WHY COW FEED IS INCREASING E. COLI INFECTION : ETHANOL FERMENTATION FAVORS PROLIFERATION OF GUT BACTERIA IN CATTLE

 

photo: Flicker

Since president George W. Bush signed the ethanol additive program, the corn industry has been generating mountains of waste from the production of grain ethanol for addition in gasoline as an additive, and it has no intention of letting it go to waste.  Hailed as a measure to curb the need for foreign petroleum, the ethanol program was quickly implemented and is firmly established more than a decade later.

Enter the cattle industry.  Happy to buy a cheaper feed, farmers have since been giving their cattle the mash, or by product of ethanol production, as a bulk additive in feed.  

But there is an inherent problem in feeding cattle mash.  Cattle that no longer grazes grass is at a high risk of E. Coli contamination. Grass in fact, by its very nature, acts as a 'sweeper' and cleans the large bovine gut, hampering E. Coli growth.  

But when the feed is given to the cattle, its high alkalinity favors the growth of deadly strains of E. Coli bacteria.  And since the cattle are often penned and restricted from movement, they are even more at risk of becoming infected with the bacteria.  They wallow in their feces, and are often heavily soiled with their own waste.

The problem is not new.  It was in fact acknowledged from the start.  It has even been featured in a few documentaries.  The USDA has even stated it knows of the risk and aggravation of the existing problem of bacterial contamination, but it has failed to act so far. 

The USDA own's research has shown that the higher the content of distillate waste in the feed, the higher the levels of bacterial contamination in the ruminant's gut. 

Due to the increasingly fast processing times, often the hide and feces of cows end up contaminating the carcass, so that it is important to reduce the bacterial level. 

Because of the impact an action from the USDA would have on the producers of corn and corn distillers, there is no assurance that the government agency will crack down on the practice of feeding mash to cows any time soon. In fact, many say that if the use of feed mixed with mash was prohibited, that the whole ethanol industry might collapse.  


Partial Source : MoJo  5.9.13