Even if it isn't the oregano oil, the barns get disinfected every now and then- a major improvement over previous living conditions. It's nice to see organic alternatives catching on and hygiene improving.
/via +Jim Carver
NYT: Chicken Farms Try Oregano as A
Chicken farms including Bell & Evans in Pennsylvania are using oregano-based products as substitutes for antibiotics, but research on their effectiveness is scant and many remain skeptical.
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Not sure about studies Sophie, except the one about Listeria , I would have to dig. I'll tell you who knows a lot about this is +Suzanne Catty . She probably has stuff on her hard drive that would blow anything I come up with away. I'm not saying that she does, but as a practical person, she has seen it work in many instances.
+Jim Carver i don't doubt that sanitation has a large role. but i don't have any quantitative numbers to back up it's impact – if you know oft any studies, please share!
+Sophie Wrobel Sanitation is always key in any operation. The Listeria outbreaks in Colorado were a direct result of bad sanitation. Those melons were grown conventionally by the way.
+Marshall Davis I'm not sure to what extent regular disinfection and sanitation contribute to disease reduction- but if it's anything like the rate of disease reduction between slums and 'developed' areas, I wouldn't be surprised if that alone is the driving factor behind the claimed lower infection rates.
+Marshall Davis You obviously don't get it. It is the overuse of antibiotics that is causing resistant strains to develop. The recent outbreaks are because bacteria have developed an immunity to conventional antibiotics.
Call me a skeptic – I have heard oregano touted as a cure-all before. If this means they will NOT be using standard antibiotics, keep that stuff out of my store. I will also be watching for a salmonella outbreak there, just like happened with organic spinach a few years back.
+Roy Richardson Yeah I said something about Dr. Seuss in the other one…you know. "Green Eggs and…" 🙂
Feed them rosemary and sage and they will come pre-seasoned before they reach the dinner table.
+Jane Goz As a former fruit farmer and sometimes I've been a cattle rancher and grass farmer, I'm totally on board with IPM. Some of these nuts around here think you have to be one or the other. It's like some religious dogma, the realities are much different. In Colorado where I had the orchard, I got the sprays down to two a year for codling moth. The previous schedule had been oh I think it was 5-7 sprays per season.
One thing I don't like about organic farming is the fertilizer thing. That's just a buncha bullshit to me! :~)
IPM can be included in any farm. While you cannot transition into an organic farm overnight…it takes years for the land to even be considered organic, but you can start to use IPM in daily practice. I disagree that it won't make a difference in quality and local ecology. I do agree that the cycle has to change, but change takes time. So I think this is a step in the right direction!
Thanks for the share +Sophie Wrobel and I think it's important to point out that even though there are alternatives like this one, if we keep cultural practices as they are, it won't make any difference. So if you have a dirty ranch that has been getting by with antibiotics, you won't be able to make it by switching to organic. The whole cycle has to change.