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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1972-06-14, Page 12Starting time 6 a.m. to 9 or 10 a.m. Phone 887-6872 Brussels HEY KIM EARN CENTENNIAL BUCKS Any person i2 years and older who would like to make a few extra dollars cleaning up paper, washrooms etc„ during Centennial Days, should forWard this application to: Wayne Lowe, Box 194, BrOssels READ and USE POST CLASSIFIED Business Directory CRAWFORD and MILL J. H. CRAWFORD, Q.C. A. R. M. MILL, B,A., LLB. ROSS E. DAVIS, Bt A., LLB. and WINGHAM PHONE 887-9491 PHONE 357-3630 Wingham Memorial Shop QUALITY SERVICE CRAFTSMANSHIP Opfn Every Weekday Your Guarantee For Over 35 Years of CEMETERY LETTERING 154 WINGIIAM JOHN MALLICK JIM CARDIFF MEAL ESTATE !ROOKER GENERAL INSURANCE AGENT FOR NOWICE FARMERS MUTUAL FIRE INS. REAL ESTATE BROKER - GENERAL INSURANCE FIRE AUTO LIABILITY PHONE: OFFICE 587-6100 RES.887-6164 a McGavin's Farm Equipment WE SPECIALIZE IN A COMPLETE LINE OF FARM EQUIPMENT' Sales and Service BRUSSELS WALTON, ONTARIO SEAFORTH 887-6365 527-0245 WALLACE BELL TRANSPORT PCV. CLASS FS. &F. — PHONE 887-6829 — Local and Long Distance Hauling of All Livestock. Hogs Shipped Mondays and Wednesdays J. E. LONGSTAFF -OP TOM ETRIST- , SEAFORTH - 527-1240 By Appointment CLINTON(Monday only) - 482-7010 BRUSSELS ' 3 LI TRY OUR DELICIOUS Distributors of SEAL PURE Milk Products Packaged by HURON FOOD PRODUCTS LTD. crops," said Dr. Goplen. "But the main thing seems to be how much of the protein is still avail- able when the forage reaches the animal's stomach. "Some of the non-bloating legumes actually contain as much fraction I protein as alfalfa, but its tied up chemically by tannins and can't cause foaming." for suitable plants among his vast collection of alfalfa varieties at the Canada Agriculture Research Station at Swift Current, Sask. "Once we find that elusive starting parent, we can, really go in earnest," said Dr. Goplen. "It may take 10 to 15 years to come up with a low fraction I alfalfa. If we succeed with a. It's no fun even for a cow LL suffer from bloat. And it's a serious matter of dollars and cents for the cattleman. Agriculture Canada scientists are co:::ing to the aid of both with research aimed to knock out bloat. S USE PO S T WANT-ADS DIAL 887-6641 variety that is stable from sea- son to season we'll Plant an acre or so of the low fraction I variety and the same area of nnrmal alfalfa at Kamloops. Ilion we'll graze cattle on each variety and determine the in- cidence of bloat. . -,It will show once and for all whether low fraction I means a non-bloating alfalfa. If it does, then we'll have a proven non-bloating variety for re- lease." Dr. Goplen emphasized that the breeding program is still in the very early stages. And there's no guarantee of success. Then why not concentrate on. other non-bloating legumes that are already. available? "Other legume species such as Btrdsfoot trefoil and Sainfein, simply don't produce like all- "There's a tremeadous ecoa- . Oleic goal in alfalfa h.raseling. • "A non-:Matting variety would have an enormous impact sot only in Casa& • but world wide. "Breeding work. in Europe and Russia has gone en for many years. to improve other forage legumes,but they still can't match alf alfa," he said. And that's anothe r reason alfalfa will probably remain queen of the forages. Smiles . . . "I hardly ever wake up at night," said the man to his neigh- -bor. "But I did last night. I looked into the other room and saw my wife. She was removing some spots from my pants. Two ten spots and a five." "That poor man behind bars was ruined by untold wealth," said the warden. "How's that,?" asked the vis- itor. "He didn't mention it whenhe filed his income tax." Alfalfa breeding -program aims to knock out bloat The tineen of the forage props suffers from, an unsightly blemish. Alfalfa, a protein-rich per- ennial 'legume, has all the quali- ties of a regal forage except for one major, drawback -At can SAuse fatal bloat in cattle, r Dr . B. P. Goplen, who dubs, alfalfa "queen of the forage crops," has launched a breeding Program at the Agriculture Canada Research Station in Saskatoon which he hopes will eventually eliminate the problem. "The advantages of alfalfa make it a number one forage crop even now," he said. "But direct losses from cattle deaths due to bloat run about$11 million every year in Canada. , "That figure is at least doubled for total economic loss to the country when factors such as lost dairy production and losses from farmers not growing alfalfa becam.se of the threat, of cattle bloat are included. "In the United States , the direct mortality loss is about $45 million annually," said Dr. Goplen. In the face of such stagger- ing economics, it's no wonder that ;Dr. Goplen is anxious to get on with his breeding program. "The biggest accomplish- ment to date has been identi- fying what causes bloat," he :said. Dr. J. M. McArthur and Dr. U. E. Miltimore, scientists at Agriculture Canada's research 'stations in Sum merland and Kam- loops, British Columbia, point an accusing finger at alfalfa s "fraction 1 protein." "We're convinced this pro- tein in the plant can cause bloat in the cattle's stomach," said Dr. McArthur. Dr. Goplen explained how the alleged culprit probably commits its crime. "Fraction I protein causes a very stable foam," he said. • "In ruminants such as the cow, digestion in the stomach takes place by bacterial fermen- tation. It's been estimated that about 30 gallons of gas are pro- duced per hour in the stomach of an average cow by this pro- cess. "When the amount of fraction rprotein is high enough, it seems to cause a thick foam which plugs the outlets from the animal's stomach. When that happens, the gas can't escape and the animal bloats." Death can follow suddenly. The actual cause of death is unknown, but Dr. Goplen sus- I in the animal's stomach. We pects it say involve nerves and don't need to know exactly what's toxic substances associated with tying up the protein to select for bloat. at could also levelly* non-bloating alfalfa varieties. red iced blood circulation from "The important thing is how the pressures developed, such fraction I protein is avail- added Dr. McArthur. able from chewed up alfalfa to "A common treatment is to cause foaming. stand the cow with its front high, "We plan to survey what roping the stomach outlet to the amounts to a world collection of esophagus will be tilted above alfalfa varieties to see if we can foam level in the stomach, allow- find low fraction I plants or per- ing the gas to escape. "If that doesn't work, farmers make an incision through the stomach wall to relieve the problem," said Dr. Goplen. Obviously, bloat prevention IS the best approach and feeding non-bloating alfalfa would be an a6wer. variety and thus tie up the protein. "Until we knew what factor "We're looking at tannin con- in alfalfa caused bloat, we had no tents in bloating and non-bloating idea what to breed for," said legume varieties," he said. "We Dr. Goplen, who has an estab- don't know yet if it's practical fished reputation as a legume to breed tannins into alfalfa. breeder with new sweet clover "So far, we haven't found and sainfoin varieties to his tannins in any alfalfa variety, but credit. we've discovered some contain "Now we can aim our pro- similar compounds. It's possible grain at a specific factor." we'll find tannins in alfalfa, in . However, the problem is more which case they will likely be an complicated than simply elimin- inherited characteristic of the Sting fraction I protein from variety as is the case in other alfalfa. legumes," said Dr. McArthur. It turns out that fraction I The group with Dr. McAr- is also the main enzyme in the thur at Sumrnerland will be plant which fixes or binds carbon checking tens of thousands of dioxide from the air into the plants each year for tannin, he life chemistry of the plant. said. Its proper name is ribulose-1, In addition to the surveys at 6,:dinhosphate carboxylase, and ' sa.skatoon and Summerla.nd, Dr. without it the plant cotildn't exist. D. H. Heinrichs, the recognized "Amounts of fraction I pro- dean of Canadian alfalfa breed- tein vary in different forage , era, is keeping a watchful eye L. 12—THE BRUSSELS POST, JUNE 14, 1972 Tannins are a group of chemical compounds which occur naturally in some plants. They can bind certain proteins. and settle them out of a solution. Fraction I protein is a case in point. Tannins can take it out of solution. Once it's out, it can't cause foaming and, accord- ing to the theory, can't cause bloat. So if the breeding program comes up with an alfalfa variety containing enough tannins to limit the available fraction I in a cow's stomach, the bloat problem would be solved. "That's one approach we're taking," Dr. Goplen said. "We're also looking for alf- alfa varieties which may already have lower fraction I levels to see if they can be used in breeding programs. "There may be factors other than tannins which limit fraction haps plants with a slightly dif- ferent non-bloating fraction I to use as parents in breeding pro- grams." Dr. McArthur is searching for varieties with high tannin contents to see if this character- istic could be bred into a new