Organic Certification; The Great Debate

The calf died. (Not the calf above. That one is just a stunt double) I'm telling you the ending now to save you the time of scrolling to the bottom of this post, I'm sorry to ruin the suspense but that's just how I am. I often start a book at the last sentence of the last chapter. I read the last sentence of a poem before I read the first word and I don't give a hoot if someone tells me how a movie ends before I see it. They are sadly all so predictable anyway, except for Sixth Sense, Even now, year later, the ending still surprises me.

So that's why I'm telling you the calf died. In a minute I'll tell you the rest of his story but first I must comment about some comments left in the comment section of my last post. They require more than the obligatory "Thanks."

To Lana who is the middle of planning for organic certification right now. Her questions were fantastic and deserve more attention than I can give in my blog so Lana...I will be contacting you very soon via email to hopefully help . I am no expert but I can share my mistakes and hopefully keep you from making the same ones.

To Cro, who wondered about the insanity of having to sell over $5000 worth of organic product before you were required to complete the inspection process prior to LABELING your products organic. Yes, its one of the most ridiculous parts of the United States National Organic Program (NOP). It has nothing to do with your economic status as you can be filthy rich, say as a GMO seed salesman, yet sell only $4900 worth of organic product in a years time thus exempting you from any legal action against you for selling products labeled organic without having completed the inspection. You do however have to follow all the NOP standards. BUT if no one is inspecting you what assurance do your customers have that you are following the standards ? The answer is none. Frankly I have yet to meet one single person who truthfully follow the standards, but elects to sell less than $5000 worth of product in order to avoid the inspection requirement. I HAVE MET several folks who label their products organic, knowing that they can legally do so as long as they sell less than $5000 worth but have no idea or interst in what any of the other standards say or mean.

Confused ? You should be.

Now to Chris who asked, "My chickens are fed 'organic' layers pellets, organic corn, and organic veg and are free range. They don't have a label and haven't passed any tests, certification boards or climbed the sheer rock-face of legislation (even if the produce they consume has).



Question is - are they laying 'organic' eggs even if they don't have a label?

Chris, the answer here in the US is...No, they are not legally organic unless your pellets, your corn and your veggies have all been CERTIFIED organic. In addition , unless you are selling less than $5000 a year you can not label them as organic until you have successfully completed the inspection. Now, if you feed them only certified organic feed and you follow all the organic standards and you sell less than $5000 then you can label them organic, but not CERTIFIED organic until you have submitted all the paperwork, paid all the fees and completed the inspection every single year.

AND if you were my neighbor, Chris,  I would buy your eggs in a heartbeat because it sounds like you are raising some fine chickens and I bet those eggs taste fantastic.

Still confused ? Well read on.

The calf story. Last week one of our calves (6 weeks old) began to scour. (loose stools). We began adding an electrolyte supplement (approved by MOSA, our organic surveyor) to its milk bottles. A couple days later it began to lose its appetite so we started offering it extra water with supplements in between feedings, several times a day. It remained active with nice shiny coat, bright eyes. Next day, no better so we cut back on the milk offering it hay and grass which was hand fed. Each day my husband would move its hutch so the calf had clean ground and fresh grass underneath him. Another day after that we saw streaks of blood in its stool a sure sign of the parasite coccidiosis. Appetite poor, fluid intake poor so we began to tube feed it. (Fluids directly into its stomach via a feeding tube passed down its esophagus)

We discussed calling a vet. The next day it died.

Today we lamented that we should have called the vet sooner. We also reviewed everything we did and re-read important chapters in the book " Alternative Treatments for Ruminant Animals" by Paul Dettloff D.V.M.  Seems we did many things right. Seems we also did many things wrong, Seems we really missed the boat on prevention.

It is rare for a calf to get sick on our farm so we did not have a good treatment plan in place. Instead we scrambled behind each symptom rather than working to avoid the next one.

We should have called the vet.

The NOP standards are very clear that you are not to use antibiotics or other non approved treatments UNLESS the animals life is in danger. We missed the rapid decline of this calves health and if we had sought professional help sooner we would have lost organic certification for that calf (not a big deal) but probably would have saved its life.( A much bigger deal)  After a full recovery we could have sold her as a family milk cow or even had her slaughtered for our own meat supply.

Being certified organic is a whole lot more than a little extra dirt on a few carrots. It takes education, research and commitment. It requires eating crow publicly and admitting when you made a animal husbandry mistake allowing suffering when it possibly could have been avoided.

Next time we'll do better.

Grad student ? Come on down !

Really, last week was fantastic with all our numerous farm visitors. Seems everyone is interested in our Gentle Giants

From left: Pregnant Red Wattle Lacey, Pregnant Red Wattle Debbie,
Far From Pregnant Red Wattle Farmer Keith, Pregant Crossbred Leopard
and Very Pregnant Red Wattle Morticia

On Friday we had another graduate student, just like Sasha, except this one was female, did not have a beard (hey, you never know, some of us middle age women lose track of our hair chins from time to time) and attended school in Massachusetts. Specifically her name was Kristin from Goddard College. Her topic was, "The Central Illinois Farmer Photo-Dairy Project" and involved an interview, a tour, photos she took and the opportunity for me to submit photos as well. Kristin also taught me the meaning of the phrase "Visual Ethnography."  Now, over 3 dys later, I of course cannot remember the definition, but I did log the phrase into my notebook of Name Ideas for Future Alternative Rock Bands.

Kristen Thiel, dedicated grad student, fighting her way
past the ever ferocious Fannie to get photos of naughty
Freddie locked away in the feed shed.

Unfortunately, the weather was cold and rainy. Very cold, and rainy and a tad windy. Then a F3 windy. So windy that just as we were finishing up with Kristin and right before the Pollock family arrived with their girl Barbara, our large calf hutch was lifted up into the air and thrown  mercilessly to the ground, releasing several animated calves into the yard.  Herd dog Freddie, still mostly untrained , would circle one calf while three others ran past him, then he'd chase that group leaving the one he did have under control to start running the wrong way. What a zoo !

Eventually all the wind blown animals were restrained into a makeshift yard of single wire electric fencing allowing us to thank Kristen for her time and usher the Pollacks down to the barn so their gal, a stunning Red Wattle looking for love, could be unloaded between tornados. In between rain showers we were able to load Mad Max out of his pasture and into our trailer and escort him to Barbra's love lair. Funny thing about that Mad Max. Loading him required virtually no effort on Keith's part other than telling Max why he had to get into the trailer. He practically RAN into it, the little horn hog that he is.

Mad Max to the right and the petite Lady Barbara to the left

Once Babs and Max were properly introduced, "Pig, meet pig," they seemed only mildly interested in each other. They were however, greatly interested in the grain Keith spread out for them. But you learn quite a bit about someone the first time you share a meal with them, so who are we to question their priorities ? This will be Max's first girl from another farm and we are all looking forward to the results. Hopefully a happy healthy litter of the still critically Red Wattles in 4 months time. We know they will be gorgeous because that Barbara is some looker. The Lucille Ball of Red Wattles I would say. Shiny copper red hair with a glimmer of gold. Made our Max look a little dull but of course I did not say this out loud. Would hate to deflate that ego of his when he needed it most.

After dinner, the couple takes a stroll. Max waits to make his move.

Putting these two together required (by me) the writing of my first semen contract. An interesting list of do's and don'ts regarding who was responsible for what, when and where. Although it  was fairly simple, I took the contract writing  very seriously until some goofball cousin of mine, via Facebook, suggested I should now be referred to as "Semen Meister".

I get no respect. Nada

In a lather about rectums

January continues and so does our farm planning. We're no where near a ten year plan or a five year plan, in fact coming up with a one year plan is getting difficult. Especially since technically it will only be an 11 month plan, that is IF we finish up the plan before end of month.

Life keeps getting in the way.

The problem of today..the prolapsed rectum. Oh, don't be so sensitive. Farm blogs can't be about sunsets and soap making all the time. Well, its not my fault you haven't finished your breakfast. Get up earlier.

The rectum in hand, so to speak, belongs to one of our our smaller Red Wattle feeder pigs. A runt from the beginning. As soon as we noticed it, we tried to gently reduce it (Keith found the best angle and had the best results) and we separated the piglet from the others it was running with. Then I did some web research and talked to another pig farmer friend. Prognosis is poor and I expect we'll be euthanizing said piglet soon. To avoid future occurrences we'll follow some of the suggestions of the more experienced  pig farmers.
http://flashweb.com/blog/2011/01/rectal-prolapse-in-pigs.html


Seems the problem is often genetic and culling that gene from the herd (over time) is the best remedy. In the meantime prolapsed rectums can be avoided by providing large amounts of water, hay, good bedding and room to stretch out. Pigs are groupies though. They like to be with each other and in the winter have been known to lay on each other thus increasing abdominal pressure and adding to the problem.

So we looked at our largest group of pigs.

Looks cozy and spacious. Room for both the bacon and the eggs. But if you pan that eye of yours to the left

You can see how the hogs like to snuggle. Outside of this barn is lots of pasture and room to run but when it is cold pigs will lie together for warmth and debauchery.  So today, after Keith takes yet another hog to the locker, we'll talk about how to move which hogs where and when. Yesterday we tried to warn them of the upcoming moves

But when there is milk in their feeder, attention span is short.  So come on you fellow pig farmers out there. Tell us how you deal with the prolapse issue. How often do you see it , what do you do about it and how do you avoid it ? And thanks again to Walter Jeffries who covered the topic so much better , which I swear I did not know until I was researching this here blog and THEN looked at his blog to find he had blogged about said rectums several days earlier . That's my story and I am sticking to it. Your honor Sir.

Dangling Participles

Raising calves is generally very pleasant for them.  We feed bottles and then buckets of milk which they like. We feed leafy organic hay in self serve buckets, which they like. We apply organic No Fly spray to ears and other parts which leaves a nice scent of cloves, which they like. We rub their necks and give them fresh cold water. Also well liked.

And then we castrate them.

Different than the cutting process done with piglets, castrating calves involves rubberbands. (Yeah, I see all you guys out there instinctively pulling your legs together. )  At a few weeks of age, and after we are sure the testicles have descended, Keith uses a special hand held device that pulls the rubberband wide and allows him to slip it up and over the testicles wrapping tight to the area that connects the testicle to the calves body.

The calves do jump and or kick for a few brief moments but then very quickly settle down and begin eating again . I am amazed by this. No human male I know would be able to concentrate on a meal, no matter how big the T-bone in front of him, if I had just lassoed his privates. Its not that animals don't perceive pain but I believe they percieve it differently. Or maybe their will to survive is actually stronger than ours.

After a couple of weeks the calves testicles shrivel up from the lack of blood circulation and just fall off.

A bull becomes a steer. And men all over the world feel a little shiver run through them. Not exactly the same as an angel getting her wings everytime a bell rings, but pretty close.

Purple Rain

Really, do not muck with me. I have new boots and I know how to use them. The original Muck Boots are now alive and well on Green Acres Farm. I'd been reading about them in some other blogs for some time but they were so expensive. Why spend $70 on a pair of boots when I could spend $20 at Big R and just replace them every 6 months.? Well, I didn't start with the best. I worked my way up. 10 years ago when my farm time was limited to collecting eggs and planting the garden, I wore Flip Flops. Which might explain why I still have last decades garden dirt under my toenails. Then I worked my way up to Tennis Shoes. (Like I ever played tennis, now vollyball...that's a different story) A few years and several increased farm responsibilities later, I made the big jump to real boots form Big R. Big ugly green rubber boots that split and tore after one lousy winter season. 5 years ago I bought my first pair of Wellington boots while in Ireland. They lasted 3 years and I felt like a genuine farm child of County Clare wearing them. Good boots for the E. 30 I paid for them.

Then I discovered the Muck.   http://www.muckbootsandshoes.com/boots-home-garden-c-22_27.html  My first pair arrived last month and my feet have been joyful joyful ever since. Warm, waterproof ,soft, comfy, flexible WIDE ENOUGH FOR MY CALVES and oh so stylin'. Easy on easy off and oh so stylin'. Durable, washable, comfortable and oh so stylin'. So really, stop mucking around with the cheap, soon- to- develop- a -hole- in- them -boots. Get yourself some real farm boots. And really it is so much fun to substitute the word "muck" for certain other words, you know, like "duck" and "schmuck" and "luck" and "truck" and "pluck" and, and, and.