Inherit the Rumen
Article Follow-Up Based Partially Off The Article By Rick Grant
Increasingly, the human medical system is focused on immunology, or the function of the immune system and its relationship with microbiology. Scorched earth policy in medicine has resulted in a lot of collateral damage and, in specific cases, drug resistance. Likewise, the importance of soil microbiology in soil and plant health is becoming increasingly clear. Finally, we have long known of the importance and function of the rumen in animals, and this is what the included article "Inherit the Rumen" focuses on. There is undoubtedly a connection between the microbial systems in these three cases, and lessons learned from ruminant animals can be applied to soil microbiology and human health.
The included article summarizes a study published in the Journal of Dairy Science that looked at how we can understand the rumen better and use that to increase dairy cow production. I would like to highlight several points made in the summary: the microbial populations in a cow's rumen will change in response to diet; the populations are unique to each animal and are governed by genetics; the populations are stable and static to each animal; and the populations do not respond significantly to outside influences other than changes in feed. Keeping in mind the populations present in the rumen are similar to those in our large intestine and in the soil, there are some parallels and lessons to be learned here.
The study showed than an individual cow's genetics creates the blueprint for the rumen population. Transplanting one cow's rumen population into another had no lasting effect on the recipient cow's population. Further, the population is quite resistant to outside influence and so adding probiotics is unlikely to be effective. Though the soil does not have genetics so to speak to determine a microbial population, it does have parent populations that govern the diversity of its life. Populations can change drastically within a single field depending on a lot of variables, so bug-in-a-jug treatments are equally as ineffective. There is also increasing evidence that probiotic additions are ineffective in our large intestine.
Hence, in human medicine there is a new focus put on prebiotics, or material that feeds the microbes already present. The idea is that while there are many variables we cannot control, we do control what we feed, whether that be ourselves, the cows, or the soil. We must put aside the notion that we can control the microbial populations and understand that we have a more important role in providing optimal conditions for them. This is where quality feed is important for cows and quality fertilizer and soil treatment is important for soil microbes. The article made clear that significant feed changes can change the rumen population, and I would add for better or worse. Every livestock man knows this. The same goes for the soil.
The Growers program has been providing optimal microbe soil conditions since 1955. Opening up the soil to allow oxygen in and buffering out toxicities with limestone and then feeding high quality minerals in an available form catalyzes the microbes that are naturally present in that particular soil. If the answer to a healthier rumen lies in the feed (besides genetics, which we currently don't control), why would the soil microbes or our large intestine be any different?
This is an excerpt from the Spring Growers Solution (2020) written by Zach Smith.
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