Rural System's

The Sheep Group

Under development (January 18, 2005)

See Pasture and Range Management

See The Goat System

See Vertebrate Damage Management

Sheep notes

Virginia Tech Extension staff, Sheep program: Greiner

We are developing a sheep program, one that has a major market for organic lamb. By "organic" we mean foods that are as good for you as they are delicious because they are produced without using antibiotics, added growth hormones, or dangerous pesticides.

No Antibiotics Recently the effectiveness of many antibiotics has begun to decline. One possible cause is that antibiotics have been overused in healthy livestock. Researchers now believe this practice can lead to higher levels of resistance in bacteria that cause human disease, and as a result, may lower the effectiveness of the same antibiotics on our own bodies. No Added Growth Hormones Growth hormones naturally occur in all milk. However, sheep may be injected with additional growth hormones to increase milk production. Several countries in Europe as well as Canada, Australia and Japan have banned these hormones because of potential effects on both human and animal health. No Dangerous Pesticides Organic farmers do not use harmful chemicals that can pollute our air, water, and food. A recent study found that children who eat predominantly organic diets have far lower levels of pesticide residues in their bodies than children who eat mostly non-organic foods.

Perhaps you will share ideas with me about some of the topic(s) above .

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Robert H. Giles, Jr.
July 5, 2005