SCHMALLENBERG, SCHMATZENHEIMER, SCHLITZENHEIZER – which is it?

A new virus that few people have heard of
Schmallenberg virus is the new viral disease sweeping through European Union herds and flocks. It is similar to bluetongue disease but not nearly as deadly. It is carried by biting insects, named midges, and possibly mosquitoes.
It causes fever, diarrhea and a drop in milk production in dairy cows. Sheep and other ruminants experience only fever and diarrhea. It may also cause abortions and deformities in calves and lambs, especially freezing leg joints into grotesque malpositions. Newborn animals that survive have either flaccid paralysis or are hyperexcitable, staggering and, in many cases, blind.
Schmallenberg disease was first diagnosed in Schmallenberg, Germany. In 2012 it spread to England. Over 200 farms in England now have infected animals. They exhibit symptoms such as loss of pregnancies, stillbirths, deformities and a loss in milk production. It is believed that in 2012 the virus-carrying midge (a tiny gnat) was blown by the wind from Germany across the Channel to England.
Officials in the U.S. are now “atwitter” over concerns about the virus spreading to the U.S., though at this point there is no evidence it poses a threat to humans. The official agency that monitors foreign disease threats is the Animal, Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), a branch of the United States Department of Agriculture. These are the folks at customs that throw out any agricultural produce that you might bring back when returning to the U.S. I learned that lesson well when they threw out my $200 Kobe steak, which I brought back from Japan.
They are also the folks that monitor health test documentation on animals or germplasm, such as boar or bull semen and embryos being brought to this country. The APHIS folks cover a host of responsibilities that are unseen by most of the public. When Great Britain had the huge foot and mouth disease outbreak several years ago – you guessed it – the Secretary of Agriculture sent veterinary experts from this agency.
Contagious diseases are always a concern. The USDA has assigned APHIS the responsibility of eradicating from the national herd of cattle, swine and other food animals diseases such as tuberculosis, brucellosis and classical swine fever. I, for one, appreciate the effort APHIS makes to protect us from foreign diseases and bioterrorism that threaten health, safety and the economic well-being of the U.S. agriculture.
But there is a fly in the ointment. During this time of heightened disease issues and bioterrorism, the APHIS budget is being cut as a part of the USDA budget. It has been projected that APHIS may have to operate on two-thirds of its normal budget when taking previous budgetary cuts into account.
We all have read about the USDA having the largest budget of any governmental department. And that is true, except few know that the USDA budget also includes financial support for food stamps, Aid to Dependent Children and the Women, Infants and Children program. As a matter of fact, welfare support programs account for more than 80% of the USDA’s budget. I don’t bring this up to criticize aid to those who need it. The issue is that many individuals assume, due to the size of the USDA budget, that farmers get a huge payout in financial aid for developing conservation programs or not planting crops.
This is one of those times, that to protect our national food supply, Congress should step up and budget funds for APHIS. We cannot afford to shortchange surveillance of foreign animal diseases that threaten agriculture. This isn’t the time to let up on our country’s disease surveillance, which is an essential defense of America in this era of bioterrorism and newly discovered diseases.

EPA Stuck in the ‘80s

THE LATEST HAIRBRAINED FEDERAL SCHEME

I believe in fair play. When our government gets it right, I speak positively (see my column in the January 2012 issue of OCJ). And when they get it wrong, I don’t mince words. In the latter case, I’m sometimes accused of being a right wing, commie-hating, Archie Bunker-wannabe, redneck zealot.

Before the accusations fly, please hear me out on what I think of the Environmental Protection Agency’s latest take on dioxins, chemical compounds that have polluted the environment.
Without a doubt, pollution has been a problem for health and the environment. . But I believe too many Americans become overly paranoid when someone mentions the presence of chemicals in the environment. In many cases, dioxin contamination is not the product of industrial pollution. Dioxins, which result from combustion, are produced every time there is a grass fire, every time lightning strikes, every time a volcano erupts and every time someone burnleaves in his backyard.
There is no question that in 1984 dioxins and other chemicals, like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), posed health risks. Dioxins ingested by food animals accumulate in their body fat and get passed on to humans, possibly putting them at risk of cancer.

But since the ‘80s, a lot has been done to control dioxins. Ninety-two percent of industrial dioxins have been eliminated. Yet, the EPA has found itself stuck in 1984, struggling for years to write a new risk assessment for dioxins.

The EPA has proposed a legal dioxin limit in food of 0.7 picograms – that is 0.000000000007 grams (yes, that’s 11 zeros after the decimal point). Considering there are 454 grams to a pound, that’s an extremely minute amount. To give you a clearer picture, 0.7 picograms is like taking an eyedropper and squeezing out seven droplets into Grand Lake St. Marys.

If 0.7 picograms (pg) is the EPA’s new safety level, even a snack would be considered a health risk. To stay within that limit, we’ll have to stop eating. Obviously, the EPA has gone overboard on this one, proposing a standard that is below background levels – that is, naturally occurring levels of dioxin. We will have to keep things cleaner than how the environment would be if agriculture didn’t exist.

The EPA’s proposal is particularly absurd, when you consider that the European Union has established 1-3 pg as a safe level in human food. Yes, the European Union. You may remember from previous columns that I have derided the EU for being paranoid regarding biotechnology, animal welfare, UFOs and antibiotics used on food supply animals.

Even the World Health Organization (WHO) says that 1-4 pg is safe. Obviously, the EPA’s proposed level is too low.

Various ag industry groups have attempted to have a dialog with the EPA, but with no success. The EPA refuses to discuss it. If the EPA formally decrees that dioxins are carcinogenic, the federal mandate will be to eliminate dioxins. But how realistic is that? Think about it: Every crop and every animal are at risk of exposure, because most dioxins fall from the sky – from smoke that originates from grass fires, backyard burning, lightning and volcanoes.

Let’s think about the long-term implications of this. An EPA limit of .7 pg will create trade issues, because the rest of the world is operating on dioxin limits that are three or more times higher than the EPA’s proposed restriction. Even the whackos in the EU say dioxins aren’t an issue below one picogram. We will be the laughingstock of world trade. No one will want to trade with us.
If dioxins are no longer the problem they were in 1984, why is the EPA proposing regulations? I’m still scratching my head.
I’ll leave you with this puzzler, EPA’s solution for “contaminated” crops. They suggest using biotechnology to develop crops that absorb less dioxin from the environment. The EPA also recommends that farmers wait for a rainstorm before harvesting crops, to allow the rain to wash off the contamination. That shows how in touch the EPA is with farming – and reality!

Yes, you read the headline correctly. While not perfect, the Food & Drug Administration does provide scientific oversight to regulate the safety of our food supply. In contrast, the European Union puts its finger in the air to determine which direction the wind is blowing before setting food safety policy. Then they put it up for a vote in parliament.

“Three Blind Mice”…
Three blind mice. Three blind mice.
See how they run. See how they run.
They all ran after the farmer's wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did you ever see such a thing in your life,
As three blind mice?

Naysayers have been going on and on about the world running at peak oil but the reality are that we have plenty of oil reserves in spite of Congress making potential new oil fields off limits. Peak oil is a term to describe that oil production has peaked and we are on the downhill slide towards running out. Remember that there is a huge difference between the supply being depleted and those smart fellers in Washington telling us what is reality.