Livestock and Forages News Articles
Articles published in Arkansas Cattle Business
Animal Science: Today and Tomorrow - November 2008
Researchers May Have Found a Possible Test for BSE That Can Be Carried Out
on Live Animals
Canada’s National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg compared proteins in the urine
of BSE-infected cattle to urine from four healthy cattle and discovered a
consistent difference in protein patterns. In a Reuters story, Canada’s Public
health Agency said “We are hopeful that the knowledge that we’ve gained from
this study will eventually lead to a live test.” That would be a big step toward
eliminating this very rare disease that has caused worldwide panic and, in our
opinion, irrational trade distortions. Currently, BSE can only be identified
from brain tissue from infected animals. BSE is caused by a mutant protein
called a preon that damages the brains of infected cattle. It has been linked to
a variant form of Creutzfeldt Jacob disease (vCJD) that was blamed for a number
of deaths in Europe. Reuters quoted 167 deaths where the USDA reported 153. Only
one case of vCJD has been documented in the U.S. and that was a woman who is
believed to have contracted the disease while living in the UK. Canada has now
seen 14 BSE cases while the U.S. has had 3 cases.
BSE-related trade restrictions have had major impacts on both the Canadian
and U.S. beef sectors. From a Canadian-U.S. perspective, many of these impacts
have resulted from unreasonable import restrictions mainly by Japan and Korea.
Those are somewhat behind us now though age restrictions still apply to the
cattle used for products shipped to those countries. A simple, cost effective
test could put this entire episode behind us, so this news is potentially
important to all world beef markets (Source: CME Group).
New Markets for Arkansas Beef
We are always interested in potential new markets for Arkansas beef.
Grass-fed, natural and organic beef continue to garner attention. While organic
production has stringent requirements that make this system very difficult for
most producers, natural and grass-fed beef are doable for many Arkansas
cattlemen. Contrary to what some people think, we do not necessarily favor the
predominate production systems in place today whereby Arkansas cattle grow to
stocker or feeder weights and then are shipped to feedlots for finishing. The
feedlot-based system is the norm because economics of the past 50 years have
favored grain finishing and now the majority of the nation’s packing houses are
located in cattle feeding states.
We know how to grow cattle on grass, we know how to grow grass in Arkansas
through much of the year, and we have conducted studies looking at the plusses
and minuses of producing beef directly off pasture. It is not even a matter of
whether organic, natural or grass-fed beef is healthier than “regular” beef, it
is a matter of whether enough consumers believe that to be the case and are
willing to pay sufficient premiums to make these systems more profitable.
The real constraint is packing facilities. Availability of federally
inspected packing facilities today is the critical issue in development of
locally grown and produced grass-fed beef in Arkansas and the Southeast. Few
federally inspected facilities exist anymore outside the major cattle feeding
states and the likelihood of any being built is poor. The costs of building and
operating facilities that can meet federal inspection standards, the thin
operating margins of beef processing, the great legal liability from recalls and
food safety problems are prohibitive for most investors. The fact that
facilities catering to local natural and/or grass-fed production are usually
small only makes these problems more difficult.
Vitamin B12 may protect Against Brain Shrinkage
Having higher vitamin B12 levels may protect against brain shrinkage in
elderly people. The researchers called their findings striking, but said more
information is needed before recommending that people take vitamin B12
supplements to guard against the loss of brain volume and possibly prevent
declines in thinking and memory.
In a University of Oxford study, people in the upper third of vitamin B12
levels were six times less likely to experience brain shrinkage than those in
the lowest third. The study involved 107 healthy people ages 61 to 87 who
underwent scans to measure brain volume and gave blood samples to assess vitamin
B12 levels once a year for up to five years.
All of those in the study had vitamin B12 levels classified in what is
considered the normal range. The study suggests, but does not prove, that by
modifying our vitamin B12 status we might be able to protect our brain and so
possibly prevent cognitive decline.
The results suggest that rather than maintaining one's B12 at a level that is
just above the cut-off for deficiency, it might be prudent to aim to keep it
higher up the normal range. Foods rich in vitamin B12 are milk and other dairy
products, fish, meat and fortified breakfast cereals. Vitamin B12 helps in the
formation of red blood cells and is important for the maintenance of the central
nervous system. Deficiency can lead to anemia and neurological damage (by Will
Dunham).
By: Dr. Keith Lusby and Dr. Tom Troxel
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