Research by the Marshfield Clinic Research Institute Finds Working Around Cow Manure Can Make You Healthier

Friday, October 25th, 2024 -- 11:01 AM

(Keith Uhlig, Green Bay Press-Gazette)  It can be a dirty job, but farming has an upside: Working with cows and their manure can help make farmers healthier than the general population, according to Keith Uhlig with the Green Bay Press-Gazette.

A recent study by researchers from the Marshfield Clinic Research Institute, collaborating with the Washington University School of Medicine, indicates that constantly being around cows, and breathing air saturated with that distinctive cow-pie odor, could give farmers added protections from ailments such as asthma, eczema, flu-like illnesses and diarrheal diseases.

The study, published last spring in the April issue of Nature Microbiology, shows that farmers share microbiomes related to cows and cow manure. Microbiomes are communities of microbes consisting of bacteria and other microscopic organisms, and the presence of healthy and diverse inner bacteria can help a body fight off certain kinds of illnesses.

"It's the balance between good and bad bacteria. So (bacteria) have a lot of good effects on our health," said study leader Sanjay Shukla, a molecular biologist and director of the Marshfield Clinic Research Institute's Center for Precision Medicine Research. "In general, the more diverse bacteria you have in your body, the healthier you are."

Shukla and another researcher on the project, Casper Bendixsen, a cultural anthropologist who is the director of the Marshfield Clinic's National Farm Medicine Center, spoke about the study and its findings on Maple Ridge Dairy, a Stratford-area operation that milks about 2,000 cows and farms about 4,000 acres.

Maple Ridge Dairy was one of 37 farms to participate in the study. Maple Ridge owner Brian Forrest said he was happy that his farm could participate in the study, and he wasn't surprised at the results.

"I think it's the coolest thing ever," Forrest said. "Growing up, you know there's this health thing, that farm kids are healthier. It's been a kind of thing. It was wow, (scientists) are actually studying this. Great! Giddyup. Let's do it."

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