HAMILTON, Mich. — A dairy that sold cows with illegal levels of antibiotics as human food warned there would be “disastrous consequences” if only veterinarians could diagnose sick animals at its 10,000-head operation in western Michigan. 

Scenic View Dairy objected to certain provisions in a 10-page order signed last week by a judge in Grand Rapids, Mich. The judge said in September that the dairy, which has farms in Hamilton and four other locations, had violated federal rules against sending cows to slaughter for human consumption if the edible tissue contained high levels of antibiotic residue. 

U.S. District Judge Gordon Quist ordered the farm to improve its record keeping so it wouldn’t use too many antibiotics, especially if they had not been approved to treat cows for a particular illness. Scenic View responded that it couldn’t immediately satisfy a requirement that drugs be administered only after a veterinarian examined an animal. The farm said it would have to hire 12 full-time veterinarians. 

“This provision has immediate and disastrous consequences,” attorney April Sawhill said in a court filing this week. 

“With a herd of 10,000 cows, some individual cows become ill every day,” she wrote. “Those ailments often require immediate treatment in order to prevent the cow from becoming seriously ill or even dying.”

At just one farm last week, two dozen calves were born, and some typically have birth-related ailments, Sawhill said. The federal government disagrees with Scenic View’s objections. A hearing is set for Oct. 31. 

The farm’s main business is milk, but dozens of cows are sold to slaughterhouses in a typical week. The Food and Drug Administration says eating beef with certain levels of antibiotics, such as penicillin, can cause harmful reactions to people who may be allergic. There is no allegation that anyone got sick from Scenic View cows, but inspectors said they had detected high levels of drugs at least 11 times since 2002. 

The FDA finally sued the dairy last year. 

“The court sees little difficulty in Scenic View’s coming into compliance with the record-keeping requirements,” demanded by the government, the judge said last week. 

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky farmers will soon receive ballots for county committee elections and will have about a month to return them. 

Farm Service Agency State Executive Director John W. McCauley said the committee allows farmers to make decisions concerning local administration of federal farm programs. 

To be eligible to vote, a person must participate or cooperate in FSA programs. Eligible voters who do not receive a ballot can obtain one at local U.S. Department of Agriculture service centers. Dec. 5 is the last day for voters to submit ballots in person to local USDA service centers.  

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — An effort by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission to eradicate wild hogs is stoking a controversy in the legislature over whether the commission should be transformed or even abolished. 

Earlier this year the legislature approved a bill changing the legal status of wild pigs from a protected game species to a “nuisance” animal. The commission then responded with a proclamation to legalize multiple new means for killing hogs by landowners while prohibiting traditional hunting of them. The essential ban on hunting prompted a litany of complaints to legislators from hunters, The News-Sentinel in Knoxville reported (http://bit.ly/

qgMZ2E)

And now a bill extending the life of the Wildlife Commission for another five years has stalled in a House committee. The chairman of the committee, Spring City Republican Jim Cobb, says the Commission has shown itself to be out of touch. 

State Rep. John Mark Windle, a Democrat from Livingston, said he and other legislators, particularly in East Tennessee and along the Cumberland Plateau, have been swamped with more complaints on the commission’s proclamation than on any other subject. 

Windle said the hunting ban _ which includes forbidding use of dogs to chase hogs in most public hunting areas _ was “absolutely not’’ what he had in mind when sponsoring the bill to change hogs’ legal status. 

Patrick Garrison, president of The Tennessee Hunters Alliance, called the new hunting rules “ridiculous”’ and complained that hunters weren’t given a say. 

Last week, Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, and Rep. John Forgety, R-Athens, introduced a bill (SB2127) that declares the commission “is not authorized to promulgate any rule, regulation, or proclamation that regulates hunting wild hogs on private property.’’ Bell says that is a “first step’’ with further legislation likely to follow. 

The commission bill extending its life for another five years was passed by the Senate but stalled in the House Government Operations Committee, chaired by Rep. Jim Cobb, R-Spring City. 

The controversy over controlling the hogs arrives at a time when the Wildlife Commission itself could face extinction. 

The commission thus stands to be terminated on July 1, 2012, unless the bill is approved before then. 

Cobb says the commission has shown itself “a little bit arrogant and unresponsive’’ to legislators and their constituents and he has accumulated a pile of complaints ``two or three inches thick.’’ 

The complaints will be the focus of hearings on the commission, likely in February, he said.