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Of course, there are several possible explanations for the high death rate of the calves, and without going and examining them, it s not possible to determine the cause in this case. However, there is no doubt that animals who eat their feed directly off the ground run a great risk of ingesting parasites which can make them ill or possibly kill them, especially when they are young like these calves. In this particular case, the animals in question were not owned by devotees, but the incident reminded me how important it is for us to be informed about treating and preventing parasite problems.Parasite Problems
Bovine parasites can rob your animals of nutrients; weaken their immunity and lower their productivity. Some types of parasites are found in the digestive tract. Some, like the destructive liver fluke, migrate to other organs. Others attack an animal from the outside, and some cause special problems for calves.Compared to animals raised in a commercial dairy enterprise, the cows and oxen on our ISKCON farms are usually cared for in a more natural situation, so in general we have fewer parasite problems. Still parasite control needs to be considered as a part of our herd management program. The first line of defense is common sense – take good care of your animals. The healthier your animal, the less parasite problems you will have. It s hard for parasites to take hold in healthy tissues. So the best prevention is to keep cows and oxen properly fed and watered, properly housed, properly pastured and clean. For example, we typically see that the milk cow or ox that is worked regularly will stay in better condition and have fewer parasite problems than another animal the same age who is not fed and cared for as well.
Symptoms
Weight loss is an important clue that parasites may be attacking your animal. Or you may notice that his or her coat is becoming coarse. In advanced stages, an animal may begin to cough. Be alert to changes in appetite — increased because the animal is being robbed of nutrients or decreased from illness. Cows or oxen may be come dull and stop ruminating.Some parasites cause diarrhea, others may even cause abortions. Severe parasite infestations can kill an animal. I have seen several autopsies in cases where the animal was killed by parasitic infection. Worms had imbedded in different organs, causing infection, hemorrhage, and general decreased organ function.
Parasite Life-cycles
Life-cycles of parasites vary. Some multiply in fresh manure, others in decaying matter. Some live their entire cycle in the digestive tract — for example the tapeworm (monieza) which steals nutrients but does no other damage.Some, like the intestinal worms that live in the small intestines lay eggs in the digestive tract that pass out in the manure, where they develop into larvae and are ingested by the cow while she is grazing. In fact, the seven strains of roundworms (nematodes) are the most dangerous for cows, especially the ostertogia, less than ½ inch long. Other parasites include lungworms, hookworms, hornfly larvae, giardea, coccidia, and neosporum.
Preventive Management Techniques
There are several management techniques that help control parasites. Pastures should be managed so that cows are not forced to graze low to the ground, where the parasite population is the highest. For this reason also, it is best to avoid unnecessary feeding on the ground, as indicated in the story above.Of course, if you are using large round bales, you will have to feed them on the ground. In that case, rotate the feeding location. This prevents manure from accumulating in one area, which could invite contamination of feed. (It also spreads the manure in different places increasing pasture fertility.) Cows should not be forced to graze close to their piles (they will not do so naturally) where parasite eggs are present. As far as parasites are concerned mixing livestock such as cow and sheep in the same pasture helps keep parasites down because some parasites which will live in one species will die in another species of animal.
Manure management is critical. In dry weather, pastures can be harrowed. Dry weather for harrowing is important because parasites spread in moisture, so that breaking up manure in wet weather defeats the purpose. Along with parasite control, harrowing also increases pasture fertility and increases useable pasture, since cows won t graze around piles that are intact. (Harrowing, of course, is also beneficial because it increases soil aeration and water holding capacity.)
In barns, timely manure removal is essential. Proper composting techniques will destroy parasite infestations. Good ventilation and uncrowded conditions are important. as is a clean water supply. In general, warm weather brings hatchouts and increased parasite problems. However, excessive heat and dryness destroy the eggs and larvae. Cold weather prevents hatchout.
Natural Parasite Treatment
Life cycles of parasites vary with climate and location. For natural methods of parasite control, however, it is generally not necessary to know exactly what the life cycle is because the treatment is continuous. Two ounces of diatomaceous earth fed in the grain once a day to animals that are regularly handled is traditionally considered effective —but you must do it every day.There are two other controls which have produced good results. Food grade hydrogen peroxide (1/2 ounce per 500 gallons of water) can be added to the daily drinking water. Or, a small amount of concentrated organic soap can be used once a month in the water supply. Unfortunately, the specific brand cannot be mentioned. When this technique was reported in an issue of the New Farm several years back, the manufacturer wrote to disclaim any responsibility for using this treatment, because their product had not been rated for this use. That s why the brand name cannot be mentioned here.
As an aside, the reason why none of these natural methods has been scientifically tested should be explained. The fact is that these methods are very inexpensive compared with commercial worming methods. Producers of substances which happen to also be good deworming treatments do not stand to gain much financially when weighed against the costs of conducting elaborately controlled field tests.However, I have personally either used or seen these natural methods applied and have noted improvements in weight, coat, and production. If you are interested you could also request a veterinarian to run an EPG (eggs per gram) test on the animal s manure. You do not need to tell the veterinarian why you want such a test performed. However, the test is not always an accurate indication of problem, since different types of parasites lay different amounts of eggs. When using a natural treatment, I prefer to judge success by the symptoms alone.
Commercial Treatments
In terms of cost and effectiveness, the above treatments may work quite well if you care for only a few animals which you can handle individually each day. In large herds, however, you may find that you need to use standard commercial worming methods. In such a case, it s worth contacting a veterinarian to find out the best worming dates for your area, since parasite life cycles are different according to geographic location and climate. You want to treat when the parasite is at the weakest point in its cycle.There are many commercial worming medicines on the market. Thiabendazole (TBZ) is the mildest, destroying seven main worms. Fenbendazole (Safeguard or eanacur) is the next mildest. This is the treatment I prefer if medication is required. When you use these medicines, you will have to discard milk for the number of days specified on the package.
Rumatel is widely used in commercial dairy herds, as it makes no specifications for discarding milk, but I have no personal experience with it. Ivermectin injectable is a very thorough wormer, but you can t use it in dairy animals of breeding age, and there are environmental hazards in using it. I have used it in cases of necessity, but it is a "proceed with caution" drug for our farms.
The various pour-ons are dangerous because you can. absorb them through your skin, and they could injure an unwary handler. They are also highly flammable. We recently heard of a farmer near us who lit a cigarette while doing routine worming, and ended up losing his whole barn. Blockwormers are hard to dose, and so are granulated types that are fed free-choice. Both these are generally less effective. I prefer paste worming or injection if necessary.
How Often to Worm
There are two schools of thought on how to treat an animal who has a severe case of worms. One is to worm "heavy" and get them all with one treatment, and the other is to worm "light" a couple of times to prevent severe reactions to the animal as you kill the parasites. I prefer the latter, as long as the animal is not so unruly as to make handling them a second time difficult. But the best rule is to make every endeavor not to have the problem get this far advanced.Standard commercial medications may have to be used to some degree where there are large herds, but you should keep use to a minimum. It is normal for an animal to have some parasites, and maybe this is even beneficial to help keep the animal s natural immunity at a peak. Regular use of wormers, however, lowers the animal s immunity, and may even create resistant strains of parasites. This has occurred with various types of flies.
There may also be bad environmental side-effects from frequent use of wormers. Various labels caution that manure from treated cows should not be allowed to run into water supplies. What risks are involved by growing vegetables in composted manure from treated cows? The labels don t address this concern. In any case. commercial worming medications should be used with conservative judgment and care.Kamra dasi takes care of cows and edits Mother Cow the newsletter of ISKCON s the Murari-Sevaka Farm Project in Tennessee. Before she was initiated by Srila Prabhupada in 1975, Kamra Prabhu attended veterinary school for two years at Cornell University. Since joining the Hare Krsna movement, she has taken an active role in ISKCON cow protection programs for the past 20 years.
Calves Keeping Krishna’s Cows Healthy
Parasite Control (part 2)
by Kamra Dasi
Parasites that are especially troublesome in calves include some bacteria, also. Coccidia, salmonella, and cryptosporidium are the most common. They will cause diarrhea, dehydration, and weight loss that vary in severity and, unfortunately, are transmissible to their human handlers. Strict cleanliness rules must be observed when handling a calf with diarrhea. Again, hygiene is the best prevention, including manure disposal and proper ventilation. Do not confuse this with the diarrhea cause by milk overfeeding. I four calf is not drinking more than 1 gallon of milk per day and develops diarrhea, have it checked by a veterinarian. More is not always better - if your calf is being fed more than 1 gallon of milk a day, bring the feeding back to that amount immediately and call the vet if scouring does not stop within a few hours.Do not purchase a calf from the livestock yard. You do not know if it has had sufficient colostrum or what it has been exposed to. You can bring home a severe illness like coccidiosis, Johne’s disease, or Bovine Viral Diarrhea, and infect your entire herd, along with becoming attached to a sick calf that may not live long. Accept a calf only from reputable farmers (and it may not be necessary for the farmer to have tested for all illnesses, so beware!), and be sure that it has received sufficient colostrum, especially immediately after birth.
There is some evidence that preventive vaccines may cause more damage that prevention, except in high-incidence areas. We are in a high-incidence Blackleg area, so all the young oxen are vaccinated for Blackleg, but aside from that and necessary worming, no other vaccines are given.
If traditional veterinary rules are followed, calves are wormed at weaning time, or a couple of weeks after they are turned out to pasture and again a couple of months later. If possible, let calves graze before the cows, as they will eat the tips of the grasses and not have to graze low until their natural immunity is developed. The cows, who have a natural immunity, can follow the calves on pasture and graze lower to the ground and not be badly affected by the parasite populations there. If your pasture management program does not allow for this, it is at least necessary to not let young animals graze overeaten pasture until their immunity develops.
External Parasites
Lice, flies, and skin parasites are the most common external parasites that must be controlled.Lice are blood-sucking parasites that are found on warm blooded animals, and often spread by wildlife. They attract to the chest and belly area of the cow, and suck her blood. They reduce the nutrition available to the cow, weaken her, and may spread bacterial infection. In a bad infestation, the affected areas of the cow may appear bluish due to the color of the lice. The best treatment, as for all parasites, is prevention. A healthy body will not readily host parasites, so it is essential to supply all the food and mineral needs. Do not crowd animals and be sure that there is proper ventilation. In case of infestation, a dusting with diatomaceous earth has been used. Be sure to wear a dust mask if applying, as the dust is irritation and suffocation. If need be, use a commercial preparation, for lice will greatly weaken the cow. Use a dust containing pyrithrins or rotenone in preference to the chemical dusts, containing deadly poisons such as diazonone. Wear a proper mask whatever you use.
House and stable flies breed in decaying matter. Face and horn flies breed in fresh manure. Hornflies partly develop within the body of the cow, and the large, unsightly grub hatches from mounds in the cow's back, causing discomfort and possible infection. Any type of fly will carry bacteria. Flies cause pinkeye, which is not only disturbing to the animal, but untreated will cause blindness. Manure management is essential, harrowing the pasture or properly composting stored manure. We have found ear tags, both pyrithrins and diazonone, to be useless for keeping flies off the cows. Diazonone is a deadly poison, and is not favored for use by devotees. The flies have developed immunity due to extensive use by commercial farmers, and this has made it a real challenge to protect our cows from fly pests. Non- chemical rubs may be a possibility for our large herds. They contain oil, and leave the cows looking somewhat mess, but they are effective. Used motor oil should never be used in the rubs, as it contains deadly metal deposits that my absorb through the skin of the cow and make her ill. I am opting for an oil rub next summer for our unhandled cows. The milk cows and handled oxen will be sprayed daily with a mixture of 1 cup of Shaklee Basic-H and 2 tablespoons of Basic-G per quart of solution in water. It is non-toxic and works, but must be repeated daily. It repels flies and only kills a few of them. If skin sensitivity is noted, reduce the Basic-G. The Basic-H will even work by itself. For small temple herds or family cows, this is my preference. Research is being done on the effectiveness of predator wasps in controlling fly populations. In experimental use, I have found that quite a lot of them are necessary, and after a week, I couldn't find and of the wasps. I don't think they are a guaranteed solution at present, but may be useful in a small, controlled situation. They were too expensive for us to try in a large quantity, and I am not sure what the long term effects are on the environment, either.
Mange and other skin parasites are contagious to other animals. Good hygiene and feed is called for. Washing with Shaklee Basic-H and Basic-G has cleared these conditions. I found this out by accident, noting improvement after spraying with a solution for an extended period. An elderly ox, in combination with good care, was freed of long-term skin problems by use of this combination of products. There are veterinary treatments on the market, and some commercial wormers have ingredients that will clear up skin parasite problems. I don't recommend these until natural methods have been tried.
In all parasite infestations, good hygiene and feeding practices are the best prevention and also the best cure. Other cures, natural or traditional, will not have satisfactory nor long term effects if the basic herd management is not there. But good herd management techniques that provide healthy basics in combination with good treatment will help make the never ending challenge of cow protection a little easier.
To understand ox power is to understand the depth of the loving, trusting and firm relationship between ~ . the teamster and his ox team. It is not that the ox who is replacing the machine is treated impersonally as if he is the machine. Unfortunately this mentality can be witnessed throughout the world, even in India where western materialism is encroaching. Ox power means to harness the strength and nobleness of the ox through a relationship of love and trust with his human brother the teamster. Ox Training With Love And Trust
by Balbadra dasa & Chaya devi dasiThe great British livestock writer, William Yuoatt wrote, circa 1830: . . .But when we press (the ox) into our immediate service when he draws our cart and ploughs our land he rapidly improves upon us: he is, in fact, altogether a different animal; when he receives a kind of culture at our hands, he seems to be enlightened with a ray of human reason, and warmed with a degree of human affection."
If we are to practice ox power as a positive alternative to petroleum powered mechanization, we must have regard for the comfort of the ox when possible and practical to all concerned. "His (Krsna s) first business is to give all comfort to the cows and the brahmans. In fact, comfort for the brahmans is secondary, and comfort for the cows is his first concern."
(SB 10.8.16)Therefore we must analyze carefully how we have induced the ox to work. We must be very careful that we have not, either out of fear of his great strength, desire for immediate results, incompetence, or lack of knowledge and training, put the ox s happiness and comfort as the last consideration. If we have done this, the ox power we present will be a hypocrisy and therefore offer no long term results.
Practices such as nose rings or polling (dehorning) are considered totally unnecessary in many circles of competent and successful teamsters. These practices are quite common on many of ISKCON s farms, the argument often being that this is the Vedic way. But, even in India one does not see nose rings. A rope is put through the nose which hangs from the horns. When the ox is not working the rope does not lend pressure to the nose. Whereas an iron ring hanging from the sensitive nose is always an inconvenience, often getting in the way of drinking and feeding. Since the nose is the most sensitive part of the ox s body, the constant weight of the iron ring is uncomfortable if not in some cases painful. Dehorning is like removing some one s fingernails below the cuticle. In India it is rare to see oxen without horns.
An ox need not have a nose ring to be controlled if he has been trained nicely from the start. He can be controlled by voice commands and the loving and firm relationship with his teamster. If we want to present the concept of cow protection to the western mind and show the ox as a valuable, intelligent being in our society we have to allow for the potent relationship between the teamster and the ox to shine through as the controlling force.
Actually, there have been several interesting articles in the Small Farmer s Journal about teamsters in the New England states of the U.S.A. who put great emphases on their personal relationship with their oxen as the controlling force and the ingredient for a good working team. In the Spring issue Vol 10, No 2, about Brooks Sproul, now 79, who farmed with oxen until 1959. there is an interesting story about an uncontrollable team of his named Swan and Dine. The article states how some ox men would have taken the team s independence personally and warred against the team s free spirits. But Brooks did not want to do anything to break their spirit. "Today, rambunctious cattle are sometimes slowed down by means of nose rings and driven with reins, but this was not formerly done. As it was, Brooks was satisfied to "load ‘em heavy and work ‘em hard!"
In this context we can understand the low esteem that nose rings have for controlling an unyielding team what to speak of the average ox.In the Fall issue Vol 11 No 4. an article about Clyde Robinson~ who is presently making a living in Maine logging with oxen, presents a great deal about Clyde's relationship with his oxen in correlation to his success with his work. "There are good reasons why Clyde has good cattle. To begin with, he has seen a great many calves grow into oxen, and has a gOod eye for seeing the ox in the calf. He takes the time to train his calves well with the right mix of discipline and encouragement. And, of course, he is able to spend a great deal of time working with them."
Never have either Brooks Sproul or Clyde Robinson put nose rings in any of their oxen. Also, all pictures and articles of many other ox teams in the New England states show no nose rings or dehorning. Brooks explains some practical benefits on not using nose rings or dehorning. "Polled (dehorned) cattle can pull with a straight yoke, but, without horns, cannot hold the yoke (and the load) back, as is required with stopping, going down hill, or backing. Polled cattle, therefore, must be fitted with a simple britchin harness, secured to the backside of the yoke." As Balabhadra das of ISCOWP says, "It s like riding a bicycle without the handlebars.
Brooks explains further. "To the ox man, the simplicity of the yoke, and of using yoked cattle, is important. Yoking up is but a matter of a moment or two. When working in the woods, the ox man has no reins to bother him, and is not endangered by walking alongside a dragged log. Cattle quickly learn to take logs right out to the yard by themselves, permitting the ox man to come along behind, at his own pace. " (Reins are used with nose rings and the concept is that the oxen are driven from behind). Even the ISKCON ox power acarya, Paraniananda das who is responsible for beginning ox power in the western ISKCON centers, only used nose rings on bulls or ornery oxen. When he was at Gita Nagari farm, out of a herd of 150 with 75 oxen, only two oxen had nose rings out of the twenty or so that were trained and only about 2 or 3 were dehorned. In his Ox Power Ki Jaya, Paramananda das also emphasizes the relationship between the teamster and the ox as the controlling force. "If he (the ox) has confidence in his master, and understands what he wants of him, he will be ready and willing to obey every command that is given him.... Establish a good relationship from the very beginning." True, there are certain instances when nose rings are necessary, but they are minimal. Sometimes there may be a particularly ornery ox who will not listen and the nose ring is the only alternative. A bull, who is usually uncontrollable due to his passionate sex desire, is usually controlled by a nose ring. The nose is the most tender part of the bull and he can be controlled by pulling him by this ring. Also with dehorning there are instances when this is necessary. When dealing with a herd of cows it becomes necessary since they are known to do harm to each other with their horns. If you have only one or two and you have a very nice relationship with. them you probably need not dehorn. And again if an ox is particularly ornery dehorning may be necessary. A bull is rarely dehorned because he is already controlled by his nose ring.
How is it then explained the practices of nose rings and dehorning of oxen on ISKCON farms? Although there are different breeds of cows at different farms no one breed is known to be untrainable. On one ISKCON farm the animals have nose rings and are dehorned from the youngest to the oldest and the oxen are not working. One devotee from there told us of one dying ox who was down and his nose ring was an obvious source of pain to him but it was not removed although the ox was of no threat. In such instances can it be said that Krsna s desire that the ox be comfortable as the first priority of cow protection is being practiced?
gain is Krsna s pleasure because His first priority is the comfort of the cows. The idea is to show a loving and productive relationship between the ox and teamster and to create the environment in which this relationship can flourish. The least amount of pain and the maximum amount of comfort that can be given the ox within practical bounds should present cow protection in a positive manner. When there are non-devotees working with their animals in a more humane way than the devotees how can we confidently be offering our ox power and/or our lifestyle as the best alternative? This understanding of ox power fulfills Krsna s desire that the ox is comfortable, happy and the true father of society because he is happily engaged in producing food grains for society at large.Once again the answer to preventing such situations is education: education of the oxen, the teamsters, our ISKCON society. Like any other field of agricultural activity there is a science, a way to do things that ensures a high ratio of success. Within that science there may be variations of methods, but at no time should the comfort of the ox be the last consideration. If it takes a little more time, a little more effort, a little more love for the ox to be trained in a way that he is obedient to the teamster with as little physical discomfort as possible, what is the loss? And then the gain is Krsna s pleasure because His first priority is the comfort of the cows. The idea is to show a loving and productive relationship between the cx and teamster and to create the environment in which this relationship can flourish. The least amount of pain and the maximum amount of comfort that can be given the ox within practical bounds should present cow protection in a positive manner. When there are non-devotees working with their animals in a more humane way than the devotees how can we confidently be offering our ox power and/or our lifestyle as the best alternative? This understanding of ox power fulfills Krsna s desire that the ox is comfortable, happy and the true father of society because he is happily engaged in producing food grains for society at large.
Ox Power Brush-Up
Hare Krsna dasi
When I was in North Carolina s Prabhupada Village last spring, Mahasringa dasa took a group of us out to his pasture to show us his young team. The oxen (working steers, technically, since they were less than two years old) were Bhima and Manu, two healthy-looking young Holsteins. Mahasringa was discussing plans for a new garden when suddenly Bhima came up from behind and gave him a playful butt. Instantly Mahasringa turn and dropped down on his knees, grabbing Bhima s halter, glaring at him and growling at him in a firm voice, "B-aa-addd Bhima. No butting! You re a bad boy!" Bhima dropped his head and looked uncomfortable, waiting for the chastisement to end. It was not a pleasant moment for him.
The whole event reminded me how important it is for us to properly train our oxen. An uniformed person might think that Bhima was scolded too severely: How could a young calf like that with inch-long horns possibly hurt anyone? Why make such a big deal about it? But what if he does the same thing in a year, when he weighs 1000 pounds more, and his horns are ~ inches long?
I thought of Paramananda s instructions from the opening chapter of Ox Power — Ki Jaya!: "Establish a Good Relations hip from the Very Beginning."
There is an old saying, "The horse is as good as the driver." So, the first thing to consider is: the effectiveness and utility of the oxen are limited by the ability of the driver. Working the oxen can be very productive and rewarding if it is done properly, but if the animals are abused physically or verbally, or on the other extreme, not controlled with a strong enough hand, then they will rebel in one way or another, and not perform up to your expectations. Unless the oxen are well trained and well driven, they aren't t very useful. They have to be trained to be cooperative enough to work very hard, because that is the nature of farm work.
...There has to be a very strong relationship between the driver and oxen. The relationship is that of master and servant. The master is firm but kind. He never abuses his servant, but he is very demanding and he expects him to perform nicely. So the reason behind Mahasringa s stem scolding was that an ox will become useless if not controlled with a strong hand, right from the beginning. Now Bhima is small and fairly harmless, his horns are less than 2 inches long. But if he tries the same mischief when he s full grown, it will be dangerous.And as devotees, our animals must be well trained — not only so they can be engaged in productive work, but also for preaching purposes. This is the added dimension of the devotee ox team. Not only is the ox a farmer, but our oxen, representatives of Dharma the Bull, are also preachers. When a devotee community has workIng oxen, it s usually a special attraction for neighbors and visitors.
Often, our oxen visit cities and pull carts in parades, or on Pada Yatra. Because people are enchanted by the oxen and want to come up and pet them, they have the chance to get some prasadam and hear Krishna consciousness philosophy. So it s extra important that we take care in properly training them, both for safety and for good ox training in mind, there are a couple more things I wanted to mention
"Whoa is Once"
That's how Balabhadra puts it:
"Whoa is once." That means, when you want your animal to stop, never say "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" — just once: "WHOA!" If you want, you can stretch it out a little and make that word "whoa" as forceful as cracking a whip:
"Who-O-ah!" But it should only be
once, not that the ox gets in the bad habit of hearing you repeat "Whoa, whoa, whoa..."As Paramananda states, "We can t overemphasize the importance of this command. Your life may depend on a hearty ‘Whoa! being well understood by your ox. You may find yourself in situations where your animals must quickly respond to ‘Whoa! or yourself and others may be put into serious danger."
So "Whoa!" means stop instantly:
"Stop abruptly and not take another step." If necessary, especially in training, you can use the lash to reinforce the command: "You can either hit him on the nose with it or on the top of his head. Just as hitting him on the rump propels him forward, if you hit him on the front of his head, the message is ‘Stop!Stop and stay stopped. "‘Whoa! means to stop and not to move without further notice. This is absolutely essential. ‘Whoa! does not mean to just stop for once second or a few seconds and then start walking again. This is the most annoying and dangerous habit, and from the very beginning it should not be allowed... Wherever you tell him to stop, make him stay in that spot and not move. Test him by walking around him. He should completely understand that wherever you tell him to stop, that is where he must stay. He must stand still and not move. If you are careful in teaching this command and practice firmness, in two or three lessons you will have an ox who will stop at the word "Whoa!" and will stand still in any circumstance and in any excitement."
There are some things "Whoa!" does not mean. It is not a substitute for a term like "Easy!" It does not mean "slow down" and it does not mean "calm down." Paramananda observes: "‘Whoa! is one of the most abused of all the commands in the sense that people say it at inappropriate times. Whenever they want the ox to do some thing different that what he is doing, they say ‘Whoa! When they want to calm down a nervous ox who is already standing still, they say ‘Whoa! If you do that, the ox cannot understand the true meaning of the word ‘Whoa! When you want an animal to slow down, there are other commands for that. If you give a command lightly when you don t really intend to make the ox obey it, then he won t have the proper understanding or respect, and you may endanger yourself and others."
Don t Get Tied Down
There are two basic ways to train oxen using voice command. In Ox Power — Ki Jaya! Paramananda explains how to train an ox in a 24 foot wide fenced in area called a "training ring." Other trainers, such as Drew Conroy (who trains at Tillers) and Balabhadra Prabhu (from ISCOWP) usually train using a lead rope. In a few instances, if the nigh (near) ox is extremely skittish, it may be necessary to continue using it for several years. But, in general, you want to get rid of it as soon as the oxen are fairly well trained.Since most of my work has been with cows and not oxen, I have been accustomed to driving animals with a stick and never using a rope. A friend had a young team he had just trained and offered to let me drive them. I agreed. He had a rope on them, which he handed me. I said, "Do we need this rope?" He said, "Well, they've never worked without it." I said, "Let s try it without the rope just once."
I wrapped the lead rope around the top of the yoke to get it out of the way, and proceeded to give the oxen commands using only the lash. They were able to work just fine. There was no problem controlling them without the rope. It turned out that this devotee had learned how to work the oxen from an expert trainer who continued to use a lead rope on his own team. Therefore, the devotee, not realizing that the other team was a particularly skittish team; had imitated his trainer and continued to use the lead rope, not realizing it was no longer necessary.
In his book, Paramananda comments, "I recommend the use of a training ring or some other confined area. ..If the ox is not in a confined area, then you have to have a rope on him all the time, which is very restricting. In his working condition he won t have a rope on, so to tram him like that; always having to hold him by a rope is conditioning him to a bad habit."
In general, most animals can stop using a lead rope very early. When I saw the 4-H kids showing their ox teams at the Topsham fair, each one had only a stick, and no lead rope whatsoever. Some of these boys and girls were only 8 or 10 years old. Yet they still managed to maneuver their teams pretty much where they wanted them to go. So, in most cases, a lead rope should not be necessary, once the team has been trained.
In fact, it is just this fact that gives oxen the edge over horses when working in the woods. Horses can only be controlled by holding the reins, and there is a chance of getting the teamster, reins, and horses tangled up in branches and bushes. Oxen, on the other hand, when fully trained need only voice commands. When Sita and Rasala were cutting trees at Gita-nagari, they would hitch the fallen trees to the oxen, and then the oxen would charge through the woods back to the unloading site.
It was practically impossible to keep up with the oxen, and it wasn't necessary since they could be "steered" by voice command without using reins or ropes. One Maine woodsman had trained his oxen so perfectly that he would cut up firewood out in the woods, load it on a sledge and send the oxen
— by themselves — a 1/4 mile down the road to his house, while he finished up his business in the woods.The other problem with using a lead rope is that it gives the teamster less maneuverability. He has to stay right up close to the animals. When we re talking about using the oxen in a preaching situation, we may want to give guests a chance to have some hands-on experience with the oxen. Their chance of injury is certainly increased by having to remain so close to the oxen. In many cases having guests work with the oxen can t even be considered if we are using a lead rope.
So don t get tied down. Either train the animals in a ring, or train them using a lead rope. But once they are well trained, don t keep using a lead rope when you don t have to.
Drive from the Shoulder
Another mistake sometimes seen is that a teamster will try to lead his team rather than drive them from the shoulder. This is particularly evident on the "Gee" or right turns. The inexpert teamster stands slightly in front of his team to their left, and when he wants them to turn right, he says "Gee" and cuts in front of them. They turn right, but is it because they understand the word "Gee" means right — or are they simply following him?Again, this method of working with the oxen causes problems with maneuverability and safety. Ideally, the teamster should be able to drop back and shouldn t be tied down at the front of the oxen. The safety problem is obvious. If he somehow would trip over something, especially in the woods, the oxen would walk right over him before he could stop them. Why take the unnecessary risk? Oxen should be well-trained so they can be drIven from the shoulder, allowing the teamster to advance a little or drop back a little as he wishes. To have to lead from the front is both inconvenient and dangerous.
Standard International Voice Commands
This is not an established rule, but it seems like it would be a practical idea in ISKCON if we used standard international voice commands for all countries. Go is "Get-up!" Stop is "Whoa!" Right is "Gee!" Left is "Haw!" And, back-up is "Back!" Since ISKCON is an International society, the instance of devotee farmers from different countries visiting each other is more frequent than for ordinary farmers. Therefore, it is both useful and congenial if all devotees around the world train their oxen using the same voice commands. I may be a devotee from France, but when an Australian Godbrother comes to our community for a visit, he can have the pleasure of participating in the farm work because he already knows all the commands we use.
As a cow bound through the nose by a long rope, is conditioned. (SB 1.: 13:42).... By subduing seven bulls whose noses where not pierced... (SB 3:3:4) As a bull is directed by the rope attached to its nose... (SB 3:15:8) Like bulls obliged to move according to the direction of a driver pulling on ropes knotted to their noses.... Harnessing the Bull by the Nose (Part 1)
by Syamasundara dasa (Bhaktivedanta Manor)
This article promoting the use of a rope in the nose was written to be juxtaposed besides another article advocating voice commands. Due to the bias of one of The HKRL newsletter's editors, this first part was provided to the party promoting the use of voice command. Part 2 of this article was the response to the voice command rebuttal of his article)
(SB 5:1:4.)There are also other quotes in the same theme. It seems from these quotes that the natural arrangement of Krishna is for bulls to be harnessed by their nose. Basically working a bull whilst driving it by its nose is an aspect of the God-given symbiotic relationship between man and cows.
In modem day India one can observe that cows are harnessed through the nose by a rope, whilst in the western countries a metal nose-ring is used. From my experience with oxen at Bhaktivedanta Manor, the trained oxen do not find the nose ring particularly inconvenient. In regards to
training bulls, having them harnessed to their noses makes it very easy. Simply speaking, to train bulls one can put a yolk on the untrained bulls, harness their noses by ropes connected to (heir nose rings and them drive them from the back. To go right, you stop the right hand bull by pulling on its nose ring, and at the same time you tap the left band bull. At the same time you call "Gee." To go left you stop the left bull by pulling on its rope and at the same time you tap the right bull. Call "Haw." To stop them you pail both ropes and call "Whoa." To start you tap both bulls and call "Get Up."This system sounds too easy. It is, and it works. Basically you train them while you work them. You can work bulls trained like this in a very short period of time. I feel very excited about having bulls trained to work without any ropes at all, but I do not feel any less for working bulls with harnessed noses. It is after all a natural system.
No question of independence, horse or bull is bound by the nose and the driver; as he push and pull on rope it has to go according to that. (SP lect. Toronto (SB 7.6.3) PART 2
Just as the driver of a bullock cart ties ropes through the nostrils of his bulls to control them... (SB 6.3. 13)
There is a "God given symbiotic relationship between cows and man." What is natural is that which coincides with this interdependent relationship. In other words we don t accept some evolutionary arrangement of man learning to domesticate bulls and working them. We believe that Krishna has made a perfect working relationship between man and bulls. That relationship is natural and beneficial to both parties.
From the above quotes (they are different from the quotes mentioned in ~‘Harnessing the Bull by the Nose," HKRL Fall, 1994) it is clear that the control of bulls by the nose is natural. There is nothing wrong with it. To direct a bull to go where the driver wants means prompting it through the medium of its nose. The system we see in India and other third world countries is to pierce the nose and tie a permanent rope loop through the nose and around the horns. Driving ropes are secured to this nose rope. By pulling on this rope the bull has to stop or slow. The bull does feel this pulling on its nose that is why it responds. In this way a 50 kg. man can move a 800 - 1500 kg bull, or a combined weight of perhaps 3000 kg. two bulls are yoked together. The bull has no choice. It has to submit to the prompting of the man. This is a natural system. The above quotes substantiate this point.
The discomfort experienced by the bull is a part of Krishna s arrangement of giving man control over them (the bulls). The system of controlling bulls by their nose in no way gives allowance of cruelty and brutality. A brutal person will exploit his animals no matter what system used.
Another interesting point to consider is that even though the bull is harnessed by the nose, a time will come by regular use, that pulling on the nose ropes will not be necessary. By regularly using your oxen they will become so accustomed to working and hearing commands alongside nasal prompting but where so well used that voice commands were sufficient. In Vrndavana, I witnessed generally that oxen were all harnessed by their noses and driven that way.
It is not that because one chooses to train oxen by nasal control that they will always be dependent on nasal control. Again, by regular if not daily use, oxen will respond to the voice alone, if that is what you want.
From our understanding of Prabhupada s instructions, we feel that the discomfort experienced by the bull by use of nasal control is conducive for the training and usage of working oxen, is natural according to Krishna s system and thus is productive to the promotion of cow protection and ox power throughout the world.Because of the fine control one gets by nasal harnessing, driving them becomes accessible to everybody regardless of size, sex or age. This makes ox driving easy to take up. The simplicity of the system means anybody can take it up, train the oxen and work them.
A friend of mine wanted something to do for the bulls, so I asked him to train the bull calves. He was a bit bemused because he had no experience with oxen what to speak of training them. The two bull calves had been castrated at one year of age and at the same time had nose rings put in. We put the oxen in a small training yoke. Their nose ring, looped around the back of the head and then secured to the center of the back of the head. A small two wheel cart (more or less a seat on two wheels) was fixed to the yoke. My friend sat on the cart and from the start he was driving the bulls all over the field. To move left he called Haw, he stopped the left bull by pulling back on the rope attached to the left bull s nose and, at the same time, gently tapped the right bull to keep it moving around the left bull. To turn right he called Gee, pulled the right bull and tapped the left bull. To stop he called Whoa and pulled back on both bulls. To start he called Get Up and tapped both bulls.
As you can see this system is so simple that anybody, even without experience can do it. Obviously to have the bulls working well you must work them regularly. Gentleness and firmness should be the attitude of the driver.
The bulls of Bhaktivedanta Manor are all harnessed by the same method. They system is so amazing that the bulls are used extensively for padayatras, festivals and carnivals. All these involve the bulls pulling a cart through very busy roads, where lorries, buses, cars, etc. are rushing past. The nasal harness gives pinpoint control of the bulls.
Personally, I would encourage everybody to take up any system of training bulls, but I must say, from my experience and by confirmation of scripture, the system of nasal control seems the most practical and easy to implement.
In the UK, we have very few people who have oxen what to speak of working them. We do not therefore have any worries of the views of American Teamsters.
The final point I would like to say is that I must concede that metal nose rings are not mentioned in Srila Prabhupada s books, neither have I seen them in traditional India. However, I must say that I feel the difference between nose ropes over nose rings has been slightly misrepresented due to a personal bias of the author (I am referring to the "Voice Control of Oxen" article in the Fall issue of HKRL). My experience is that the nose ring is no more inconvenience to the bull than the earring worn by a woman (or a man). To attempt to distract the reader (potential ox driver), from the whole system of nasal control on the basis of a disagreement on whether or not rings should be used over ropes has disturbed the evidence presented of the natural system of bull control by nasal harnessing.
I felt excited to present seemingly practical information from the Srimad Bhagavatam on bull training and working oxen. I do enjoy the thoughts of people who drive the bulls only by voice commands. It sounds very exciting. Nasal harnessing makes ox-power very accessible to more potential teamsters.
Our article, "Ox Training With Love and Trust," pointed out that in India ropes are used and that this is far different than piercing the nose and inserting an iron ring. Common sense can explain the difference. Imagine yourself the bull or ox. You have been harnessed with a loose fitting rope that hangs from your horns. You feel it only when the teamster wants to make a turn, stop or proceed. Voice Control of Oxen
by Balbadra dasa and Chaya devi dasiOn the other hand imagine that you are an ox who has an iron ring about 4-6 inches in diameter [10-16 cm. and weigh-big several ounces. This ring continuously bangs from skin separating your two nostrils. If you were the ox which would you prefer?
No argument was made with the Indian style rope, the objection was to the nose rings. Where did the use of iron nose rings come from?
Unlike the rope cited in the quotations above, the iron nose ring has no history of usage in India. It is a western means of subduing a bull or an ox. The question we have is, if one is already not using the traditional Vedic method, why not use voice commands to control the animals?
The assertion is made that "trained oxen do not find the nose ring particularly inconvenient." From this statement, it appears there is still some inconvenience. Why should there be any? Is our goal to protect the cow from discomfort or inflict pain by piercing the nose with a thick iron ring?
Let's look further at Srila Prabhupada’s instructions: His (Krishna's) first business is to give all comfort to the cows and the brahmanas. In fact, comfort for the brahmanas is secondary, and comfort for the cows is his first concern. ( Srimad Bhagavatam 10.8.16 purport )Finally it is noted that harnessing the oxen by using nose rings makes it very easy to train them and work them. Any-
thing that makes it easy to work the oxen is a good thing — all else being equal. But is making things easy for the teamster our primary goal? What is our priority?Again, we feel that "all else" is not" equal." The "all else" includes increased pain to the ox as the iron ring pulls on his nose. It is a combination of fear and pain which keeps the ox in compliance.
We have observed that sometimes even when an ox is doing everything as he should be, he can still be pained by the teamster pulling him by the nose ring. Sometimes an ox s experience is so bad he will shy away if the teamster even approaches to put a yoke on him. The ox associates work with pain. Therefore he does not want to get yoked up.
From our understanding of Prabhupada s instructions, we feel this pain is counterproductive to the promotion of cow protection and ox power to people around the world. We want to show that Krishna consciousness means a relationship of love and trust — not just among devotees — but between the devotees and the animals we are suppose to be protecting.
Put a nose ring through anyone s nose, tie a rope through it and pull, and you could lead just about anybody around. Above it is suggested in addition to the use of the nose ring to use voice commands. Why not rely only on voice commands? Why add discomfort?
The voice command method means that even children and women can work with the oxen. It takes away the need to be tough and rough or strong. It increases the need to be patient in training and to want to experience a loving trusting relationship with your team.
And this is not just not our opinion. It is the opinion of. many experienced teamsters who use this method. In our article we quoted several such teamsters who had been interviewed in Small Farmer s Journal.
For preaching purposes nothing beats it. In our travels we have seen that the non-devotees visiting our booth at various festivals notice the loving relationship we have with the oxen. Such a relationship convinces such persons that we are serious when we u~ the term "cow protection." The person then begins to get involved with LSCOWP, and from there becomes interested in Krishna consciousness.
We have had this happen time and time again while traveling through America. In this day and age the animal rights movement is very strong, and there are many individuals who are quite sensitive to any perception of pain the animal is experiencing. In such a sensitive and potentially critical environment, we have found the voice command method of training oxen to be an essential preaching plus.
Where a harsh technique might create enemies for us, the voice command method actually wins supporters. These people are likely candidates for becoming devotees since most of the time they are already vegetarians; they are free of a meat based diet which Srila Prabhupada tells us prohibits one from understanding transcendental knowledge.
Another plus is that this method broadens the scope of who can work oxen, including women and children. This means more family teamsters. This translates into more working teams of oxen, and that means more bull calves are protected from the slaughterhouse.
Another important benefit of voice commands is there no reins to entangle ox and teamster while logging in the woods, where the potential for serious accidents should always be reduced.
Having said all this, this is not to depreciate the efforts of devotees who are working with animals who have already been trained in another method. We understand that it could be difficult to change when an animal is already trained in another technique. Our plea is that we all learn the voice command methods and start using them to train new teams.
As we mentioned in our article that sometimes there is an ornery ox who can not be controlled by voice commands. A nose ring in this case might be the only means for control, better for a healthy ox to be productively engaged with a nose ring than standing idly in the pasture. It is interesting to note that at Gita Nagari during the most agriculturally productive time when Paramananda dasa was in charge, out
of 75 oxen only 2 or three had nose rings-one had a nose ring before he came under the protection of the devotees.But amongst the teamsters quoted in the Small Fanner s Journal even this usage of the nose ring was frowned upon. "Today, rambunctious cattle are sometimes slowed down by means of nose rings and driven with reins, but this was not formerly done. As it was, Brooks was satisfied to "load ‘em heavy and work ‘em hard!"
In conclusion we maintain that if quick results are the goal, then the use of voice commands will be dismissed as too troublesome. However if our goal is to use the principles of cow protection to spread Krishna consciousness and to spread the use of ox power by increasing the numbers of teamsters to help us meet that goal — then the voice command technique deserves our serious consideration.
Tillers International, is probably the only school of its kind in the world. It shouldn't be, but it probably is. Located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Tillers offers a year-round, fully developed curriculum on working with the oxen, building basic equipment, field crops and forage crops, and appropriate technology. A Visit to Tillers
by Hare Krsna dasiLast summer while at a family reunion in Ohio, I persuaded my brother Jim, a former Peace Corps worker in Liberia, to take me to Michigan for a visit. The next day, he and his wife and my 9-year old son and I took off on a four-hour drive to Tillers. (Tillers is about 2 hours west of the beautiful Detroit Temple.) Eventually, we arrived at a small, unimpressive-looking farm which was actually within the city limits of Kalamazoo. We were immediately given a friendly greeting by Jack Shoemaker, one of Tillers' directors, an ox trainer and retired toolmaker. He introduced us to a couple of the oxen in the pasture while we watched other instructors and students mow hay with three or four separate teams.
Once the hay-cutting demonstration was over, we got to meet the other members of the staff, including the head of Tillers, Richard Roosenberg, his assistant Peter Rice, and two young interns, a man and a woman, who were sharpening their skills with the animals before returning to Peace Corps assignments in their respective countries. We met several students from Latin America and Africa who wanted to take skills and new, simple technology back to their countries. And, we were fortunate to meet Drew Conroy, the author of The Oxen Handbook who was there as
a guest instructor for this particular four-day session, called “Oxen Basics.”We were just in time to see a very thorough demonstration of how to shoe oxen. The night before, in a blacksmithing session, Drew had demonstrated how to make the shoes. In normal field work, oxen don't need shoes, but when they are doing a lot of work on hard surfaces like roads, their hooves wear down too quickly, so they should be protected by shoes. Oxen working on snow and ice use a calk shoe, and oxen on parade use a flat shoe. I thought of how difficult it can be for our pada-yatra devotees around the world to get shoes for oxen and I wished they could be watching this presentation instead of me.
Drew gave a lot of information as he gave his demonstration. He stressed the importance of good feet and legs in oxen, saying that bad feet and legs are the biggest cause of death. Drew stated that Brown Swiss are the best dairy breed for hooves: (1) they have good feet and legs, (2) they have hard black hooves (black hooves are harder than white), (3) they have a good hoof angle, meaning they stand on their toes rather than on the back of their hooves.
He said that Holstein oxen usually die by ten years of age. I thought of Burfi and Lee, Gita-nagari's Brown Swiss oxen, still working at age 15. We also heard “Drew's theory of cattle lameness”: Dry is good, wet is bad. A muddy pasture causes hoof infections and cracks which can prove fatal if not properly attended to, because a downed, lame animal can't eat and digest properly. In the hoof trimming demonstration which
followed, Drew recommended the following treatment for cracked hooves, “Soak the infected food in Epsom salts (in a bucket) to draw out the puss and corruption. Then trim off the flap and treat with copper lox or foot rot treatment to kill bacteria.”Unlike a horse shoe, which is shaped like an upside down ‘u”, an ox shoe is shaped more like a “j”. Because his hoof is cloven, the ox need two shoes on each foot, so the blacksmith must make 8 shoes for the ox. Oxen should be shoed about every two months. The shoes are not all identical, since the hind foot is more pointed than the front foot. Drew admitted that in a pinch, shoes can be cut from sheet metal, using a blow torch.
Each shoe is held in place using 7 small nails (#3 1/2 with a city head). The first nail is put in the middle. Evidently, horse shoes are nailed to toward the center of the hoof, but ox shoe nails must be angled out, sticking right out the side of the hoof. Then they are clinched, bending down to the bottom of the hoof (or up to the bottom, since you are holding the ox's foot up to shoe him). The excess is trimmed off. Drew's preferred tool for the job are Diamond or G.E. flippers available from Centaur Forge, Ltd., 117 Spring Street, Burlington WI, 53105-0340, U.S.A. This
company also carries other useful tools.Of course, aside from pada-yatra and extensive work on ice, most oxen don't need shoes. What is important for both oxen and cows is that their hooves don't grow too long. Drew also gave a demonstration on hoof trimming, emphasizing the importance of nipping mostly the toe, not the heel, as the heel is thinner. (He has a shoeing and hoof-care video available from Doug Butler, Grey Rock Road, LaPorte, Colorado 80535.)
Drew Conroy has an interesting background. Raised in New England, he became interested in working the oxen as a young boy. Now he teaches dairy science at the University of New Hampshire, where the rest of the faculty chuckles at his “impractical” interest. He trains the oxen, and sells them for $3000 a team to hobbyists and small-scale timber workers in New England.Following the shoeing demonstration, we took a look around the farm. The barn was small compared to Gita-nagari, but they only had about 12-16 animals, all oxen. The animals looked in good shape. There were several breeds, but Dick Roosenberg, the director, said that they get most of their animals as a donation from a small Ayrshire dairy a few miles away. All I could think was, ajnata sukriti! The dairy and the school were accumulating pious credits by training calves which would normally have been slaughtered at six weeks of age. It is training which
keeps oxen alive, not sentiment.After lunch, we had a great treat. We were taken on a tour of Carroll Abbey's collection of antique farm implements housed in a separate new barn at the edge of the property. There were several hundred carefully catalogued pieces — everything from pitch forks to early combine harvesters. I was particularly interested to see grain cradles, scythes with baskets attached for harvesting.
There were two ox powered treadmills that could be attached to a thresher which turns at 1080 rpm. There was a large grain hinder, used to harvest grain before the advent of the tractor. There was an ox-powered stump puller. Tillers also has an ox-powered sorghum crusher which they designed themselves. There were many interesting machines which mechanically minded devotees could adapt for our own farms.
Following our tour of the antique farm implement collection, we returned for the afternoon session which was the end of a series on how to build a yoke. The students had already carved their yokes and today they would bend the bows to be fitted onto the yokes. The bows had been steaming in a steam box for several hours and were now ready to bend. I was surprised to see that their setup was more elaborate than the simple form shown in Paramananda's ox-power book. They placed a strip of metal around the outside of the bow. Each end of the metal was attached by chain to a crank mechanism. They wound the crank and the bow was bent into shape around the form and then lifted off. It worked pretty well, only one bow snapped.
I noticed that all of the yokes were fairly small, and I asked why. Dick Roosenberg explained that all the students were planning to train their own animals so they wanted a small yoke so they could get bull calves and begin training them right away.
I was impressed that Tillers was so well organized and had such competent and cordial personnel. The only thing missing, of course, was Krsna consciousness. Even that may come sometime. Tillers has been in contact with various devotees for a number of years, and I notice in their newsletters, they still refer readers to Paramananda's ox power instructions. But the main thing that struck me about Tillers was its ability to reach out to a wide range of people. Besides students that enroll for various courses throughout the year, they have a newsletter with a mailing list of
2000 people around the world.Most of all I thought that devotees in the Hare Krsna movement could come and learn from Tillers and then go out and set up ox power schools all around the world. Only we would serve prasadam for lunch and part of the training would be explaining how working the oxen is part of spiritual life. I think this would give a tremendous boost to the preaching of the Krsna consciousness movement. Following is a short statement from Tillers and their address for those who want to find out more about their program:
“At Tillers, we believe that development of small-scale fanning is essential to a more ecologically and socially responsible agriculture. We also believe that there are valuable technical skills and rural policy principles to be found in the early history of American agriculture.
“We appropriate the best from historical practices for adaptation to the circumstances of today. Our work emphasizes the creative modification of animal-drawn implements with available modern improvements, and the careful integration of adaptations into existing farming systems. Given the low-capital nature of these small-scale technologies, we think they hold major promise for international rural development. International applications of appropriate technologies is a central focus of our work.”Richard Roosenberg
Director
Tillers International
5239 South 24th St.
Kalamazoo, MI U.S.A.
49002-2019
Cow Culture: Cowman Discovers Nature's Treatment for Pasture
(This article is reprinted from the August, 2002 edition of ACRES U.S.A.)
Cowography would be a term in need of invention if not for the Elko, Nevada, Cowboy Poetry Gathering each year. In a real sense, cowgraphers have been around a long time.This article caught my attention because it highlights one of the beneficial effects that the cow provides to society. It is also of interest because it is a benefit which I have never heard described before and is noteworthy for devotees and herdsmen alike. If this topic of this article appeals to you, then please refer to the
article "Feed Information for Dairy Cattle" situated on the "Pasture Management" page which ties into the theme of a grass-based diet for ruminants." Vd.
They see what they look at. Wesley Ervasti is a legendary cowman, age 76, associated with the Bow Tie Ranch near Sebeka, Minnesota.
Over his many years in farming, Ervasti noted those bare spots on a cow's nostrils. A healthy animal always has there what appear to be beads of sweat. Except for Wesley Ervasti, no one has been curious enough to ask the question, " What is that exudate?" Professors and experts had no answer.
Ervasti figured it was the most wonderful culture ever devised by nature. When a cow mows off grass or eats hay from a bail [sic], she cannot avoid leaving some of the culture behind. This culture helps the animal with digestion.
Noted Ervasti, "Mother Nature made a deal with the cow. She said, I'll provide you plenty of grass, but you have to give something back. Every bite you take, you will leave this culture in the forage and in the soil."
Nature did not intend that there should be a piece of soil tended only by old iron, the plow or culitvator. Such instruments do not bestow the culture a cow provides via her bartered exchange for grass.
Ervasti used the above information on his ranch. The very same culture, he found, was evident in buttermilk. The same culture helps a cow with her own digestion, and it helps the soil keep its life-factor.
A farmer's pragmatic observations do not achieve "scientific" status when scientists ignore nature's hints. There are no present answers as to what this bovine culture does for the soil. Ervasti has his suggestions, just the same.
He bought the original 160 acres from his folks at age 17. As neighboring farms came up for sale, they were rundown in fertility, and the sale price was almost always cheap. Ervasti made his acquisitions, fenced off the plots into 40 acres each, and returned row-crop acres to pasture. After grazing the weeds and forage for a couple of years, and after manuring the ground, the rejuvenated soil was returned to rotation.
"The cows put on their culture for me," the cowman said, "and they seeded the soil with their manure."
Grass is more than the "forgiveness of nature," as Kansas Senator John J. Ingalls put it. It is nature refined mechanism for delivering micronutrients to the animal in a size suitable for rapid assimilation.
Grass accepts nutrients in a size best described as "beyond the ion," meaning that its minuscule entry through root hairs and leaf stomata fence out particles considered small in the mineral box.
One trace mineral should illustrate the point. Few soils have even a trace of cobalt. The grass called corn in its hybrid form does not pick up cobalt, or other trace minerals.
Shortly after hybrids invaded the scene, the old Armour's Institute of Research, Chicago, using 4,000 samples, compared Krug OP corn to the new-fangled hybrids and found the hybrids short of nine minerals. The hybrid failed to pick up cobalt and other basic traces. Both varieties had the same chance to pick up a balanced ration.
This routine failure to pick up cobalt was noted in every case. The core of Vitamin B12 is cobalt. Ira Allison, M.D., Springfield, Missouri, found that a lack of cobalt was implicated as a cause of brucellosis (Bang's disease) and its human variant, undulant fever. Cobalt, in fact, turned out to be part of the cure.
Good soil, soil "cultured" by cows, delivers not only cobalt, but all the key traces, for which reason Ervasti hasn't had a disease problem year after year. Grass is the nutrition and grass is the cure.
At age 76, Ervasti has farmed for over 60 years. His rotation was corn, a nurse crop of oats, alfalfa and grass, with hay cleaning the land for two years. Cattle would graze the next two years for maximum culture distribution. Corn would follow.
Yields were always fantastic. Although Ervasti has shared his finding with cattlemen, farmers and professors, few have embraced nature's mystery with the humble interest of this one farmer.
He made his suggestion to Dr. Jim Brinks of Colorado State University, an animal science specialist. Brinks agreed that there had to be a reason for that culture on a cow's nose. He turned the ideas over to a botany specialist, who harvested this culture, diluted it with water, and sprayed it on potted plants. The usual treated and untreated plants anointed the greenhouse. There was a 50 percent increase in those treated with the cow culture.
Ervasti has 23 miles of fences for his rotation of crops and animals. Rotation is every six years, with two out of six years dedicated to the cow culture treatment.
The idea of farming without livestock is seen by Ervasti as nonsense. "It runs against nature," he said.
After he recited the above report to Acres U.S.A., the 76-year-old self-educated scholar-farmer admitted the last time he watched TV was when Kennedy was assassinated. Successful farming, he opined, depends on seeing what you look at, and reading -- lots of good reading.
On balance, observation trumps the dilettante.
"Have you ever noticed how the cow goes to the woods -- if available -- to drop her calf? She paws back leaves and needles to expose forest soil. That's where she wants to calve. The calf eats soil if it has organic matter. This is to get minerals and nutrients. I bring buckets of soil to my cows. They eat it, exchanging their nose culture."
As the Bow Tie rancher related his story, Acres U.S.A., recalled anew the fact that sick cows do not have that telling culture for nature's exchange.
I have been working with cows and oxen for five years now. It all started without me even having the desire to do it. At the time, there were not enough devotees to take care of the oxen and cows, so one of them requested my help. I was reluctant at first, but since there was no one else to do it, I agreed. I was entrusted with two oxen and two cows, but had no experience or knowledge at all. So I started to read some literature on ox training and cow protection.
My first realization (by Krsna's grace) was that I had to slow down to "ox speed." If I didn't, then frustration was my only reward. I was not in control. Although there are different techniques to control animals, developing a personal relationship with each one is the most effective. Learning to understand and respect their individual natures may seem time-consuming and less productive in the short term, but in the long term it creates a working relationship with the animal that can last a lifetime. When our cow, Mother Prema, gave birth to her calf, Bhumi, I didn't know what to do. It was the coldest day of winter. I didn't know that it was important to take the newborn calf to a warm room and dry it with towels. I thought this was the mother's job. I had no experience, but something from within was telling me to "make it dry; the mother can't do so; it's too cold." My friends and I used hairdryers, and within an hour the calf was dry and ready to stand up. The first milking took me more than an hour. It was a struggle, but after a few days it became a pleasure. I was told that after six months the calf could be weaned. I was concerned about separating the calf from the mother by force, but to my amazement, the mother automatically stopped giving the calf her milk after separating them at nights only for a period of eight months. She used a gentle kick to her calf to make the point. So there was no need to make any separate arrangement.
Cow protection helped me to develop greater faith in Lord Krsna as the Supreme Controller. I learned that there was always a solution for every problem, as long as I remembered to be patient and accept the principle of "ox speed." This is the natural way for working with cows and oxen. When I accepted cow protection as my service for this lifetime, I felt a kind of liberation. I didn't need to go anywhere else to find happiness. Gallons of milk and pounds of cow dung destroyed my economic insecurity. Now I know that Lord Krsna's arrangement for a spiritual society is complete and meant for all His devotees.