t forget that finished feeds with and without by-products can be a significant source of mycotoxins. Some feed mills have better quality control than others.

Preventing Post-Harvest Mycotoxins

Poor storage and inadequate bunk feed-out are two controllable variables in the reduction of mycotoxins for silages. Aeration mycotoxins and refermentation mycotoxins can be very dangerous to animal health. Farmers must make sure as little air as possible gets into the bunks when scraping off feed and must keep moisture out.

Keep grain stored cool and dry. Clean out bins before new crop

Silage- prevent air from penetrating when taking off the face of a bunk or bag. Use a defacer or similar. Harvest at right moisture and ensure silage is packed tight enough and use a forage product to ensure proper fermentation...Bio-lac/Seaweed/Sugar.

Testing

Visual inspection is not reliable. Mycotoxins are tiny molecules the are not visible. On the other side…the presence of visual molds does not always mean mycotoxins are present. There are 1000+ Mycotoxins out there. Bio-Ag now offers a test called Myco 7 which test for the presence of 7 common mycotoxins. Mycotoxins almost never occur in isolation. If you have one mycotoxin chances are you will have more accompanying it. Additive and synergistic effects can make seemingly low levels of mycotoxins dangerously detrimental to animal health.

Signs and Symptoms of Mycotoxins in Poultry

1. Immune suppression symptoms
2. Gut disturbances/oral erosions
3. Uneven growth patterns
4. Ruffled feathers

Turkeys are more sensitive than broilers • Young birds are more sensitive than older birds.

Mycotoxins Change Gut Microbiome

Mycotoxins damage intestinal cells and gut environment. Beneficial bacteria are killed off. Gut immunity is compromised and parasites such as coccidia can take over. Clostridia thrive in mucoid environment induced by chronic inflammation.  

Reproductive system

Always keep in mind when presented with reproductive issues, this includes egg quality in layers! Immune system – All mycotoxins a ffect immune system and suppress it, should be on the list when having disease outbreaks.

General Signs

Most other symptoms come from indirect cause of which immunosuppression is the main sign. This means increased susceptibility to disease and vaccine failure.

Often times waxing and waning symptoms and growth are a sign that there is a problem. This will present as variability in uniformity of bird weights.

Ruffled feathers from compromised nutrient absorption and protein synthesis.

Oral lesions can be visible as mycotoxins are caustic. The feed particles sit in mouth. Lesions can occur in esophagus as well. Look for a rough appearance and can ulcerate and bleed. Lesions can go all the way down to gizzard and proventriculus and contents will reflux upwards.

Condemnations of liver. Aflatoxins are especially hepatotoxic but many other mycotoxins also damage the liver. Pancreatic enzymatic activity harmed by aflatoxin and so feed isn’t digested properly. Mycotoxins can impair kidney function. Swollen kidneys, urates and dehydration.

Gastrointestinal tract is damaged. Mycotoxins kill rapidly dividing cells, these include intestinal cells and immune cells. See signs such as enteritis, diarrhea, slick feces, and shiny feces from fat malabsorption.

Specific signs

Fusarium toxins can cause bowed legs and knocked knees in turkeys.
Ergots can cause claws and combs to become black and fall off.

Signs and Symptoms of Mycotoxins in Dairy Cattle

1. Gut disturbances
2. High SCC
3. Low Milk

Freshening cows are at highest risk for developing illness due to mycotoxin exposure. They have the highest stress. When a cow doesn’t eat (drop in feed intake at calving) the gut loses integrity and becomes leaky allowing mycotoxins to be more easily absorbed. Mycotoxins will damage the gut lining. Rumen microbiome and fermentation becomes dysfunctional when molds are ingested. Think of how penicillin is an antibiotic. Colostrum and even milk can contain mycotoxins, calves can become sick when drink this milk. High SCC, Mastitis and Metritis can also be a sign of mycotoxin issues because if the immune suppressive effects.

General Signs 

• Gastroenteritis
• Bloody stool
• Inconsistent manure quality is frequently a sign
• Reduced Dry Matter Intake
• Suppressed immune function
• Reproductive failure

Signs and Symptoms of Mycotoxins in Swine

1. Gut disturbances
2. Fertility issues
3. Failure to respond to veterinary treatment

All mycotoxins have an impact on growth and immune system. Combinations of mycotoxins can make symptoms unpredictable.

Immune System Depression

• Vaccines don’t work
• High rate of disease
• Lack of response to medical treatment (antibiotics)

Customer Spotlight - Auswill Farms

Mike Schumacher is a 3rd generation farmer, with 2015 marking the centennial for Auswill Farms. 

Originally purchased by his grandfather is 1915, Mike and his wife Brenda bought the farm in 1995.  Their son AJ helps out, and of course, grandson Liam likes to pitch in too.

The Schumacher's choose to use all IP seeds and compliments that choice with  Bio-Ag products such as

Bio-Lac/Seaweed/Sugar, Ocean Harvest Dried Seaweed Meal, Perma-Guard (DE), Bio-Ag Kelp Fertilizer, Black Earth, and Bio-Ag Calf Starter.  They use the Bio-Lac/Seaweed/Sugar to help with fermentation and feel the cows are healthier and are better milkers due to the high quality of their corn silage.

The Schumacher's are longtime customers of Bio-Ag and we wish them continued success and many more generations of farmers to come

PCAI Bio-Lac/Dried Seaweed Meal/Sugar
Get 5% Off for the Month of May

Product Update - OceanFeed Poultry

Exciting news from our partners, Ocean Harvest Technologies!! Place your order here!

Ocean Harvest Technologies has just completed a dosing trial with broilers at the University of Guelph and preliminary results have been very positive. Here is a summary of the findings:

In starter phase, OFP at 0.5% OFP inclusion improved body weight (BW), body weight gain (BWG) and Feed conversion ratio (FCR). Response to OFP in the grower phase was similar to the starter phase with improvements in average daily feed intake (ADFI), BWG and FCR. In the finisher phase, only BWG was improved.

• Overall (d 0-42), final BW (d 42) of birds fed the control plus 0.5, was heavier than those fed the Control diet by 166 grams.
• Overall, birds fed 0.5% OFP had 2.2% better FCR relative to the control birds.
• Birds fed 0.5% OFP had 9.2% higher breast yield relative to the control birds.
• Mortality was reduced in birds fed the OFP diet compared to controls (1.4 vs 3.2%)
• Due to improved performance and survival rate, OceanFeedTM Poultry provided a return of investment of 108%

Bio-Ag and the Hastings Country Plowing Match

John Sweeting has been a Bio-Ag dealer since 2002 servicing the Peterborough area.  One of his favourite events to attend is the Hastings County Plowing Match in Tweed.  The show hosts over 200 exhibitors and Bio-Ag is proud to be one of them.  We recently had a chance to chat with John about his experience at the show and why he attends.

Hi John, thank you for sitting down with me today.  Why don’t you tell me how you got started with Bio-Ag?

With Bio-Ag, alright well that’s a bit of a story.  I think it goes back to 2002 or 2003; there was an advertistment in the farm paper at the local Ag office about a meeting of producers getting together about organic milk.  Murry Bast was the speaker who was coming down to give a presentation. I’d heard of Murray because of my field of farming organically and I always wanted to hear him speak.  I was also really interested in the topic of organic milk production. So I went to the meeting and asked a few questions.  And at that point in time there was some literature that came in the mail and a letter attached in the envelopes asking if I knew or would possibly be interested in taking on Bio-Ag Distribution.  They sent me a binder and I had an interview, so here we are

And the rest is history

Yes and the rest is history

You attend the Hastings County Plowing Match every year; why are you drawn to this show?

I have a bit of history that goes back into Hastings County.  I think it was the year of 1986 they hosted the International Plowing Match.  And from that experience the gentlemen who worked on that decided amongst themselves that it would be worthwhile to start their own mini plowing match.  So it just kind of grew to what it is today.  It’s basically the “Outdoor Farm Show” version for East-Central Ontario.  It draws people from Ottawa, Renfrew, Kingston and up north into Barrie. It’s 10+ acres of tented city so there is a lot for people to see like demonstrations of new machinery or whatever their focus is for that year.

How do you think you benefit most from attending?

I think it’s the face to face contact.  The people who are interested and come into the tent you are more likely to do business with.  Through that I guess it’s a more efficient time than making random cold calls.  Then you have current customers, who you don’t see quite as often who might come by with a question.  And just that one on one contact and networking and building relationships is what makes it worth attending.

What is your favourite part of the two day event?

My favourite part? I guess it’s a case of the whole Ag business coming together.  And for people of Ag background it’s a day they look forward to and see all the different vendors who have displays.  It’s hard to explain Nicole; Its like-minded people and a certain type of energy when you get a show together.  Like I say it’s hard to explain.

Of all the people you talk to, what products do you find they are most interested to learn about?

There could be a variety it could be from any variety of livestock concerns or soil health.  It depends on the day of the show and if there are questions.  I think it’s a case that we deal with a lot of people that are critical thinkers and a lot of them probably have questions when they come to the show.  Because we have consultants and distributors in our name they want to consult with us a little bit to see if we have the answers.  That’s probably the best way to put it.

Now is there anything that people can expect?

There is a network of knowledge that we as a company have to draw on because of our dealer network and head office.  If there’s a question I can’t answer right away I can soon find out.  There will be a general variety of the products we carry displayed so people can see what we have.

Maybe they should just come to the show and visit you at your booth?

Exactly

Thank you for talking to me today John and we hope you have a good show this year!  If you would like to talk to John or get connected with him please head to the Hastings County Plowing Match and stop by his booth!  

For more information about the show please visit their facebook page 
HOSTED BY:

SCOTT AND ANGELA TRUDEAU AND FAMILY
302 STOCO RD. TWEED
http://www.hastingsfarmshow.ca/