Production Information
Sheep in drought management
Although there is expectation and forecasts favorable climate psyche remains difficult to forecast accurately, and in any livestock is dangerous not to have a contingency plan for drought. Many of the decisions you make with a drought depends on the predictability of weather patterns in the medium and long term. While this is not certain, there is information that can be taken into account to estimate the trend of rainfall. Improvisation compounds the effects and higher costs.
The early decisions are worth gold
Consider carefully the options available when we are entering a drought. Note that the number of options decreases as the drought progresses. Make a list of management priorities and define a strategy and progressive. Read the rest of this entry »
Pet Insurance home insurance
What if a number of calls received or will leave a brochure offering pet insurance and animal insurance. Perhaps jettison the proposal and nothing more, but if you put to think more deeply about the welfare of their pet insurance would be interested in one of those pet insurance as you can not ask him who thinks for them.
There are home insurance policies with coverage to them. That is why there is home insurance that takes Pets into account within the policy and several guarantees for it Read the rest of this entry »
Specipics : Scrapie Interstate Movement Rule
Consistent State Classification
APHIS describes interstate movement restrictions for “Consistent States” and “Inconsistent States”. ASI agrees that categorizing States for scrapie regulations accomplishes the general goal and our recommendation of “restricting the interstate movement of sheep and goats from States that do not quarantine scrapie infected and source flocks”. ASI has worked closely with our State affiliates and State animal health authorities over the past several years to help strengthen the States’ legislative authorities and regulatory structure for improved scrapie control programs. Read the rest of this entry »
Scrapie Interstate Movement Rule Recommentions
The proposed rule, in our opinion, can be boiled down to three key issues: animal identification, Consistent State requirements and indemnity. To help clarify our comments on the inter-twined nature of the proposed rule, we will comment on these three items first and then proceed to address some of the specific issues raised and answer the questions asked in the proposed rule. Read the rest of this entry »
PREFACE : ASI Comments on proposed Scrapie Interstate Movement Rule
AST are in general agreement with the agency’s approach to interstate movement restrictions in this proposed rule as discussed below. If a highly sensitive and specific live-animal test were validated and available now, testing and removal would be a more straight-forward and effective way to accomplish eradication in a shorter period of time than using the proposed system. It is ASI’s belief that such a test (third eyelid) is close to meeting the criteria for full validation and it appears to be highly sensitive and specific. We encourage APHIS to move forward in assisting with the further validation of this test and establishing the necessary diagnostic laboratory capabilities and infrastructure quickly in order to make the use of this test practical. AST also urge APHIS to prepare to amend or change existing regulations to accommodate the full use of this test for expeditious eradication activities as soon as it appears that the test will be ready. AST are also encouraging the Agriculture Research Service (ARS) and other research organizations to step up and continue their work on other diagnostic techniques and systems that will aid regulatory efforts and further scientific understanding of scrapie and other TSEs. In this regard, AST urge APHIS to develop effective regulatory approaches that will control and eradicate Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). AST believe that it is in the best interest of agriculture and the general public to eradicate all Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs). Read the rest of this entry »
ASI Comments on proposed Scrapie Interstate Movement Rule
ASI appreciates the opportunity to comment on this proposed rule. In the successful argument of the Section 201 lamb meat import trade case, the petitioners asserted that eradication of scrapie is paramount to the U.S. sheep industry’s future competitiveness with Australian and New Zealand lamb production. This was verified in the President’s decision in July of this year when he granted funding for trade adjustment assistance targeted toward scrapie eradication. We applaud this decision and now look primarily to APHIS to build the necessary regulatory framework to accomplish eradication and to seek the necessary funding through the appropriations process to ensure eradication with appropriate surveillance. Read the rest of this entry »
SHEEP ARE NATURE’S ENVIRONMENTAL GIFT
Sheep are earth-friendly animals, no matter where they graze. They are efficient converters of renewable forage to high-quality food and fiber. In many areas of the country, sheep are used to graze leftover stalks and seeds after crops have been harvested. Sheep also help control weeds in ditchbanks, roadsides and pastures, cutting down the need for chemical herbicides. Read the rest of this entry »
Reproduction
Improving the production of lamb may be the result of (1) more lambs per birth, (2) more frequent childbirth (including those under dry sheep), (3) a higher proportion of sheep in the herd of cattle (for example, breeding females and increase the longevity of the herd of sheep), and (4) loss of small dead lambs from birth to market. The logic in most of these factors is obvious, but perhaps not all. For example, more frequent deliveries usually involves some type of birth rate, but the presence of dry sheep birth reduces the frequency in a herd. The increased longevity of sheep reduced the need for replacement and the proportion of lamb production can be traded. reproductive efficiency should be measured as net lambs reared to weaning or market. This underlines the importance of the loss of death of lambs as a source of loss of reproductive efficiency. Read the rest of this entry »
Predator Control
Predation, primarily by coyotes and domestic dogs, is an irritating reality to many sheep producers. During 1994, about 368,000 sheep and lambs valued at close to $18 million were killed by animal predators in the United States, and coyotes were responsible for over 66 percent of that total. Producers who must employ various methods of predation control and who are unable to efficiently use some parcels of land because of predation sustain additional dollar loss. Predators damage not only livestock but also crops, forest resources, other wildlife, and personal and public property. In some instances they threaten human health and safety. Therefore, the total economic loss from predators is considerable. Read the rest of this entry »
Protein
Sheep have higher protein requirements per unit of weight than many other ruminants because of the extra protein needed for wool growth. Protein within the sheep’s body is in a constant state of flux with degradation and synthetic activities occurring simultaneously. Usually, the quality of protein is less important in the diet of mature sheep than is the quantity. Regardless of the type of protein fed, some of it will be degraded by the ruminal-reticular microorganisms and synthesized into high-quality, microbial protein. In turn, microbial protein is enzymatically digested in the lower GIT of sheep to yield amino acids for absorption. Only under very high-production conditions (e.g., high rate of growth and milk production) will protein from microbial sources be inadequate. In these cases, supplementing with bypass (low rumen degradable) protein sources may increase productivity. Read the rest of this entry »