A significant worldwide shift from quantity to quality in food supplies is underway, fueled by new government regulations, economic drivers and even natural occurrences.
For example, in Missouri USA, dry weather, poor feed, and poor fertility rates (open cow increases) coupled with a sizable decrease in the beef cow population has stimulated better management of the cows left to market. Topping the list of better cow management is a heightened interest in genetics.
Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs) remain the primary means for evaluating prospective breeding stock for desirable traits, but it is only recently that breeders began to use DNA tests to enhance EPDs and even more recently that breeders began to publicly post the EPDs on individual bulls for buyer review before purchase.
Meanwhile, halfway around the world in China, farmers are facing an imminent ban on antibiotic use and they’re scrambling to find alternatives post haste. The goal of the regulatory ban is to improve human health, primarily by slowing the evolution of antibiotic resistant bacteria by limiting the use of antibiotics in livestock.
One of the many alternative methods making inroads in the world’s most closed market is Orgacids, an acid compound feed additive produced by Sunzen Biotech Bhd, a subsidiary of Pfizer, in Malaysia. Orgacids works by killing bacteria in feed and animal intestinal tracts, primarily in pigs, chickens, cattle, and prawns. The compound made its way into China a little more than a year ago starting with a two month test conducted jointly by Sunzen Biotech and China Agricultural University. It is now used in several provinces.
While farmers using Orgacids or other alternative methods in combination, including acidifiers and probiotics, are recording increased growth rates and lower feed costs, they have not yet replaced antibiotics entirely.
If China proceeds to enforce its ban anyway, the U.S. and other agriculture exporting countries will likely be forced to change their antibiotic use too as an import ban could be a side result, and a very costly one. According to the USDA, China is now forecast to be the top market for U.S. agricultural exports in FY 2011 at $20 billion, surpassing Canada at $18.5 billion. If China were to enforce its ban on antibiotics to include imports, Canada could conceivably take the lead on agricultural exports. Canada has already encouraged farmers to abandon use of the drugs which means it may have livestock available for export that is already in compliance with China’s ban. The U.S., on the other hand, has failed to do anything, a situation that led to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) criticizing the USDA and FDA’s lack of progress in addressing agricultural antibiotic overuse.
Western farmers are now faced with the possibility of owning livestock that they may soon be unable to sell beyond their own borders. New measures will have to be taken to meet a global demand for higher quality and healthier foods.
For example, in Missouri USA, dry weather, poor feed, and poor fertility rates (open cow increases) coupled with a sizable decrease in the beef cow population has stimulated better management of the cows left to market. Topping the list of better cow management is a heightened interest in genetics.
Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs) remain the primary means for evaluating prospective breeding stock for desirable traits, but it is only recently that breeders began to use DNA tests to enhance EPDs and even more recently that breeders began to publicly post the EPDs on individual bulls for buyer review before purchase.
Meanwhile, halfway around the world in China, farmers are facing an imminent ban on antibiotic use and they’re scrambling to find alternatives post haste. The goal of the regulatory ban is to improve human health, primarily by slowing the evolution of antibiotic resistant bacteria by limiting the use of antibiotics in livestock.
One of the many alternative methods making inroads in the world’s most closed market is Orgacids, an acid compound feed additive produced by Sunzen Biotech Bhd, a subsidiary of Pfizer, in Malaysia. Orgacids works by killing bacteria in feed and animal intestinal tracts, primarily in pigs, chickens, cattle, and prawns. The compound made its way into China a little more than a year ago starting with a two month test conducted jointly by Sunzen Biotech and China Agricultural University. It is now used in several provinces.
While farmers using Orgacids or other alternative methods in combination, including acidifiers and probiotics, are recording increased growth rates and lower feed costs, they have not yet replaced antibiotics entirely.
If China proceeds to enforce its ban anyway, the U.S. and other agriculture exporting countries will likely be forced to change their antibiotic use too as an import ban could be a side result, and a very costly one. According to the USDA, China is now forecast to be the top market for U.S. agricultural exports in FY 2011 at $20 billion, surpassing Canada at $18.5 billion. If China were to enforce its ban on antibiotics to include imports, Canada could conceivably take the lead on agricultural exports. Canada has already encouraged farmers to abandon use of the drugs which means it may have livestock available for export that is already in compliance with China’s ban. The U.S., on the other hand, has failed to do anything, a situation that led to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) criticizing the USDA and FDA’s lack of progress in addressing agricultural antibiotic overuse.
Western farmers are now faced with the possibility of owning livestock that they may soon be unable to sell beyond their own borders. New measures will have to be taken to meet a global demand for higher quality and healthier foods.