new ominous twist on grain feeding of cattle

joel b gruver (jgruv@wam.umd.edu)
Wed, 16 Sep 1998 20:05:40 -0400 (EDT)

Hello to all,
My advisor Ray Weil at the U of MD suggested that I let SANET readers know
about an
article in this weeks issue of the journal Science. This article discusses the
microbiological implications of our current system of fattening cattle
on a diet which includes a minimal amount of forages and a maximum
amount of grain.

I have not read the article yet but the following are my
recollections from my discussion with Dr. Weil.

The scientists are investigating the effect of
intensive grain feeding on rumen pH.
They suggest that rumnen acidification caused by grain feeding is
causing a selection for acid tolerant pathogenic E coli that
will survive in the acid digestive system of humans.
They suggest that a relatively small increase in the amount of forages
included in cattle diets (especially immediately before slaughter) will
reduce rumen acidification and its pathogenic ramifications.

If you have read this article please send your comments to the list and to
Ray Weil at rw17@umail.umd.edu who is not currently subscribed to SANET.

Joel Gruver
U of MD, Soil Quality research

To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with "unsubscribe sanet-mg".
To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
"subscribe sanet-mg-digest".