grass-fed/Dhiman/CLA/small dairies/dung fuel

[Guest guest]

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> anyone see this?

>

> http://www.glci.org/images/2004%20Grasstravaganza.pdf

>

> -joe

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i googled a bit on Tilak Dhiman; CLA's his thing. there seems to be a

decent amount of activity in the way of conferences and things

promoting grazing, sustainability, etc. it's only a matter of

time... (uh, and continued strenuous effort...)

for chris, a ref at the bottom says higher vit E for grass-fed.

also, chris, i don't see your point in mentioning similar basic

nutrient profiles for grass vs grain-fed. i don't see how we can

infer much about the health of the animal from measuring how much

zinc, etc they have. that seems like a very superficial type of

information. what about their digestive health, hormonal system,

etc? i wouldn't want to eat an animal's kidney or glands or whatever

unless they were all functioning well, and I don't see how the data

you refer to has any bearing on this.

Mike

SE Pennsylvania

this quickie article has an interesting point about the efficiency of

milking smaller cows:

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The Advantages of Small, Local Dairies

by Stuart Tarr

Illinois organic farmer Gebhart mentions a New Zealand dairy

that is making $1,000 per cow per acre with pastured dairy cows,

while commodity milk here brings about $200. So why not set up a

dairy and bottle milk here? Some small, local creameries are being

established elsewhere, and Gebhart estimates that a family creamery

could make $60,000 a year from 20 to 25 cows. The premium would come

from two factors: " one, milk from grass tastes better, and, two, it

has high levels of CLA, an anticarcinogen. "

Gebhart points out that the high-production binge of the postwar

years is not all it's cracked up to be. " We can run a dairy with

lower-producing cows. We need high profit, not high production. Even

so, we can get more milk from them per man-hour. If you have cows

with a smaller bag, you can milk three in the time it takes to milk

one sore, big bag. Productivity per man goes up with lower

productivity per cow. They have an incentive to milk—it's less

painful—and they do their own grass harvesting and manure spreading. "

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a fatty acid that is a natural

anticarcinogen. Scientists have shown that CLA inhibits cancer growth

in laboratory animals. It occurs naturally in many foods but is

particularly present in milk and meat from hoofed animals

(ruminants). It is produced by bacteria in the rumen. The only way

humans can get CLA is by consuming dairy products and beef. Dr. Tilak

Dhiman, a University of Utah animal scientist, and others have found

that the CLA content of milk is as much as five times higher when

cows graze green, predominantly ryegrass or on natural pastures, than

when they eat diets of 50 percent conserved forage, such as alfalfa

and corn silage, and 50 percent grain.

Other studies show direct-grazed green pasture beef is highest in

CLA, and grass-finished beef has five times the amount of CLA as

grain-fed beef. Dr. Dhiman has said that " we cut our consumption of

CLA when we changed the way we feed our animals. "

Thirty or 40 years ago, animals grazed mostly on pasture. Now their

feed is controlled, which might be having a negative impact on human

health. " Today we are producing milk more efficiently with controlled

feeding. However, we need to couple this efficiency with milk and

meat quality. " It might be that something in green grass enhances the

growth in the rumen of the particular bacteria responsible for

producing CLA. Or it may be that grazing cows have different microbes

in the rumen than cows fed inside the barn.

" It's ridiculous to feed cows corn inside. Outside is where the birds

are. That's the design. That's what an ecosystem is all about—

sustainable balance. More specialized farming is actually more

difficult. Monoculture is not natural. There is nothing natural in

monoculture. In this dairy system, the grazing cattle would have

three months of no milking in the winter. You don't have to milk them

in the winter. That's why we have cheese. "

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other tidbits from my websearch:

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UTAH STATE PROFESSOR HARNESSES THE POWER OF POOP

They say an optimist is someone who, if you lock him in a room full

of horse manure, will dig right in, hoping to find a pony. Having

spent the better part of his life toiling in the science of animal

droppings, Conly Hansen is one such optimist. Hansen's prized pony,

though, has been the discovery of a good way to harness the energy

and financial potential of animal waste. " It's a steady energy

supply, " says Hansen, explaining that the daily dung from 10 pigs,

for example, can power a 100-watt light bulb around the clock.

Hansen, a professor of food science at Utah State University, and his

colleagues developed an " induced blanket reactor, " a prototype of

which recently went into production at the Ballard hog farm in the

western Cache County hamlet of Benson. (Salt Lake Tribune, 11/17/03)

Click on:

http://www.sltrib.com/2003/nov/11172003/utah/111753.asp

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GRATEFUL FOR GRASS: MORE CONSUMERS ARE TURNING TO ALL-NATURAL, FARM-

RAISED BEEF AND POULTRY

and Joy Stutzman appear to be living in the peaceful past on

their historic Berks County farm, but the animals they raise there

are firmly in the future. By feeding their cattle, pigs, chickens and

turkeys a diet based on the fresh, green fields and pastures of their

farm, the Stutzmans produce their Pasture's Pride beef, pork and

poultry highly prized by customers from as far away as New Jersey and

New York. ... Since then, Tilak Dhiman at Utah State University noted

additional benefits of feeding grass, including meat with higher

levels of conjugated linoleic acids, powerful anti-carcinogens.

Research at Colorado State University found four times the level of

vitamin E in grass-fed beef than feedlot beef. (Morning Call,

11/12/03)

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