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market-farming - RE: [Market-farming] Milk spore

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  • From: "Rick Williams" <mrfarm AT frontiernet.net>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: RE: [Market-farming] Milk spore
  • Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 09:55:06 -0600

Robert Farr wrote:
> Interesting - I always believed milky spore to be a fungus that infected
> the Japanese Beetles. Who can tell me more?

I am not an expert in this since my background was general biology/chemistry
and most of my knowledge is through studying current information on the web.
(which is pretty amazing).

The Milky spore baceteria is not unlike Bacillus thuringiensis but is
another type of bacillus (Bacillus popilliae) that causes some kind of
attack on the grub of the beetle which kills the grub and then acts as a
release of new B. popilliae spores. Apparently, the spores can remain viable
for many years. The release upon death of the grub is substantial, in the
area of > 1 billion spores. The believe that the chemical/biological action
on the grub is similar to Bt, but it is not really known for sure what kills
the grub. I believe that M.S. was the first, or one of the first biological
controls to be approved by the government.

There are some kinds of fungus that are also used for insect control. Such
as Beauveria species.

The intriguing thing for me, is that so called organic production will allow
rather large doses of some of these organisms which put out a lot more
"chemical" in the environment when you compare it to so called chemical
farming. (55 gallons of M.S. is around $1,500).

As an example, the horrendous destruction of the larval forms of some
insects from Bt is not a minor activity in the natural scheme of things with
the digestive systems destroyed by the chemicals produced by the Bt
organism. It is not unlike an ionophore. And this is to protect plants,
which do not really suffer like animals do from disease organisms.

In turn, we as humans eat these organisms that would otherwise not be in the
concentration in the natural environment but are artificially placed there
by so called organic practices.

And yet, an ionophore, used in small quantities to control coccidia (a
protozoa that is the main killer of several ruminants, including goats and
sheep) is not considered a good thing. This is a scientific disconnect that
troubles me greatly.

When we raise our vegetables, we ONLY use the natural environment and don't
use any of the substances "approved" for organic.

But when you raise sentient beings, it is a different issue and becomes more
of a moral issue to us. And "organic" just doesn't have the answers at this
time. Organic folks often bring up the moral issues of food and yet turn a
deaf ear to animal suffering. Even though the organic rules theoretically
allow treatment, other organic rules make it economically impossible to do
so.

> Rick - I want to know more about your direct mktg. of beef. I'm sure I
> missed an earlier note to the list about this, but please tell me more!

What would you like to know? Our web site gives some good information.

Although we have been severely criticized on having an ineffective web site,
it is actually done the way it is because that is the way that we personally
want to see a web site. I almost gag when I see the "slick" types that you
know are not down home farmers who developed it. I suppose it does appeal to
the yuppy folks as was mentioned here previously, but to be honest, we don't
have a lot of those folks in our area. More of an average American type who
makes a living but doesn't really have a lot of disposable income.

I am sure almost any of us would be happy to talk about our farming
operations if there are specific questions.

Sincerely,

Rick Williams
Misty Ridge Farm
Direct marketed dairy beef and produce
(also dairy heifers and beef stockers)
Viroqua, WI

www.mistyridgefarm.com




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