TheDairySite Newsletter - 22 June 2012

TheDairySite Weekly Newsletter

Friday 22nd June 2012

Our Sponsors Helping keep you updated for free!

ON-LINE SHOP News Company News Events Articles Diseases Treatments Employment Cattle Breeds SEARCH

Welcome to this week's newsletter

Editorial: Welfare Campaign for Dairy Cattle Launched

A new campaign has been launched this week in Europe demanding higher welfare conditions for dairy cattle.

Supporting Better Dairy has the backing of high powered pressure groups Compassion in World Farming and the World Society for the Protection of Animals.

It is also backed by the ice cream company Ben and Jerry's and has as a patron, the actress Joanna Lumley, who famously took on the British government demanding greater rights for gurkha soldiers, who had served in the British army.

The animal welfare campaigners are following the moves that have been seen in the pig industry to get legislation to ban sow stalls across Europe and in the poultry industry to ban un-enriched cages for laying hens, to improve welfare conditions for dairy cows.

The campaigners, who have launched "Supporting Better Dairy", are concerned that welfare standards vary across the European Union.

However, the campaign is to use new EU legislation, the European Citizens' Initiative to help frame new legislation for improving standards.

The European Citizens' Initiative was introduced by the Lisbon Treaty. It allows one million EU citizens to participate directly in the development of EU policies, by calling on the European Commission to make a legislative proposal.

The Regulation governing European Citizens' Initiatives started to apply on 1 April 2012.

Before registering an initiative the Commission must verify that it meets certain minimal legal criteria - that it is not manifestly abusive, frivolous, vexatious, contrary to European values or outside the scope of the Commission's powers.

The Supporting Better Dairy campaign is seeking the one million signatories to the petition that will empower it to frame legislation to take before the Commission to change welfare regulations affecting 23 million dairy cattle in the EU.

While the use of the initiative ostensibly will allow any new regulations to meet the wishes of the consumers, farmers and processors in the industry as well as achieving higher welfare conditions, it also has the potential to be highjacked by animal rights activists and extremists.

Recently, during the World Meat Congress in Paris, former US senator Charlie Stenholm warned of the "unintended consequences of changes".

He warned through legislators bowing down to welfare campaigns that are not supported with sufficient facts and knowledge but purely emotion and well-meaning, animal welfare conditions can in fact be made worse and industries can be destroyed.

While the present campaign Supporting Better Dairy has strong backers and good aims, it needs to look over its shoulder to ward off the "unintended consequences of changes".

Chris Harris

This Week's Feature Articles

We have 4 new features this week:

Use of Ultrasonography to Age Pregnancy in Early Gestation in Dairy Cows
The use of ultrasound to monitor the development of calves in dairy cattle is becoming more and more popular acording to a study by Klibs N.A. Galvão, DVM, MPVM, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine in the University of Florida.

Fly Management for Organic Dairies
Flies can decrease milk production and spread disease. In this article, Brad Heins, Extension Dairy Scientist with the University of Minnesota, looks at methods to control and management flies on organic dairies.

No Indication of Coxiella burnetii Infection in Norwegian Farmed Ruminants
All samples were negative for antibodies against C. burnetii, the bacterium that causes Q–fever, according to newly published research from Oslo. The estimated prevalence of infected herds was zero for Norwegian dairy cattle herds, beef cattle herds, goat herds and sheep flocks.

Private Industry Invests Heavily into Agricultural Productivity
Over the past several decades, private-sector firms have become major players in developing new innovations for agriculture worldwide ,writes the USDA Economic Research Service.

Market Reports

» USDA Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook June 2012

Company News

European Mastitis Panel (EMP) Experts Evaluate Management Measures to Prevent Mastitis
EU - Udder health on dairy farms remains a priority and the control of the infectious pressure of mastitis-causing pathogens is key to improving dairy herd productivity. This was the conclusion from the 5th European Mastitis Panel (EMP) meeting that took place near Bristol in southwest England. Fifteen experts from seven European countries participated in a two-day workshop that involved visits to typical regional farms and an intensive exchange of expertise on the latest approaches to mastitis control throughout Europe.

Pfizer Launches ALVERIN PLUS and FLUNIXAMINE
US - Pfizer Animal Health announces the availability of two new brands, ALVERIN PLUS (ivermectin/clorsulon) and FLUNIXAMINE (flunixin meglumine), providing additional animal health tools for producers and veterinarians. Both products offer a high-quality, competitively priced animal health option from Pfizer Animal Health for ivermectin/clorsulon and flunixin meglumine.