The Reasons for Farmers & Wider Sector to Engage? 

Security of the European & Global Food Chains

 More Extreme Weather Events (Droughts &

Floods)
 More Pests & Diseases (Blue Tongue)

 Saving Money
 New Legislation & Policies
 New Market Place Developments

 Energy Security & Jobs in the “Green Economy” 

SPECIFIED RISK MATERIALS (SRM) AND TRANSMISSIBLE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY (TSE) TESTING 

Several TSEs are known to occur in animals and humans:

◦ Creudzfeld-Jakob disease and Kuru in man

◦ Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy in cattle

◦ Scrapie in sheep
◦ Chronic Wasting Disease in Deer
◦ Transmissible Mink Encephalopathy
◦ And others... 

Progressive neurological disease:
◦ Long “incubation” period (2 to 8 years)

◦ Non-inflammatory
◦ Non-immunogenic
◦ Fatal
◦ Uncertain agent (prion).

 NOTIFIABLE DISEASE 

spot at Antemortem 

Pre 1996, mostly spread through cross- contaminated feed in feed mills,

 Vertical spread also possible:

◦ Not common

◦ More likely to happen if cow showing clinical signs, or within 6 months of showing clinical signs,

◦ Accounts for most (?) of new cases still being identified.

 No common management factors. 

Animal Health:

 1988

BSE Control Measures

◦ BSE NOTIFIABLE DISEASE

◦ Food ban for meat-and-bone meal derived from ruminants

◦ Suspect animals in farm slaughtered + offspring cull + cohort animals

◦ Ban on export of British meat (USA ban lifted in November 2013)

Human Health:

 1989
◦ Specified Risk Material (SRM) banned from human food chain

 1996
◦ Over Thirty Month Scheme (OTMS) introduced

 1997
◦ Animals born 1st August 1996 not into food chain
◦ ‘Bone in beef’ banned from human food chain (lifted 1999) 

Cattle - All ages:
◦ Tonsils (including part of the tongue),
◦ Intestines from the duodenum to the rectum, ◦ Mesentery.

 Over 12 months:
◦ Skull excluding the mandible and including the brain

and eye
◦ Spinal cord.

 Over 30 months:

◦ Vertebral column including the dorsal root ganglia, but excluding vertebrae of the tail spinous and transverse process of the cervical, thoracic and lumbar vertebrae median sacral crest and wings of the sacrum. 

SHEEP and goats: all ages: the spleen and ilium

over 12 mo: skull, including the brain and eyes, tonsils, spinal cord 

Annual programme to monitor BSE and Scrapie:

◦ Samples taken for lab testing,
◦ Established protocols,
◦ To give epidemiological picture.

 TSE suspects: ◦ NOTIFIABLE. 

Bovine animals over 48 months if emergency slaughter or sick at AMI,

• Bovines not for Human Consumption (HC),

• Some ovines / caprines slaughtered for HC,

• Ovines / caprines not for HC,

• Monitoring of infected flocks (Scrapie). 

 emergency slaughter

Sampling area:
◦ Hygiene and separations from processing areas.

 Passport handling and FCI checks:

◦ Traceability.

 Retention facilities:

◦ Pending result. 

Carcase needs to be traceable to all its parts and securely detained till test results are back from the lab:

◦ Sides,
◦ Hide,
◦ Offal,
◦ By-products.

 If Positive:
◦ Carcase and all body parts are destroyed. 

Entire bodies or parts of animals or products of animal origin referred to as Category 1, 2 and 3 material not intended for human consumption.

 EDIBLE CO-PRODUCTS are parts of the slaughtered animal, unsuitable for human consumption when they are produced at the slaughterhouse, but which can later be processed for use in human food. 

Carcases and associated parts suspected or confirmed as being infected with a Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE).

 Specific Risk Material (SRM) from non-suspect animals.

 Catering waste from airports and ports. 

- Products derived from animals to which substances prohibited have been administered and products of animal origin containing residues of environmental contaminants and other substances.

Carcases or materials that are not presented for or fail ante mortem or post mortem inspection or show signs of communicable diseases to humans or animals,

 Products of animal origin containing residues of veterinary drugs and contaminants,

 Manure and digestive tract content 

includes those materials which have been subject to ante and post mortem inspection and passed but for a variety of reasons are not intended for human consumption.

 Includes unwanted trimmings, quality failures (e.g. colour) and minor contamination that does not pose a risk to human or animal health. But also offal affected by mild lungworm and fluke. 

 If waste water is discharged to a sewer in plants processing ruminant carcases the premises has drain traps or gratings with a maximum size of 4mm in place. 

Parts of the slaughtered animal, unsuitable for human consumption when they are produced at the slaughterhouse, but which can later be processed for use in human food.

- Animal Fats and Greaves
- Stomachs, Bladders and Intestines - Gelatine
- Collagen 

 in the case of edible co-products means ‘extracting fat from meat by melting (heat treatment)’. 

Protein residue of the rendering process, after separation of fat and water. 

peri-renal fat, brisket fat, omental fat, etc. 

Runners which have been processed to remove all the layers of the intestines apart from the sub-mucosa (mainly collagen and elastic fibres). Casings are used primarily in the production of sausages. 

large intestine, and often the stomach (maws), of the pig that are cooked and used as food. 

Post-mortem inspection:

◦ Cattle and Pigs: visual inspection of the gastro-intestinal tract, the mesentery, the gastric and mesenteric lymph nodes. Palpation and, if necessary, incision of the gastric and mesenteric lymph nodes

◦ Sheep and Goats: visual inspection of the gastro-intestinal tract, the mesentery, the gastric and mesenteric lymph nodes.

 SRM:
◦ Cattle intestines are SRM and must not be used for the

production of casings.

◦ Sheep and goat ileum is SRM and must not be used for the production of casings. 

All businesses produce waste. Waste is defined as 'any substance or object...which the holder discards or intends or is required to discard.' Discarding something includes sending it for recycling or recovery.

 Waste produced on farm as a result of farming activities is known as agricultural waste. 

Point source pollution”: pollution which originates from a single identifiable source such as a building, store or field, or from a particular event or action, for example, overflow or leakage from a manure store.

 “Diffuse pollution” comes from fields or many sources within a catchment which need to be identified and managed.

 A single pollution incident may seem insignificant, the cumulative effect of a number of such incidents will become increasingly important. 

BOD is used to show the polluting strength of livestock manures and organic wastes. It is a measure (in mg/litre) of the amount of oxygen needed by micro-organisms to break down organic material.

 Crude sewage has a BOD of 200-300 mg/litre can severely damage surface waters.

 Milk (140,000 mg/litre), silage effluent (30,000 to 80,000 mg/litre), pig slurry (20,000 to 30,000 mg/litre) and cattle slurry (10,000 to 20,000 mg/ litre) are extremely polluting. Even dirty water (1,000 to 5,000 mg/litre) is a very high risk material. 

All farm staff should know their responsibilities, and be familiar with the causes and effects of pollution:

◦ receive appropriate training for what they have to do;

◦ know how to operate and maintain the equipment they use;

◦ know what to do in an emergency;

◦ comply with any risk assessments made, for example, in manure, nutrient, soil or crop protection management plans. 

Common examples are:

◦ Animal health products
◦ Building waste
◦ Cardboard and paper

◦ Hazardous waste
◦ Metal, wood, glass and rubber ◦ Non-packaging plastic
◦ Plastic packaging
◦ Vehicle and machinery waste 

Hazardous waste is waste that may be harmful to human health or the environment:

◦ all types of asbestos
◦ some veterinary medicines ◦ fluorescent light tubes
◦ lead-acid batteries
◦ oily sludges
◦ pesticides and herbicides
◦ solvents 

Some packaging has hazard warning labels about the contents. This does not mean that the packaging is automatically considered hazardous waste.

 Examples of packaging wastes that have these types of labels but are not necessarily hazardous waste include:

◦ properly emptied, triple rinsed and drained pesticide containers.

◦ non-contaminated pesticide cardboard outer boxes.

◦ emptied, dry and shaken ammonium nitrate fertiliser bags. 

Farmers have a legal duty of care to look after their waste and ensure that it doesn't cause any environmental problems or end up being fly-tipped.

 To comply with the duty of care farmers must ensure that:

◦ When waste are passed to someone else, they are authorised to take it and they complete and give them a waste transfer note and keep a copy for two years. 

Can be stored for up to 12 months while arrangements are made for collection and disposal.

 If the waste is to be recovered, it can be stored for up to three years. Composting is an example of waste recovery. 

Containers must be in good condition.

 Kept in a secure place.

 Waste stored in skips must be securely covered.

 Prevent liquid waste from escaping into drains.

•   Train staff and keep records.

•   Store waste types separately and label. 

As is the case with many industries, farming can influence its environment in a variety of ways.

 The main issues are generally categorised as those associated with:

◦ soil,
◦ water,
◦ air,
◦ energy usage,

◦ biodiversity. 

The National Fallen Stock Company (NFSCo) provides a scheme for farmers that offers a reliable, low- cost means of collecting and disposing of carcasses. The scheme is open to all farmed livestock owners and businesses but is not compulsory.

◦ Animal Health approved hunt kennel for use as dog feed.

 Animal Health must be consulted or the local council's trading standards department before bury animal carcasses.

◦ Etc... 

 If the incinerator has a capacity to incinerate more than 50kg of carcasses per hour, an additional environmental permit is required from the environmental regulator. 

Avoid producing dark smoke by:

◦ placing primary fuel (straw, fuel oil, heavy untreated timbers, coal, etc) in the base of the fire, and the carcasses on top designing the pyre to allow burning to take place up and through the material rather than from the top down (this creates a much higher temperature and reduces the risk of creating dark smoke)

◦ never burning plastics or tyres as fuel.

 And also:

• supervise burning at all times.

• only burn carcasses in daylight hours.

◦ contact your local fire brigade to let them know you are burning, before lighting the fire. 

Farmers, growers, land managers (and Vets) have a duty to protect the environment in which they operate:

◦ Key actions can be taken to protect and enhance the quality of water, soil and air.

◦ In some cases it is also possible to achieve cost savings for the business.

◦ Meet legal obligations. 

Livestock manures and organic wastes including sewage sludge and green waste compost are referred to collectively as organic manures.

 Dilute washings from dairy and milking parlours and run-off from lightly contaminated yard areas to which animals have regular access are referred to as dirty water.

 Ammonia and gases (CO2, Methane, etc.) are released from organic manures and wastes during handling, storage and both during and after application to land. 

- Changing what is in animal feed will change the manures you have to deal with. can reduce nitrogen being lost to environment, reduce contamination with feed supplements like copper and zinc. 

- The most economic and environmentally friendly way of dealing with livestock manures (slurry and solid manure) and dirty water will usually be to apply them to agricultural land at appropriate rates for the benefit of soil and the crop.

within 10 metres of a watercourse,

◦ within 50 metres of a well, spring or borehole that supplies drinking water for human consumption or provides water for farm dairies,

◦ on steeply sloping fields where there is a risk of run- off,

◦ on waterlogged or compacted land,

◦ when fields are frozen or snow-covered,

◦ when the soil is cracked down to field drains, or has been pipe or mole drained within the last 12 months. 

Livestock manures and dirty water can cause water pollution if they get into surface water or groundwater. Storage systems that are properly designed, built and maintained will reduce these risks.

Adequate storage will allow:

• better timing and use of manure nutrients
• reduce the amount of fertiliser. 

The management and handling of livestock manures, particularly the length of time they are stored, are important factors in the survival of micro-organisms.

 On farms where Cryptosporidium parvum has been diagnosed, reduce the risk of contaminating surface waters with viable oocysts by storing:

◦ slurry for as long as practically possible; and

◦ solid manures for at least 2 months before spreading to land. 

Poultry litter was identified as a suspected source in all 14 outbreaks of suspected botulism in sheep reported in UK.

 Poultry litter was also identified as a suspected source in most of the outbreaks of botulism in cattle previously reported (ACMSF, 2006), although in many of these cases the exposure was indirect.

 The risk to human health from botulinum toxin in meat and milk from affected cattle, sheep and goats is negligible. 

Even small amounts of silage effluent from crops in an enclosed pit or silo, or from baled silage, will kill fish and other water life for a long way downstream if it gets into surface waters.

 L. Monocytogenes

 Hardware Disease 

All sheep dip compounds are very toxic and extremely small amounts will kill fish and other water life for a long way downstream if they get into surface waters.

 Small quantities can also be very damaging to groundwater and can affect drinking water supplies, including neighbours’ private supplies.