OT Michigan animal care law

rrlund · Jul 31, 2009

I heard on the news last night that the new animal care legislation passed here in Michigan. I know the Farm Bureau and all the livestock associations supported it and that it's an attempt at an end run around PETA/HSUS,and that they opposed it,but still... I'm just not comfortable with legislating anything requiring certain standards by the government. You never know who's going to be in power or how it's going to be interpreted. We've always gotten along fine with the "Right to farm" standards. My biggest fear is that with the state nearly bankrupt and short on staff,they'll be sending MDA milk inspectors out here to inspect feedlots,holding us to the same standards as grade A milk facilities.

What do some of the rest of you guys in Michigan thing about it? Good or bad? Are we just apeasing people that we should be defeating?

Anonymous-0 · Jul 31, 2009

Here in Ohio we are facing the same issue P.E.T.A. and H.S.U.S. have contacted the Farm Bureau telling them that they will have a ballot initiative to shut down sow farm, egg laying farm and veal farms like they did in Florida. They also told them that we don't have enough money to fight them.

rrlund · Jul 31, 2009

Your situation and what happened in California are what sparked this legislation. We're trying to prevent that kind of extremism by legislating what are generally accepted scientific animal care laws instead of letting a bunch of extremists dictate to us based on emotion. I suppose what we've done is necessary given the current political climate. This whole thing just wouldn't be necessary if the general population wasn't so d@mned stupid and gullible though. I just hate to give a bunch of terrorosts 50% of what they want in order to prevent a 100% takeover. It's like having somebody steal from you and then trade your own property back to you for something else of your own.

dieseldoc · Jul 31, 2009

Why shouldnt feed lots be held to same standards as grade A dairies?My milk cows always have feed,clean water, and a dry comfortable place to lay down.Most feed lots I see have mud up to cows bellies.Not enough feed bunk and water space and NO shade.And when it gets ove 100 degrees some of their cattle die.It is wrong.Heat does not kill my cows but I give them plenty of shade, fans, and cool clean water.

Anonymous-0 · Jul 31, 2009

Yes we have on our fall ballot a pro-active issue to head off PETA by creating a 13 member board to oversee the animal care standards. These board memmber are appointees are to be family farmers, state cert. vets and reps from end users of farm products.

sotxbill · Jul 31, 2009

PROVIDE FAN FOR ANIMALS?????

In Texas the state owns all the wild animals and birds...

Is the state going to build shade, water and provide fans for all the wild animals????

It was over 100 degrees for 4 weeks till we got a cold spell and it dropped to a bone chilling 96-98 degrees...

Sounds just like another Ohmygod program....

Lets hold the state to those rules for all animals as you know, all animals are created equal...

what a minute,,, people are animals... so they gotta give fans, shade, and water to everyone..

wow...

Anonymous-0 · Jul 31, 2009

That is the exception not the rule, most feed lots are businesses, dead and sick animals cut into their profits.

hay · Jul 31, 2009

"it was over 100 degrees for 4 weeks till we got acold spell and itdropped to a bone chilling 96-98 degrees"

About time to bring in some firewood, ain't it, sotxbill?

rrlund · Jul 31, 2009

I milked cows for 33 years before I started feeding colored cattle. It's a WHOLE different ballgame. I got started milking cows because of an overzealous milk inspector. First time that nut bag was here,Dad told me that if I wanted to milk cows I could sign the sheet,otherwise he was selling the cows. This guy had a policy that if the manure was over the soles of his shoes he walked out the door with your permit and you dumped your milk until reinspection. Now even YOU have to admit that's a little extreme. Yes,my steers rattle a little when they walk now and then due to the dingle balls on'em,but the vet hasn't been here in over 2 years. With 200-250 head of cattle around all the time,I'd say that ain't bad. I farm for a living. If these animals weren't healthy and productive,weren't constantly packing on the pounds,I'd be doing something different so that they were. But these things are bred to be tough. They aren't dairy cattle that have been bred for milk production only,health of the animal be d@mned. And before you get angry,reread "I milked for 33 years,it's a whole different ballgame".

dieseldoc · Jul 31, 2009

So you agree with having 2000 head of cattle in a lot with absolutely no shade on a hundred degree day.And our holsteins are bred for good feet and legs and good reproduction not just milk production.I realize on a farm you cant control the mud sometimes but you CAN control how the cows are taken care of.Also you should lose your milk liscense if there is manure on the floor where you milk.And you might have"milked cows" for 33 years but you obviously didnt care about the cows and just treated them like machines or you still would be "milking cows"

dieseldoc · Jul 31, 2009

I doubt there are thousands of wild amimals crowded into a mud lot on a hot summer day.

Anonymous-0 · Jul 31, 2009

Well, if it is anything like the dairies in this area, you can blame the heavily subsidized dairies for all the problems concerning manure runoff, flies, stench, dead calves dumped in the road ditches.

What I cannot understand is how come the government subsidized dairy operations have to be dragged kicking and screaming into compliance, yet the privately owned commercial beef cattle feedyards spend their own money to meet the same standards that the dairies insist they are incapable of meeting. AND, the beef industry does not have the odor or fly problems that these filthy dairies deem uncontrollable.

Chester5731 · Jul 31, 2009

Just think, if we had more family farms where each family had a few cow there would be no corporate farms. More families would have a job instead of being unemployed, and we would not have to worry about agribusiness running the little guy out of business. Maybe we could back up fifty years and start over.

730 virgil · Jul 31, 2009

we have a case about 20 miles from me where a man from Ca. has bought 1400 acres with the idea of starting a dairy.
a bunch of people got together and drug the guy into court.
the farmer did everything as needed according to US and Il. EPA laws. Well they got a bleeding heart judge to issue an injunction against the farmer and shut him down after he thought he all his ducks in a row and spent a pile of money.
i'd like to have the money he has spent i could buy all the farms that join me, build a new shed and fill it with antique tractors.
we have heard that PETA is paying for the lawyers ect to keep this mess stirred up.
now they are bringing in people from out of state to stir up trouble for Farm Bureau and some other farm organizations.

Brian Jasper co. Ia · Jul 31, 2009

Dieseldoc, are you saying your milk cows are housebroken? I've seen many dairies and when the cow has to go, she goes right where she stands. Doesn't matter if the milking machine is on her or not.

rrlund · Jul 31, 2009

That's not good enough for the vegans at HSUS and their pal Rush Limbaugh. They've stated publicly that their goal is an end to animal agriculture..PERIOD..all of them.

rrlund · Jul 31, 2009

No,that's not what I'm saying at all. I'm talking about Michigan standards,not western feedlots. We all have building for these cattle to get in out of the weather. My fat cattle for example are all on concrete,as are those of anybody who wants to turn a profit. But what I am saying is that there would be absolutely NO advantage to scraping that concrete everyday. There isn't much danger that we're going to have a bacteria problem come milking time for a pen of steers. The mastitis count is a lot lower in these critters too.

I'm not trying to pick a fight with you,but I can tell you after a lifetime in the dairy business,my Dad and Grandad milking before me,if you ever sell those milk cows,it won't take very long for you to look at them through a whole different set of eyes. You don't know what a healthy animal is until you have a herd of mama cows that take care of themselves year in and year out with no human intervention whatsoever aside from feeding them in the winter.

dieseldoc · Jul 31, 2009

If she craps in the parlor it never hits the floor.Everything here is cleaned after every milking.we drink that milk in the tank every day and I really dont want to drink crap and I dont expect anyone else to do it either.And like I said before If the milk inspector tells you to do something you do it or if you dont you should get shut down.Only thing he wants to see is stuff clean and all drugs labeled.Its not that hard to keep things clean if you keep up with it.

dieseldoc · Jul 31, 2009

Boy I wish my dairy was"heavily subsidized" then maybey I wouldnt be losing 8 grand a month.

dieseldoc · Jul 31, 2009

So when it rains were does the runoff from your concrete go? IN the crick or road ditch? If some one saw tht on my farm I would get fined and have to fix that as soon as posible.I also have a small herd of black angus only 50 or so. I agree that they are a tougher animal but they still get pinkey and the calves still get scours sometimes.One thing I cant believe you didnt learn in your 33 years of milking cows s you can breed a milk cow to give all the milk in the world and if she is not healthy she wont give you a drop.A comfortable,well fed, and healthy cow will produce the most milk.Now I am only 27 and have been around milk cows since before I could walk and by the time I was in first grade I figured that out.I also think it is great that you have a place were you cows can get out of the mud and get some shade because around here no one has that.

Buckeye · Jul 31, 2009

If it doesn"t hit the floor, where does it land?

Anonymous-0 · Jul 31, 2009

My Ex-wife is a milk inspector, so they are not the smartest folks in this world. That being said this spring we remodeled a milking barn unit and milk house. The milk house is five foot below the grade of the dairy barn. The barn is tails together so the manger is closest to the milk house. The lady milk inspector said she would check to make sure that the manger had 1 ½ inches of slope towards the cows. This she explained was very important so if the gutter ran over, it would not run into the milk house.

Now I’m not real sharp, but I did have to ask how she figured that the manure would run back into the gutter? In order to get the manure into the manger it would have to jump up 2” for the cow platform, and over a 16” high free stall curb. So where would this slope drain into? Over the 16” curb? She then insisted that she knew what she was doing, because she had done it for fifteen years. I then decided that I best just shut up, and let her be the boss so the farmer would not have to deal with any problems that I would cause for the over all picture.

I could go on and on with the very stupid ideas she had, but we all would be old and gray before I got done. By the way the inspector was not my ex.

I should add that my ex-wife was fired from three previous jobs, mainly because of her attitude---but the State of Iowa found her as a gem in the prairie. A person just has to shake his head and wonder. Her only qualifications were very visual to any bosses (male) eyes.

Anonymous-0 · Jul 31, 2009

I am a beef producer and I recieved much unhappy response from the dairy guys when I was glad that downer cows were prohibited from the human food chain. Obviously I know nothing about the dairy industry. My question is what is a milk inspector ? What authority do they have? Is it a USDA Federal inspector? A State Dept of Health inspector ? Or is it an inspector that is from the coop you sell your milk to ? As I can find no such thing as a milk inspector in the job list of federal employees, and I know my state has no such thing, I wonder what you are talking about.

Gun guru · Aug 1, 2009

What is "animal care legislation"?

It is funny that you say the state is almost bankrupt, (almost)
But I wonder how it would work if the state really did go bankrupt, layoff all State cops?
The silly Gov. Granholm and all the legislators are laid off, state parks closed.....? Makes you wonder how that would work. California is Bankrupt isnt it, I guess issuing IOU's instead of checks.

blinwmiaol.com · Aug 1, 2009

Some parlors have a butt pan to catch any thing, more likely in a parallel parlor where the cows are all butts to you in the pit, it really sucks to get pee or worse sliding down your arms as you are putting the milker on. Them there is usually a flush valve that every so often flushes the catch pan while milking so it doesn't overflow. It basically looks like a stainless rain gutter about 16 inches below a cows tail head.

OT Michigan animal care law

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