LETTERS
Clarifying E. coli
"Scientists debate hay vs. corn" (Oct. 19) about U.S. scientists
refuting
a Cornell University study that indicates feeding cattle hay five
days
before slaughter wipes out E. coli, needs clarification.
The article stated that only one to three per cent of cattle shed
E. coli
in their feces. In fact, virtually all mammals, including cattle,
shed E.
coli in their feces. It is also found in other places in the
environment
such as the soil. What is important to note is that there are
many
different types that do not cause sickness in humans and animals.
However, E. coli 1057:H7 is different. Sadly, this type can cause
severe
sickness, and in some cases death, in humans. It is this type of
E. coli
that was found in approximately three per cent of cattle, as
reported by
Dr. Jan Sargaent at Kansas State University.
Peter Doris
Special projects manager,
Ontario Cattlemen's Association
Research ongoing
There is currently much discussion and concern related to a class
of
chemicals known as endocrine disrupters, as indicated in
"Sounding the
alarm" (Oct. 19). Hundreds of compounds, both natural and
synthetic, have
been identified that may have the potential to imitate
sex-related
hormones. The toxicological tenet, dose makes the poison, may
also be at
work.
The concern over man-made hormone imitators has stirred debate
over
natural estrogens, and many vegetables including soybeans,
broccoli,
spinach and cabbage are rich in such compounds. Some scientists
maintain
that such phytoestrogens may actually pose a greater risk than
the
synthetic variety. Research is continuing, as it must, in order
to provide
guidance.
As for the references to decreased sperm counts, scientific
studies on the
subject are conflicting. Sperm counts vary widely and influencing
factors
include diet, smoking, alcohol, stress, the frequency of
ejaculations, and
the method in which sperm are counted. While scientists continue
to
elaborate and uncover the possible causes through research,
Ontario farmers
have taken an aggressive, proactive stance to stewardship. That's
why all
producers must be certified to handle and apply agricultural
chemicals.
Jim Fischer
Chairman, AGCare
Walkerton
Rationalizing world trade
"Status quo for world trade" (Oct. 19) reported that Purdue
University
chief agricultural economist Wallace Tyner told farm writers that
"the
United States still protects its sugar and dairy products much
the way it
did before GATT."
He said he is "not optimistic about global trade agreements
having any
impact in the decade ahead," largely because he thinks
biotechnology and
child labour will come under the microscope.
On the European front, New Holland CEO Umberto Quadrino was
reported as
urging a go-slow approach on farm trade, because the financial
impact of
CAP reform on European farmers will be "progressive" and not
"revolutionary," stopping short of abandoning farmers to the
marketplace
entirely.
Tyner and Quadrino are delivering a similar and important
message,
reminding us that for every mile of road, there are two miles of
ditch and
that the road to free trade is a long one.
As the trade debate heats up and emotions run high, I hope that
Farm &
Country will provide its readers with more pieces like this one.
It is
always tempting and easy to quote someone who is all fired up and
pontificating from a soap box. That is why it is refreshing to
hear from
people with credentials who calmly state where they think an
issue sits,
where it is going next and why, as Tyner and Quadrino did. Thank
you for
giving them ink.
Roy Maxwell
Communications co-ordinator,
Chicken Farmers of Ontario
Chrétien's shining opportunity
Prime Minister Jean Chrétien has a wonderful opportunity to prove that he is a grass roots politician who cares about the "little guy." He must get involved in something that is dear to the hearts and stomachs of all Canadians - the safety of their food.A peppering of loud questions in the Senate, where much of the debate over recombinant Bovine Somatotropin (rBST) is taking place, isn't as sexy as pepper spray at APEC or the threat of separation by Quebec, but this situation requires Chrétien's immediate attention. The PM must heed the calls of dairy producers and send in the federal auditor-general to investigate how Health Canada's Bureau of Veterinary Drugs has handled the issue of rBST. The fact that the Senate has wakened from its torpor on the rBST question and can now lay a more respectable claim to the title "chamber of sober second thought" should tell him that it is of vital concern.
Health Canada has been digging itself deeper and deeper into a hole of controversy over this issue. Concerns among staff have been sloughed off as a labour-management problem, but it is now far past that, with reports that managers have tried to shush scientists into silence and that paper shredders have worked into the night.
How drugs are approved in Canada is certainly a concern. On the surface the issue is the possible approval of rBST for use in Canadian dairy cows, arguably more controversial than any other drug in the history of the pharmaceutical industry. But underneath that is the question of how all drugs are approved in Canada.
With a new system in place whereby drug companies pay for most of the cost of obtaining a certificate of compliance for a new product, the question of whom the department serves in assuring food safety in Canada has become cloudy. The average consumer in the supermarket isn't comfortable with this. Farmers, who use these drugs to treat their livelihood - cattle - shouldn't be either.
The spectre of big businesses becoming more and more powerful, to
the
point of appearing out of public control, does nothing for
consumers or
farmers. The policy of drug companies paying for approvals must
be
rethought and more clearly defined so that the public
understands. The role
of government in maintaining food safety has to be redefined and
spelled
out for an increasingly cynical public.
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LETTER FROM EUROPE
By Norman Dunn
European farmers target retail margins
French farmers - when they move about in groups anyway - are an ominous sight to the local gendarmerie. It's not so long since low agricultural prices in general led to the burning down of ancient town halls and the burning up of lamb carcasses dumped from trucks that were shipping the meat from England into the French market.So far, the latest public happening organized by the French farming industry has been relatively quiet - and unusual: Groups of hog producers, or their representatives from the farmers' union, have been touring supermarkets and butchers in many cities. Behind the window-shopping is a careful check of retail pork prices at a time when producers are staggering under the lowest slaughter hog prices since the late 1940s. In October, farmers in France and Germany were getting around the equivalent of C$1.65 a kg slaughterweight for 95 kg, 56-per cent lean meat hogs, prices that by no means cover even variable costs of production.
The gendarmerie are probably right to be apprehensive. Despite the abysmal prices given to farmers, farm union reps discovered that mark-up, after the slaughterhouses and processors have taken a modest cut, is up to 400 per cent in the stores.
Pork retail prices are also coming under farmers' scrutiny in Germany, where the store margin is just as dramatic. The German pork market is also having to cope with a certain amount of inter-EU dumping from neighbours Holland and Denmark, where farmers are having to accept up to 20 cents less per kg slaughterweight for their hogs than their colleagues in Germany and France.
Even sadder for the industry in Europe is the fact that things will almost certainly get worse. Hog numbers within the EU are still expanding, with this October's population up no less than eight per cent on last year's 118.6 million.
What really brought the current crisis to a boil was the partial collapse of the Far Eastern pork market and then the almost total destruction of the Russian one. The impact on prices on an already oversupplied home market can be imagined when it's realized that from 16.16 million tonnes of pork produced in the 15 EU countries last year, 900,000 were exported onto the world market. Of this, one-third went to the Far East and one-third to Russia.
The ruble has lost so much buying power that even with EU pork export aid now amounting to C$46 for 100 kg, the European product is finding few buyers in Russia.
Not surprisingly, farmers want to see a move on the home market. Not only French, but also German and Dutch producers want the price of pork to come down in the supermarkets so that domestic marketing flow can get a much needed kick-start. Economists in Germany are putting their money on an old rule of thumb that says where retail price of a meat article is lowered by 10 per cent, sales tend to increase by three per cent. In Germany alone, this equals nearly 1.5 million extra hogs per year.
The first signs are that the retailers are already listening -
and it's a
safe bet that French supermarkets will be the first to introduce
price
reductions.
Norman Dunn, based in Germany, is Farm & Country's European
correspondent
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Urbanites turn our farm into animal shelter
I think I must have missed something. I thought our gate sign said that our family and a herd of Holsteins live here. Maybe I need my eyesight checked, but for the life of me I can't see anything about our farm being a shelter for unwanted pets.Now that people are gearing up for Christmas shopping, I find myself wondering whose present we'll end up with next. History has proven that the dastardly deeds are done under cover of darkness, with drop-offs made regardless of snow and cold. By morning, when the bedraggled, hungry-looking things appear meowing or whining at our place, I'm sure some child, somewhere, is anxiously awaiting their return.
Our most recent adoptee is Clancy. I'd then been only slightly entertaining the idea of getting a new puppy. The puppy of choice was to be a purebred golden retriever, or maybe a collie with an instinct for rounding the cattle up from the pasture.
Clancy was neither. Like so many of the drop-offs before him, he was a Heinz 57 if ever there was one. It was mutual love-at-first-sight between Amanda, now four, and the pup. So far, calls to the neighbours and humane society have turned up no claimants.
As it turned out, the dog de-cided its own fate. RinTinTin and Lassie all rolled into one, he can be counted on to let us know where Amanda is at all times. I was first to appreciate that, because one minute she's right behind me in the milkhouse and the next halfway up the barn bank to the hay mow. The dog, now a giant at almost two years of age, and she remain inseparable.
Shelby, our 11-year-old canine who also came to us as a stray, showed Clancy the ropes and kept him in line. By summer, Clancy was officially an "it" - his overnight absence causing a crisis for Amanda and some lame, totally unconvincing explanations from us!
Yes, Clancy has sharpened his teeth on the chair rungs and emptied the garbage can. He's also proven himself to be trainable, reliable and trustworthy.
Strays to our farm have included a border collie cross with a nasty nip; another that wandered right into the path of a car; a heavily pregnant old dog of questionable parentage even for a crossbreed. Another stray dog, a friendly black lab, actually jumped up on our windows, begging to come in.
Our barn cat population also started with two strays. They came to the right place at the right time: With no cats, our barn was almost overrun with mice and rats, a problem they soon got under control. I'd never be without them again, and make a priority of their care and feed, which also happens to be tax deductible.
Humane societies across Ontario are seeing an alarming increase in the number of pets left in their facilities by owners, many because of financial pressures.
There are some private animal shelters in Ontario. Former Toronto lawyer Jerry Weinberg and his wife Lore have an Owen Sound-area farmhouse that is now home to as many as 75 cats at any one time. The Weinbergs opened HoboCats Adoptions after finding some abandoned cats, frostbitten and nearly dead, in nearby fields. They now take in strays, nurse victims back to health, and place them for adoption in carefully selected, loving homes.
Jerry stresses that it's important for people to support shelters and humane societies, which educate the public about animal welfare, helping control and prevent strays.
"When animals are simply allowed to roam, things get so far out
of hand
that it becomes a health problem. The burden has to be shared by
the
communities."
Margaret Comfort partners a family dairy farm near St. Catharines
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