Take a look at this billboard, and it’s no shock that it’s catching the attention of passing drivers. A flashy sign, a law suit and a questionable study…This is certainly an interesting story that should spark some dialogue on this blog. Let me know what you think.

Bill Gehm, a partner in LR Gehm, LLC, a manufacturer of milking equipment based in Lisle, filed a lawsuit against Cornell University last summer, alleging that the university is disseminating false information about one of its products. In preparation for Cornell graduation two weekends ago, he propped up the billboard facing east to meet families traveling to Ithaca. Mid-way through the weekend, he turned it around to meet travelers on their way out of Tompkins County.

It got plenty of attention, he said, with some folks stopping to take pictures or ask him about it. The sign includes a Web site about his conflict with Cornell, stemming from a study in which Cornell researchers claimed his product doesn’t do what he says it does.

The study, published in the Journal of Dairy Science in March 2000, states that while rates of intramammary infections did not vary significantly among cows, no new cases of one particular bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, were found in cows milked by CoPulsation. The study’s conclusion was that “these results support previous studies, which have found that except for complete failure of pulsation, differences in pulsation characteristics apparently have little effect on milking and udder health.” Therefore, the system provides no benefit, though it was not found to do harm.

To read the entire article, link to Liz Lawyer and Kate Hill’s article in the Ithaca Journal.