Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 19, 1991 TAG: 9103190141
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB SECTER LOS ANGELES TIMES
DATELINE: WAUPUN, WIS. LENGTH: Medium
Most cows stick their snouts in water and guzzle greedily. Lemmenes' only lap at it gingerly. Tails flick rapidly across their rumps even when there aren't any flies around to shoo. Rather than stand placid and cow-like in their stalls they do a fidgety bovine rumba, shifting uncomfortably on their feet as if they'd been shod in tight sneakers.
No doubt about it, these are not contented cows. But then again, who would be if every time they went to take a drink, munch on feed or just rub up against a pipe they were getting zapped by a little electrical tingle?
That's exactly what Lemmenes thinks is happening, even though he can't feel anything himself. Except maybe in the pocketbook. Dairy cows on his spread, 60 miles northwest of Milwaukee, average only about 30 pounds of milk apiece per day when they ought to be producing about 60.
"I'm just losing my shirt on this," despaired Lemmenes, who claims that years of tiny, persistent shocks coming off everything from water cups to barn stanchions have agitated his herd, shrunk milk yields, chopped $1 million off revenues and forced him into bankruptcy.
It is not as far-fetched a notion as it might sound to city slickers. More and more, dairy farmers are worrying about the potential impact on their herds of a quirky yet only recently investigated phenomenon called "stray voltage."
In essence, stray voltages are excess currents that can spill off everything from perfectly functioning utility lines to faulty wiring. Often packing less punch than a common household battery, they flow through grounding systems that are vital for safety reasons and onto metal structures and into the earth. Humans don't even notice them.
But, for a variety of both technical and physiological reasons, stray-voltage problems appear to be most acute in barnyard settings. Most affected seem to be cattle, whose natural resistance to electrical current is only a tenth that of humans. Standing in their bare hoofs on the wet floors of barns or milking parlors doesn't help.
Veterinarian John Ryder, who studies stray voltage for the Wisconsin Agriculture Department, said he once saw eight cows leap simultaneously as they were being milked. "They were obviously getting hit with some very heavy jolts," he explained.
Experts say that stray voltage not only can distress cows but also indirectly stimulate udder irritations and other health problems.
Stray voltage also alters their behavior in much the same way that laboratory rats can be conditioned by electric shocks.
If, for example, a cow learns she's going to get shocked when she drinks or eats, she's not going to want to drink or eat as much and then she won't produce as much milk.
"About 30 percent of the farms [in Wisconsin] are affected by it or could potentially have stray voltage," said Dan Dasho, head of a 3-year-old state-sponsored stray-voltage task force called the "SVAT Team." "It can hurt your production and over a long period of time it can really hurt your financial status so you can't farm anymore."
With livelihoods on the line, emotions can run high. In Wisconsin, a small but vocal group of stray-voltage activists has sprung up in response to what they claim is foot-dragging on resolving the issue by state and utility officials. Several farmers have slapped utilities with lawsuits and won judgments ranging up to $1 million and more.
A few farmers even contend voltage has killed cattle. Experts question the validity of such claims, and suggest that some critics are quick to blame stray voltage for herd problems that can be caused by a host of unrelated factors - including bad management by the farmers themselves.
Researchers have known of the phenomenon for a long time, but only in the last decade have they come to realize its impact could be so widespread.
More frustrating yet to farmers, there is no single cause for stray voltage, nor is there any one sure-fire way to squelch it. The problem is different on every farm. Some have it bad, some just a little, and many not at all. It can come and go. The source can be traced to overhead utility lines or leaks from poorly insulated wiring and machinery in the barn itself.
Though experts say stray voltage may be a problem throughout the farm belt, Wisconsin is the only state so far with active, albeit small-scale, government efforts to combat it.
"The problem is that the utility distribution systems are 30 to 50 years old and they have not been upgraded even though electrical use has gone up dramatically," argued Brad Kolpin, a dairy farmer who was awarded $738,000 after he took his utility to court over stray voltage-related losses.
Utility spokesmen, however, say overhauling systems would not necessarily correct problems and would drive up electric bills. "It'd be like killing a fly with a sledgehammer," said Chuck Forster, a consulting engineer for a group of rural Wisconsin electrical cooperatives. "The answer is to get on the farms and fix the wiring."
by CNB