Food for thought (a 3 course meal.....)

This week was a busy week. I’m not sure I was home much before 7pm most nights. I had several routine herd checks, a couple C-sections (on a Nigerian dwarf goat and a cow), calvings, sick cows and other “routine” things.

One of my herd checks was at one of our organic dairies. When I meet people that feel Organic products are so much better I like to ask the question “why?” What is it about Organics that makes you think that it is better? Most respond with “Because it’s milk and meat with no antibiotics in it and won’t cause antibiotic resistance in humans.” Unfortunately, this is a very superficial and un-informed understanding of what conventional farming is.

So, I thought I would clarify some things.  I realize I’m opening a can of worms with this one, but I feel like I should give a perspective from a veterinarian’s point of view (mine). I’m ready for all rebuttals….

Now, I’m all for people making their own choices, but I hope these choices are based on true educated facts rather than perceived opinions.  I have friends that are organic farmers so I’m not against it, I just feel that the public in general is misguided on the differences between conventional and organic.

Let’s start with a “definition.” Organic farming means that there is no antibiotic use on the animals for any reason (except in the case of life or death), no pesticides used on the crops and the crops are fertilized with only manure.  Let’s start with the animals…

During my routine herd check on my organic dairy, there were several cows that had hairy heel warts on their feet. Heel warts are caused by a spirochete. They are very contagious, painful and occur most commonly when the feet of cattle remain wet, and soft. There was one poor Jersey who was only standing on 3 legs because the wart was so big and painful, she couldn’t put the other foot down. Treatment in a conventional system, is cleaning the area of the wart, and applying oxytetracycline directly to the wart, and wrapping the foot so the meds stay in contact with the wart, killing it in 3-4 days.

Unfortunately, organic dairies can’t use tetracycline and have no efficient way of killing the warts, even though it is a topical administration. Other options for helping with warts, is using formaldehyde (dangerous) or a copper sulfate foot bath. Unfortunately, farmers have to be careful with amount of copper they use, as it ends up on the fields and can cause issues with the soil and runoff.  The copper doesn’t kill the warts, but rather hardens the hoof to prevent the spirochetes from having a medium to latch onto. These cows were going to have to rely solely on their own immune system with the help of a mineral supplement to help clear the warts.

The biggest concern that many people have with the use of antibiotics in conventional farming, is that the antibiotics end up in the milk and we are going to have an entire nation of resistant bacteria. The truth is- milk gets tested up to FOUR times before it ever reaches a milk carton.  If any ONE of those tests comes back with an antibiotic residue, the entire load of milk gets dumped down the drain. That can be 7000-8000 gallons of milk! That’s a lot of money for a farmer to pour down the drain, and is more than enough incentive to make sure there are no antibiotics in the milk.  Secondly, there are only about 4-5 types of antibiotics that are legal to use in dairy cows that are making milk: Penicillins, Tetracyclines, Ceftiofurs and one kind of Sulfa.  These antibiotics are some of the oldest antibiotics found and still have retained effectiveness in dairy cattle.  The really good drugs are saved for the humans.  

So when we give a cow an injection of antibiotics how do we know how long to wait before selling the milk???? Most antibiotics are metabolized through the liver and kidneys of animals (and humans). Depending on the type of antibiotic used, there are different “withdrawal times” that drug companies have spent many years and millions of dollars in scientific studies to figure out.    These withdrawal times are based on those studies. Amoxicillin, for example, is metabolized and is no longer detectable in the milk after 48 hours and is not detectable in the muscle, 7 days after the last injection.  Responsible farmers strictly adhere to these withdrawal times and some even add an extra day or two just to make sure, the antibiotic has been cleared from the cows system.  While the cow is clearing the antibiotics from her system, the milk is not sold for human consumption. Often times it is dumped down the drain on the farm.

Now from a humane standpoint, if a cows’ life is in danger, it is required that the cow be treated with antibiotics to save her life. She is no longer considered “organic.” The plus side to this is that Organic farms have to have really healthy cows in a really good environment.  If anyone has kids or knows kids, it doesn’t matter how healthy your kids are, various stresses, weather changes and environment changes can cause a really healthy child to become sick.  Cows have the same issues. 

As the veterinarian prescribing the antibiotics these conventional dairies use, it is my license on the line if my clients misuse the antibiotics. As the veterinarian for this farm, there is nothing more that I wanted to do for these cows, than to put tetracycline on all these very painful warts so they could walk on the 4 legs God gave them.  

Whether you choose to drink organic milk or milk from a conventional dairy, know, that farmers, and the veterinarians that are prescribing the antibiotics, are doing everything they can to make sure that the milk you drink is the most wholesome product you put in your body!

I’ll save fertilizers and pesticides for another day.  But, hopefully I’ve enlightened you to some of the differences between organic and conventional farming. If you still choose to eat/drink organic products, I’m okay with that.  But let me leave you with one final thought… If your child has been diagnosed with pneumonia, are you going to ask your doctor for Aloe pills and Garlic or the strongest antibiotic he can give so that your child suffers no longer than absolutely necessary????  (Getting off my soap box now.)