They Milk Blood From Farm Animals

They Milk Blood from Farm Animals LIVESTOCK Miscellaneous 14-4-17 The Quad Five Ranch north of Ryegate, Montana, is one of only a handful of farm operations in the world that makes its living by "milking" blood from farm animals to sell to researchers and medical laboratories. The ranch, which gets its name from its 5,555-acre size, is licensed by the USDA as a veterinary biological facility. Its primary operation is selling blood serum and plasma from sheep, cattle and horses raised on the ranch. The blood is used in many ways, including the diagnosis of illness in humans and animals. There are about 1,600 head of sheep on the ranch, 1,200 of which are used for the blood serum operation. The ones that are "milked" for blood are kept penned up to assure that they remain disease-free. Donor cows and horses are also kept isolated in confinement. Wiley Micks, operations manager of the ranch, which is owned by L. Herman Wessel, says that if one of the donor animals be-comes ill and has to be given antibiotics or other medication, that animal is immediately moved to a separate area for a sufficient length of time to be sure that neither the disease nor the drugs are still in his system. The blood drawn from animals is used in many ways. A primary use for-the blood of sheep is to manufacture blood diagnosis plates used by hospitals and labs to detect human ailments. Quad Five sells whole blood, serum and plasma, as well as various other components of blood. It is also starting to market a component used in vaccines. "We are being asked to provide new things all the time," Micks says. "Some-times we take out certain proteins or other factors. Sometimes we have to do a strictly male or strictly female serum for various companies." Maintaining consistency and high quality is the prime concern, according to Micks. In the past most blood products have been provided by slaughter houses but he says the quality was often poor and the medical profession has been demanding higher standards. Sheep can give blood about every three weeks. The usual amount taken is one liter. The amount drawn from a cow is about one liter per l00 lbs. Donor horses are all draft horses, primarily Belgians and Percherons. The amount drawn from a horse is 9 liters, or about 2 gal. The bleeding takes 10 to 15 min. A horse's blood can be drawn about every two weeks if cell volume is acceptable. Whole blood is shipped the same day it is drawn or the day following. Sterile filtered serum and plasma is frozen after processing and must complete a month of quality assurance before being offered for sale. It is usually shipped by UPS next-thy service or air freight. Micks says the ranch's clients are all over the country. None of them are in Montana but Micks says that doesn't matter. "We can compete from here just as well as we could in Chicago or New York or California," he says. Micks sees a bright future for the ranch. He predicts that the greatest area of growth in the future will be producing vaccines. Contact FARM SHOW Followup, Quad Five Ranch, Ryegate, Mont. 59074 (ph 406 568-2911).

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