The Rural Voice, 2003-11, Page 38News in Agriculture
Vaccination could pay
Brian Pogue BIO's breeding and
marketing consultant and Jack
McCoubrey a beef production
consultant for BIO, spoke about
vaccination during a presentation at
Brussels Livestock on October 15.
The two were present to certify the
sales arena as a certified facility for
the Source Qualified Ontario Calf
(SQOC) program.
One qualification for SQOC calves
is vaccination. Pogue noted that with
less illness for vaccinated animals
there is some assurance that costs of
raising them will be reduced.
Len Gamble, owner of Brussels
Livestock agreed, saying that while
there is no guarantee a vaccinated
animal won't get sick, they generally
tend to return to health more quickly.
With BSE impacting beef
producers financially, Pogue said
there has been a tendency to cut
costs, including not vaccinating.
"However, in the long run, I think
it's going to cost them more."
Kevin McArter, an employee of the
sales barn, noted that many
producers are not set up to vaccinate
and don't want the expense of having
to call in a vet to do it. McCoubrey,
however, said that they have talked
to many vets, encouraging them to
convince producers to "stay the
course."
By the time all is said and done, it
was estimated that the total cost of
vaccinating a calf is $15. However.
producer Dave Wheeler said there is
a good return for the effort.
Wheeler also said that the different
vaccines can be confusing. Pogue
said the vaccines are listed on the
SQOC website at www.SQOC.com,
and urged producers to check with
their vet to get rid of any confusion.°
Experience shows the value of
keeping records, Biesenthal says
Continued from page 33
found the dye in the well water in
two and released water four and a
half kilometers away in the same
creek and had it show up in the well
in 48 hours.
Given his experience Dr.
Biesenthal worries about source
protection. "There's no possible way
you can source protect when water
comes from four and a half
kilometers away." He feels efforts
should be concentrated on protecting
well heads from contamination.
Eventually the lawsuit was settled
and the inquiry brought down its
report which he wasn't entirely
happy with.
To protect yourself, do the
Environmental Farm Plan. "It's a no-
brainer," he said. "At least when
people started coming in asking
questions we could say 'yes we've
done that to the best of our ability,' "
he said.
Nutrient management planning
gives you a good handle on what's
going into the ground and what's
34 THE RURAL VOICE
coming out of the ground, he said.
"I think there's an economical
benefit to nutrient management
planning. If you can cut down your
input costs it's a tremendous benefit."
"Another thing that really helped
us was keeping good records." As a
veterinarian he had learned to keep
good records of his treatments to
protect himself in case of lawsuits
from unhappy clients. He applied the
same practice to farming, keeping a
scribbler in which he jotted down
records of daily activities such as
msnure applications. "I'm sure that's
what h clped us. When they came and
asked 'What day did you spread
manure?' I could say 'Thas day'.
When they askeds 'How much did
you put on,' I had the coverage
written right down.
He also urged farmers to keep their
farms fixed up and looking good so
they make a good impression.
Just as you would choose a good
looking motel over a rundown one,
human nature says that people will
put more trust in a farmer who keeps
his property looking good.°
Grain Markets
Corn, soybean gields
on different path
Dave Gordon
is a
commodities
specialist
with LAC,
Inc., Hyde
Park, 519-
473-9333.
By Dave Gordon
October 17. 2003
There were many surprised traders
when the USDA released their
second report in two weeks. The
stocks report of September 30
showed higher quarterly stocks of
both corn and soybeans than traders
had estimated. Corn futures were
already on the way down and this
report just accelerated the move.
However. soybean prices had been
climbing and traders paid little
attention to the report but rather,
focused on the poor soy yields that
were prevalent throughout the U.S.
The USDA supply/demand reports
of October 11 however, really caused
some fireworks. Corn yields were
increased to 142.2 bu/acre which took
production to 10.207 billion bushels
which was well above any pre -report
estimates. On the other hand, soybean
yields was dropped to 34 bu/acre.
Markets reacted as expected in the
days following the report with
soybean futures putting highs not
seen since 1997.
Corn
Reported corn yields in the U.S.
are simply fantastic. Producers are
generally ecstatic with the crop and I
think the USDA took this into
account. However, the surprise was
that they made the big change in
October rather than December or
January. Usually, the USDA doesn't
make big corrections suddenly and
even though most traders thought it
was inevitable that production
numbers would be larger, 10.207
billion was more than anyone
expected.
Futures prices appear to be headed
south and may get into new low