Supplements used in factory dairyfarming can spread BSE

The coldly regimented process of raising a dairy cow in North America forces it at an early age to depend on dietary supplements that in rare instances can spread mad-cow disease, according to livestock experts.

In addition, the frequent shuffling of young dairy cows between specialized feedlots and milking farms can make it difficult to track an infected animal to the herd where it was born, these experts say.

When these cattle move ? even between Canada and the United States ? they are not necessarily individually identified, said Mary Beth Lang, a spokeswoman for the Washington State Department of Agriculture. "There are ear tags," she said. "But they can fall off."

On large dairy farms in the United States and Canada, calves often are separated from their mothers within 24 hours of birth. The reason is money: The milk a dairy cow produces is worth far more on a supermarket shelf than in the stomach of her newborn.

So calves, male and female, are shunted away from many large dairy farms ? usually within two weeks of birth ? to specialized feedlots, where they are quickly weaned from milk and fed protein supplement pellets, along with hay. These calves depend on supplements for most of their protein intake until they are about 3 months old, when they are mature enough to digest cellulose and absorb protein on their own.

Bron: [seattletimes.nwsource.com]

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