Extension Communications
3614 Administrative Services Building
Ames, Iowa 50011-3614
(515) 294-9915
4/20/01
Contacts:
John Lawrence, Iowa Beef Center, 515-294-6290, jdlaw@iastate.edu
Nolan Hartwig, VDPAM, 515-294-8790, nhartwig@iastate.edu
Dan Loy, ISU Animal Science, 515-294-1058, dloy@iastate.edu
Wayne Gieselman, Iowa DNR, 515-281-5817
Carol Balvanz, Iowa Cattlemen's Association, 515-296-2266,
carol@iabeef.org
From Foot and Mouth to Feedlots: ICN Blankets the Issues
AMES, Iowa - More than 200 open feedlot producers from across Iowa turned out Wednesday night to learn more about the disease and environmental issues that continue to occupy front page headlines.
The Iowa Beef Center sponsored this cutting-edge ICN conference, which showcased experts from many differing backgrounds. Nearly 30 sites hosted producers and others with a vested interest in the Iowa beef industry.
Disease in the News
Nolan Hartwig, extension veterinarian in the Department of
Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine at Iowa
State University and collaborator with the Iowa Beef Center,
spoke to the group about Foot and Mouth Disease and Bovine
Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), or "Mad Cow Disease."
While the two diseases are very different, there has been a lot of confusion between them, Hartwig said. He speculated that much of the confusion stems from both outbreaks occurring in Great Britain. "Foot and Mouth and BSE are as different in cattle as measles and Multiple Sclerosis are in man," he emphasized.
BSE may have occurred when prions, proteins found naturally in healthy brain tissue, mutated and caused a progressive degeneration of the central nervous system. No one cause of BSE has been identified; however, scientists believe one of two things may have happened: BSE either originated in cattle that consumed nervous system tissue of sheep infected with a similar disease called scrapie or by a mutation or change in natural bovine prions.
The chance of BSE entering the United States is remote, Hartwig said, because the U.S. has many safety precautions in place to avoid such an outbreak. Steamed bone meal and other ruminant by-products were fed to cattle as a supplement in the past. The U.S. banned the use of ruminant proteins in cattle feed in 1997 and banned the import of live ruminants from Great Britain more than a decade ago.
"Producers should really be more concerned about Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD)," Hartwig noted. "While this disease poses absolutely no risk to humans, the effect on the beef industry would be devastating."
John Lawrence, director of the Iowa Beef Center and also an ag economist for ISU Extension, said an outbreak of FMD in the U.S. would cause an immediate 20 to 30 percent reduction in price, even though the disease is harmless to people. The massive market disruption would eventually lead to a smaller overall supply. "But, what an awful cost to pay for slightly higher prices," Lawrence said.
FMD is an extremely contagious virus that affects only cloven-hoofed animals, such as cattle, swine, sheep and deer. The disease is characterized by blisters around the tongue, lips, mouth, teats and between the hooves.
The blisters usually progress to severe, painful erosions that make it nearly impossible for the animal to eat, nurse and even move. Often, a high fever, abortions in pregnant animals and reduced milk production accompany this illness. Although adult animals rarely perish from FMD, it takes months for them to recover and the illness can sprout up again in previously infected animals. Therefore, animals found to be infected with the virus must be immediately destroyed and their carcasses burned to prevent the spread.
Often overlooked but still a major concern to state officials is the fact that deer are susceptible to the illness. Their mobility, coupled with their instinctive timidness and nocturnal habits, makes it difficult to eliminate animals near the outbreak. Deer also have a vast potential for spreading the disease from area to area.
"FMD could very easily be introduced into the U.S.," Hartwig cautioned. "Because of the virus' wide and rapid spread and the amount of travel that occurs today, it is likely that FMD could enter the U.S."
There are precautions that producers can take, including:
* Producers should look at the biosecurity measures on
their own farms. Do not allow foreign visitors in or
near livestock facilities for five to seven days after their
arrival in the U.S. Their clothes should be washed, and all
footwear cleaned and disinfected.
Producers should insist that herd visitors wear clean and disinfected rubber footwear, or invest in footwear that can be thrown away.
If you have traveled to a foreign country recently, be sure not to enter your own livestock facilities for five days.
*Travelers (and other non-producers) should use caution. If you have traveled to a foreign country recently, do not enter a farm for at lease five to seven days after your arrival in the U.S.
When and if you do enter a U.S. farm, be sure to wear clean clothes and shoes that you did not wear while traveling abroad.
Do not bring any foreign food products into the U.S. "Something as benign as an apple or a sausage can have the Foot and Mouth Disease virus clinging to it," Hartwig warned. "Any contact that food item makes with the outside world has the potential to introduce the disease in the U.S."
*Look at biosecurity issues associated with public events; make informed and rational decisions and recommendations.
Cattle Feeding Limitations
Dan Loy, ISU extension beef nutrition specialist and a
cooperator with the Iowa Beef Center, talked about the
animal feeds banned for beef cattle consumption and the
marketing situations many producers find themselves in.
Loy detailed what feed ingredients fall under the ban and the record keeping requirements for all producers.
Currently, all Iowa livestock auction barns are requiring anyone selling cattle to sign an affidavit testifying that the animals have not been fed banned feeds to the best of the producer's knowledge. The measures were spurred by a national fast food chain, and have made many producers quite leery, afraid to accept liability for circumstances beyond their control.
"Cattle being sold to slaughter today may be cull animals that were alive and being fed prior to the USDA feed ban in 1997," Loy said. "Therefore, these can only confirm compliance with the law since it was enacted."
For more information about banned feeds and auction affidavits, please see the Livestock Marketing Association's Web site at http://www.lmaweb.com.
The Iowa Open Feedlot Plan
The presentations then shifted to a discussion of open
feedlot water quality regulations, enforcement and
compliance issues.
Wayne Gieselman, coordinator of the Department of Natural Resources' (DNR) Animal Feeding Operations Water Quality unit, spoke to producers about the Iowa Open Feedlot Plan.
The Iowa Open Feedlot Plan came to fruition in December 2000. Constructed though a consortium of several Iowa groups including DNR, the Iowa Cattlemen's Association, the Iowa Beef Center, the Iowa NRCS and the Iowa Environmental Council, the plan gives producers who register a two to five year compliance schedule and limited amnesty from fines.
The registration period began in March and will run through Dec. 31, 2001. Producers who want to register can do so by completing a registration form and mailing it and supplementary documents to the Iowa DNR. Upon receipt of the form, DNR will issue a letter to the producer informing them of their water quality priority.
Priorities are determined by an off-site feedlot assessment. Using the producer's information, aerial photos and GIS technology, DNR decides if the feedlot poses a high, medium or low risk to the state's water quality. Once the producer is informed of his ranking, DNR will schedule a time to do an on-site feedlot assessment.
All manure management aspects of the feedlot will be studied at the time of the on-site assessment. Because the feedlot was registered, the producer will receive limited amnesty from fines. Measured violations of water quality standards will be subject to fines, while less severe violations will be forgiven. Producers will be expected to perform interim measures to correct any problems.
When the inspection is complete, the DNR will determine a compliance schedule for the feedlot, if necessary. This schedule will be based on several site-specific criteria.
Carol Balvanz, vice president of public policy for the Iowa Cattlemen's Association, discussed registration benefits and which producers are urged to participate in the Iowa Plan. While registration is open to all feedlot operators statewide, including swine and dairy operators, the producers with the most to gain from registration are the ones who house 1,000 animal units or more.
Also encouraged to register are producers with 300 to 1,000 animal units who have a stream running through their lots or man-made conveyances to a water of the state. Registration provides limited amnesty from fines, and helps producers buy enough time to make changes without breaking the bank.
For more information, see the Iowa Feedlot Plan Web site at extension.agron.iastate.edu/immag/openfeedlot/plan.html or the Iowa Beef Center Web site at http://www.iowabeefcenter.org.
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