Outdoor
The New Guidelines for Antibioticand Implant Use in Livestock
By Martha Crump
In January 2017, a new regulation from the United States food and Drug Administration (FDA) went into effect that required a prescription from a veterinarian called a veterinary feed directive, or VFD, to be in place in order for all medically important antibiotics that were being administered in feed and water. This Guidance for Industry (GFI) regulation was known as GFI#213, and brought 96 percent of all medically important antibiotic drugs used in water and feed for animals under veterinary oversight and limited their use for treatment, control, and prevention of specific diseases. As you might imagine this definitely impacted feedlots, but there also were some cow/calf producers that felt the impact as well.
Often, antibiotic-containing feed was used during known periods of stress, such as extended bad weather, relocation, or to prevent against foot rot or outbreaks of pink eye, even though those were “off-label uses.” Even when creep feeding calves, it is estimated that about 30 percent of the feeds used were available with some type of antibiotic in them. The economics of this type of antibiotic administration were preferred as on the average, feeding with a low level of antibiotic in feed for a few days might have an average cost of $1 per head compared to an injectable form at an average cost of $25 per head.
The FDA, among other groups, has long been watchful, and concerned, about antibiotics that are commonly used in both humans and animals. The shared concern is that possible overuse, including in animal feeds [or water], might lead to bacteria such as Escherichia coli (E. coli) becoming resistant to antibiotics. E. coli is a bacteria that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms, including humans. Most strains are harmless, but some have the ability to cause serious food poisoning.
To read more, pick up a copy of the July issue of NTFR Magazine. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.
By Norman Winter, Horticulturist, Author, Speaker
Nothing quite like Pink Cashmere to put the happy face on a summer that has turned oppressive from heat and humidity. No, this is not part of The Garden Guy’s latest watering wardrobe, but a new Superbena verbena making its debut in 2024.
The past three years, Superbena verbenas have steadily climbed the lists of most popular butterfly plants at The Garden Guy’s house. Varieties like Cobalt, Stormburst, Whiteout, and Royal Chambray can hold their own with a lantana any day of the week when it comes to bringing in pollinators.
To read more, pick up a copy of the September issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Tony Dean, [email protected]
Buffalobur is another one of those North Texas grazing land plants we need to be aware of, but not because it is good for grazing. This shallow tap-rooted annual is in the potato family, as is its cousin, Silverleaf nightshade. Both are poisonous plants.
Besides being a poisonous plant, buffalobur is just about the most unfriendly plant around. It forms a rounded mound from 12 to 30 inches tall and has stout, golden yellow prickles on the stems and leaves. I have vivid memories as a boy of walking into buffalobur while hoeing weeds in my uncle’s cotton patch. It just too a few encounters for me to learn to watch for this bad boy.
To read more, pick up a copy of the September issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Norman Winter | Horticulturist, Author, Speaker
There was a new firecracker in town for the long Fourth of July celebration, and The Garden Guy could not have been happier. It is not the kind of firecracker to make noise other than the sounds of hummingbirds’ wings rushing in to feed. It is not just for July 4 but the entire summer as well. The plant I am referring to is Estrellita Little Star, the new Bouvardia or firecracker bush. While I flipped for the flowers, the old silver head guy went bonkers because he had never heard of a Bouvardia.
This plant is native to the southwest and needs my kind of soil in Georgia, but I am also from Texas so you would have thought I would have at least heard of Bouvardia. Bouvardia is in the Rubiaceae family with other great firecrackers like the Manettia cordifolia or firecracker vine which is incredible too, but I have never seen it for sale. Bouvardia is related to Ixora, Firebush and Crossandra too, which by the way is also a firecracker flower. The Rubiaceae family also has coffee and the gardenia, of which I would like to visit with a taxonomist on that one.
To read more, pick up a copy of the August issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by more, call 940-872-5922.
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