CWD? How does it leap hundreds of miles? Here's your answer!

[Clay Cooper]

CWD? How does it leap hundreds of miles? Here's your answer!

Couple of months ago I figured out why is CWD is spreading like it is. It leaps hundreds of miles and here's the answer. People who haul cattle and horses must buy hay for transport and this is where it's all at, CONTAMINATED HAY! I called Arkansas Game and Fish the person I talked to he believes it also and said others to!

[Lwh4207]

Yes but many states do not allow you to enter with out of state hay especially western states. I'm not sure how many states are like this because I never stopped at any port of entries. With that being said it's not difficult to sneak a few bales in. I even slipped into California once with a few bales hidden in my trailer. It might have a little effect on it but I don't think hay is the cause of the whole epidemic. The Arkansas game and fish reintroduced elk back to the state and I think that is basis for cwd in this state.

[FirstBubba]

Hey Coop!
Long time, no see!

Seeing how hay rakes scratch the ground and stir up dirt, deer droppings can get into the hay.

Next is the swathers that most farmers use today.
Yesteryear, everybody used "sickle" swathers.
Today, everybody uses "rotary" swathers.
Sickle swathers cut the grass cleanly.
Rotary swathers pick up dirt, dust and debris that the old sickle mowers didn't.
Rotary swather hay is much dirtier, but a rotary swather cuts MUCH cleaner.

[rock rat]

Every instance I've heard of begins at or close to commercial deer breeding facility. Moving deer or elk around is not a good thing to do. Canned hunting sucks and needs to be outlawed.

[GERG]

You are probably on to something.

[Lwh4207]

Hey Coop!
Long time, no see!

Seeing how hay rakes scratch the ground and stir up dirt, deer droppings can get into the hay.

Next is the swathers that most farmers use today.
Yesteryear, everybody used "sickle" swathers.
Today, everybody uses "rotary" swathers.
Sickle swathers cut the grass cleanly.
Rotary swathers pick up dirt, dust and debris that the old sickle mowers didn't.
Rotary swather hay is much dirtier, but a rotary swather cuts MUCH cleaner.

I have not researched this subject much but it looks to me like if hay was the cause of cwd in deer, elk, and moose then it would cause mad cow to be running wild in bovine.

[99explorer]

From the CDC website:
https://www.cdc.gov/prions/cwd/transmission.html

Good article. Thanks for sharing.
I had not heard that CWD might affect humans.

[99explorer]

Clay -
What can you tell us about the origins of the conservatives and the liberals?

[Red Angus]

Hey Coop!
Long time, no see!

Seeing how hay rakes scratch the ground and stir up dirt, deer droppings can get into the hay.

Next is the swathers that most farmers use today.
Yesteryear, everybody used "sickle" swathers.
Today, everybody uses "rotary" swathers.
Sickle swathers cut the grass cleanly.
Rotary swathers pick up dirt, dust and debris that the old sickle mowers didn't.
Rotary swather hay is much dirtier, but a rotary swather cuts MUCH cleaner.

Having mowed 500-800 acres of hay with a disc mower every year, some of which was side by side with a sickle mower, for the last 6 or 7 years, I must say that disc mowers cut just as"clean" as a sickle does.
In my experience with wheel rakes, droppings never make it to the windrow because they just roll between the tines and whatever excrement the windrow gets rolled on top of doesn't get picked up by the bailer.

Not trying to start a fuss, just stating my experiences. Different soil types and climates will quite likely yield different results.

[FirstBubba]

Hey Coop!
Long time, no see!

Seeing how hay rakes scratch the ground and stir up dirt, deer droppings can get into the hay.

Next is the swathers that most farmers use today.
Yesteryear, everybody used "sickle" swathers.
Today, everybody uses "rotary" swathers.
Sickle swathers cut the grass cleanly.
Rotary swathers pick up dirt, dust and debris that the old sickle mowers didn't.
Rotary swather hay is much dirtier, but a rotary swather cuts MUCH cleaner.

Gotcha red.
What little experience I have with the two isn't that extensive.

The old sickle swathers "cut" the grass and it falls on the table then through the rollers.
I NEVER used a sickle style swather that didn't leave uncut tufts of grass here, there and yonder. Just the nature of the beast.

The new disc/rotary swathers literally "beat" the grass in two at the desired height! LOL!
Instead of riding over "patties" or dirt clods, they pulverize them and the resulting crud goes onto the table.
A field cut with a disc/rotary swather literally appears to have been groomed with nary a stray grass blade left uncut!

Guess my meaning is:
a sickle cuts the grass cleanly.
a rotary cuts the field cleanly.

[Red Angus]

Hey Coop!
Long time, no see!

Seeing how hay rakes scratch the ground and stir up dirt, deer droppings can get into the hay.

Next is the swathers that most farmers use today.
Yesteryear, everybody used "sickle" swathers.
Today, everybody uses "rotary" swathers.
Sickle swathers cut the grass cleanly.
Rotary swathers pick up dirt, dust and debris that the old sickle mowers didn't.
Rotary swather hay is much dirtier, but a rotary swather cuts MUCH cleaner.

If a disc mower is beating the grass in two it either needs the knives sharpened or replaced.
I always set the mower to leave about 3" of stubble, at which height it clears cows pies with ease. Admittedly, other people set their equipment different than I and, if set to low, could have the disc hit the s***.
Like LWH said, if excrement in the hay was causing problems, those of us who raise cattle for a living would already know about it and be taking steps to remedy the situation. I tend to agree that relocating deer and elk, wild or domestic, is the biggest reason for the spread of CWD.