From Mauricio.Rosales@fao.org Thu Jul 19 16:49:33 2001
Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2001 14:38:14 +0200
From: "Rosales, Mauricio (AGAL)" 
To: "'LEAD-AWI-ECONF-L@mailserv.fao.org'"
    
Subject: LEAD-AWI-ECONF-L: Comments from Robert  McCroskey on Health Sessi
    on

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ELECTRONIC CONFERENCE ON AREA WIDE INTEGRATION OF CROP AND
LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Robert  McCroskey endorses the comments of Dr Orskov regarding
chemical  compounds such copper, arsenic and antibiotics  etc.
that  persist in the manure.  He discusses the need  for  some
control  over  these compounds citing the  use  of  copper  in
rabbits' diets. He correctly states that in some countries the
use  of  heavy  metals, antibiotics, hormones is  banned.   We
support  his  concerns,  and  further  suggest  that  in  many
countries these compounds have strict withholding periods, are
regularly  monitored for as residues in meat, milk, soils  and
waterways;  also  a schedule system to ensure  only  qualified
persons  are  able  to prescribe and dispense  many  of  these
products is commonplace.

The moderators

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: Robert McCroskey [bobmc@uniserve.com]

Dear Participants,

I would like to agree with Prof. Dr. Orskov of Aberdeen on the
topic  of  banning chemotherapy, the use of chemical compounds
such as copper sulphate, arsenic and antibiotics which persist
in the manure after excretion by the production animal.

As  previously  mentioned,  here  we  use  the  rabbit  manure
directly  on the sheep pastures, so the high levels of  copper
found in normal use in rabbit feeds in North America cannot be
used;  our  copper  is  held  to the  level  of  the  animal's
requirement in the feed, a supplementary 15 ppm (15 mg/kg). As
well,  nitrogen  and  phosphorus levels  are  minimized  while
potassium  can  be  adjusted to meet the requirements  of  the
pasture,  to assist in preventing lodging, within  the  limits
that potassium is a growth inhibitor in rabbits.

The  high  levels  of  copper in rabbit feed  began  in  North
America  after  success  with  copper  feeding  in  pigs,  and
continues  despite  the  fact  that  copper  feeding  is  most
effective  in hotter climates, and despite the fact  that  the
USDA objects to the high levels of copper in rabbit livers and
will  set  limits  on organ heavy metal content  if  such  use
continues.

Some   "developed"  countries  have  already  banned  or   are
considering  banning heavy metal chemotherapy (and  antibiotic
and  hormone use) in livestock on the grounds that it  creates
an  increasing  residue in soils. This is  another  indication
that  we cannot consider any by-product to be "waste" that  is
just  put  out  of sight; we are in a closed  system  here  on
"Spaceship  Earth" and there are consequences to all  actions.
So-called  "developing" countries should not  expect  to  have
their "kick-at-the-can" as regards certain pollutants (such as
ozone destroying refrigerants, DDT, agrochemicals, etc.); they
should  realize that perhaps this step in human "progress"  is
best  to skip over, particularly since many parts of the world
are short of water which works to dilute such pollutants.

Robert McCroskey
Canadian Centre for Rabbit Production Development (NGO)
Surrey, BC, Canada