Did you read this one?

[Mike]

Apparently you missed the fact that NCBA has stated Poultry litter should not be used as cattle feed in my first post.

I personallyam not at all sure poultry litter litter, when processed properly and with NO possibility of MBM in it, has any reason to be considered "obscene". Because it seems disgusting to some people does not make it an improper source of nutrients for cattle. If we allow the "yuck factor" to be the sole determining reason for preventing such beneficial use of a product needing disposal, we will lose on several levels: disposal costs, loss of valuable nutrients, possible polution of the environment.....probably more than I can quickly think of.

Consider that the end product, beef, does not contain the smell, residue, or anything from the "disgusting" poultry litter. There are NO residues in the meat.

Carrying that mind-set that litter can lead to "un-clean" meat......consider what catfish in the wild might eat, for one!

Perception is not a good basis for most decisions, is it? All too often perceptions are something that probably is not very accurate which we are led to believe by someone with an agenda to change our minds, practices, etc. for their own gain, IMO.

MRJ

There's a BIG sign on the front of "Montgomery Meat Processors" ( a custom kill facility here) that says WE DO NOT ACCEPT LITTER FED COWS. I asked them one day why? and was told "because it smells up the hanging cooler".

Mike, I'm just too skeptical of such statements to accept it without some proof.

Are you saying that people who feed mint to cows will produce beef that smells of mint? I believe quite a bit of it is fed, it is strong smelling stuff, so if the premise you present is accurate, the mint theory should follow through as well. I sure haven't heard that it does.

There are several places where mint is grown and the residue remaining after the mint oil is extracted is fed to cattle in some places.

But I know it is popular to attack those who feed poultry litter at the moment. It just puzzles me why we are so prone to attack researchers who work to turn problems (disposal of chicken litter) into positives (low cost feed for cattle, for one thing). Surely we do not assume they are all evil people out to make obscene profits while producing tainted meat to fob off on unsuspecting consumers, do we??????

MRJ

I'm not asking you to believe that chicken litter smells up the meat. But I'm telling you the sign is there. It may be there because of the smell when slaughtering. I really don't know.
But I do know that when I had a dairy I have had many gallons of milk turned down and hauled to the cheese plant because of the cows eating clover, onions, and bitterweed.

 

[Anonymous]

MRJ- Have you ever drank or smelled milk from a cow that had gotten into wild onions-- And it stays in their system for sometime-- I've heard that it can flavor the meat too for up to a month after- but never slaughtered one to find out...

You will never convince me that what they eat doesn't flavor and change the meat-- just look at the difference between corn fed and barley fed-- or grass fed....Then go out and shoot a deer thats lived off salt sage and compare it with one thats been living in the alfalfa field.....

Cows weren't meant to eat cows-- or chicken sh*t-- just because NCBA doesn't want to take a tough stand doesn't make it right--Yeah Yeah, I know NCBA wrote up a policy against chicken litter and said "no-no"- but then they went right back to slapping the backs of their good old buddies that feed it...... :?

 

[mrj]

OT, the point is.....no one is forced to feed litter and no one is forced to buy the beef produced from it.

Equally obviously if what you say is true there would be lots of beef being returned to the market where it was purchased.

Surely that and the refusal of some packers to handle such beef would send a message loud and clear.

Where does that leave silage......isn't some of that awfully stinky?

MRJ

 

[Mike]

OT, the point is.....no one is forced to feed litter and no one is forced to buy the beef produced from it.

Equally obviously if what you say is true there would be lots of beef being returned to the market where it was purchased.

Surely that and the refusal of some packers to handle such beef would send a message loud and clear.

Where does that leave silage......isn't some of that awfully stinky?

MRJ

How would one know that he bought beef produced from it.? Cattle are not usually finished on poultry litter, MRJ, they are fed it up until time to go to the feedlot. Maybe that would give it time to diminish in the cattle's digestive system? and meat?

 

[Anonymous]

OT, the point is.....no one is forced to feed litter and no one is forced to buy the beef produced from it.

Equally obviously if what you say is true there would be lots of beef being returned to the market where it was purchased.

Surely that and the refusal of some packers to handle such beef would send a message loud and clear.

Where does that leave silage......isn't some of that awfully stinky?

MRJ

Sorry MRJ- I won't argue with you-- Any cattle person that can rationalize in their mind that feeding chicken sh*t to cows is a good idea just to back their good old boys at NCBA and in the packer world is beyond arguing with.....Sometime ethics and conscience have to take rise over passing something unknown off to the consumer to make a buck--But NCBA lost all their ethics when they moved into Packerland........

 

[Mike]

OT, the point is.....no one is forced to feed litter and no one is forced to buy the beef produced from it.

Equally obviously if what you say is true there would be lots of beef being returned to the market where it was purchased.

Surely that and the refusal of some packers to handle such beef would send a message loud and clear.

Where does that leave silage......isn't some of that awfully stinky?

MRJ

Sorry MRJ- I won't argue with you-- Any cattle person that can rationalize in their mind that feeding chicken sh*t to cows is a good idea just to back their good old boys at NCBA and in the packer world is beyond arguing with.....Sometime ethics and conscience have to take rise over passing something unknown off to the consumer to make a buck--But NCBA lost all their ethics when they moved into Packerland........

OT, One of the reasons (could be) that the NCBA has gone south on the chicken litter feeding is........So many cattlemen have put in chicken houses for a cash crop since the cattle business is not as lucrative per head as it once was. It takes numbers today. Price of land is expensive down here and chicken houses don't take much space. I know of several, there are probably hundreds just in Alabama alone that feed chickens.
Although many don't last long, somehow there are houses being built everyday.