This is a follow up to the recent post about manure and other affairs on the lake shore. The edge walker mushed through the snow for a check on ice development at the edge Jan 8. The ice forms and melts and reforms with astonishing speed this time of year. The photos taken round 0900 are interesting if you check the radar image. In the distance in the photo on the left you can see the cloud bank that clearly shows in the radar from that same time.
A couple hours later the light south wind had shifted north and the cloud bank moved south and by 1400 hours we had a short but heavy snow fall. It looked like classic fluffy lake effect, though the band formation perpendicular not parallel to the surface wind was very different from the usual lake snow band.
The ice formations suspended from the anchor ice in the top photo had disappeared completely three hours later, merged into a solid wall.
Below is a link to legislation we will be tracking and writing more about in the future.
http://atwork.avma.org/2010/12/10/bill-of-the-week-newyork-sb80-sb85/
This week, New York pre-filed SB 80, which would provide that no person shall engage in the non-therapeutic use of antimicrobial agents in cattle, poultry, sheep, swine, or any animal raised for the purpose of providing food for human consumption, including animals that provide non-meat food products such as eggs and milk. In addition, it would provide that no person shall sell, expose for sale, or transport for sale within New York, regardless of place of origin, any food product derived from an animal that has been subject to non-therapeutic use of antimicrobial agents.
The quote below is from a food industry website that states the benefits of antibiotic use in dairies outweigh the dangers. Apparently the bacteria inside the COW aren't developing resistance which means the industry will want to keep using the antibiotics in question. But meantime outside bacteria are developing resistance! Not all observers including me agree with this website's conclusion of no danger to humans.
“On the basis of this review, we conclude that scientific evidence does not support widespread, emerging resistance among pathogens isolated from dairy cows to antibacterial drugs even though many of these antibiotics have been used in the dairy industry for treatment and prevention of disease for several decades. However, it is clear that use of antibiotics in adult dairy cows and other food-producing animals does contribute to increased antimicrobial resistance.”
The italics are mine. Other scientific studies in peer reviewed journals that are not funded by the food business clearly show increased “gene swapping” occurs in water and soil below CAFO farms. This can lead to antibiotic resistance moving between different bacteria. The Union of Concerned Scientists website states that perhaps 70 % of pharmaceuticals used in agriculture are fed to “healthy” farm animals to promote growth. Beef cows in crowded feed lots, pigs, chickens and dairy cows kept indoors in large buildings are subject to unnatural behaviors and stresses. The antibiotics are fed to boost their immune systems and keep them from getting sick. Dairies use lesser amounts of antibiotics than some types of CAFOs but do use them both on adult cows and on calves. The following comes from www.sustainabletable.org. They quote an annual 18,000 deaths and 4 billion dollar a year as costs from antibiotic resistance which they say is almost certainly an underestimate that doesn't include all the lost days at work etc.
“Although everyone is at risk when antibiotics stop working, the threat is greatest for young children, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems, including cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, organ transplant patients and, in general, people whose health is compromised in some way”
More soon on this topic. My guess is the well entrenched dairy biz in NY will lobby for an exemption. Do we really want that!?
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