AnimalNet Dec. 9/03
Agency
offers to ease rules on farm runoff
Bison
disease outbreak re-ignites game farm controversy
Texas dairy
operators, purebred cattle owners: "It's time to test!"
Research
wanes after 2001 deadly outbreak shook Kentucky's horse industry
FSANZ finds
imported honey and prawns safe
Minnesota
dairy farmers receive help during switch to organic production
Fisherman
sees fish farm damage
Florida man
pursues dream of opening fish farm in Gulf of Mexico
New grant to
help hog farm odor study
How lice and
bird feathers stick together
Classical
swine fever: New test approved
Illinois
creates agroterrorism initiatives
Increase in
fees and charges for egg, poultry, and rabbit grading
how to subscribe
Agency
offers to ease rules on farm runoff
December 9, 2003
Washington Post/AP
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47244-2003Dec8.html
OCEAN CITY -- The Maryland Department of Agriculture was cited as proposing
changes to a law protecting the Chesapeake Bay from agricultural runoff Monday,
offering concessions to farmers who have long complained of cumbersome
regulations on fertilizer use.
The stories say that the proposals, some of which would need the approval of the
General Assembly, include reducing the paperwork and requiring state inspectors
to give farmers 48 hours' notice before going on their land.
But the measures were criticized by some farmers, who had hoped that the
Republican administration would eliminate the paperwork requirement altogether.
Harry Moreland, a Caroline County farmer, was quoted as saying at the Maryland
Farm Bureau's annual meeting here that, "We feel quite strongly that what a
farmer does on his farm is more important to the environment than a piece of
paper."
Royden N. Powell, an assistant agriculture secretary who presented the
administration's proposals, was cited as telling Moreland that such a notion was
not politically feasible.
The stories explain that Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) campaigned in rural
areas of the state on a pledge to change the Water Quality Improvement Act of
1998, which forced Maryland's 9,000 farms to adopt fertilizer and animal manure
management plans as a way of reducing the flow of nitrogen into the Chesapeake
Bay and its tributaries.
The law was spurred by a Pfiesteria outbreak in 1997, which killed thousands of
fish in three rivers in a poultry farming region of the Eastern Shore.
On the Net:
www.mda.state.md.us
www.mdfarmbureau.com
Bison
disease outbreak re-ignites game farm controversy
December 8, 2003
Yukon News
3
Michael Hale
Almost 18 months after it was first discovered, biologists still don't know,
according to this story, where a Yukon bison herd caught bovine viral diarrhea
in June 2002, after the animals were imported from Alberta.
The story says that the LaPrairies, who own a ranch about 45 minutes north of
Whitehorse along the Alaska Highway, imported the animals two years ago without
the proper permits, causing speculation that the animals had brought the disease
to the Yukon.
But now, biologists aren't so sure.
Kent Jingfors, director of the Yukon government's fish and wildlife branch, was
quoted as saying, "It could be that (the disease) was already on the farm.
Or, it could be that it was contracted on the way up or at Elk Island (national
park, where the animals were bought from,) though that doesn't seem
likely."
The story adds that because wildlife officials haven't been able to get onto the
game farm to test the rest of the animals, nobody knows for sure where the
outbreak started. Or, whether more animals on the farm are infected.
A biologist was supposed visit the farm last year, but a court case caused a
delay.
The LaPrairies were convicted of importing the bison without a permit.
Another attempt to get on the farm to test the rest of the bison herd was made
last month, but the LaPrairies cancelled at the last minute.
Texas
dairy operators, purebred cattle owners: "It's time to test!"
December 9, 2003
Texas Animal Health Commission News Release
Eighty Texas cattle herds---49 dairies and 31 purebred or "seedstock"
beef herds--have tested negative for cattle tuberculosis (TB) since November 1,
when the state "kicked off" its plan to regain cattle TB-free status.
The "free" ranking would allow Texas' 150,000+ ranchers to move cattle
across state lines without TB restrictions or testing requirements. Cattle TB is
a bacterial infection that can affect an animal's lungs, lymph nodes or other
internal organs. The disease can also infect humans, one of the reasons for the
national disease eradication effort.
"At their meeting December 3 in Austin, the 12 governor-appointed TAHC
commissioners reiterated their responsibility to require testing and their
commitment to complete the Texas TB plan, the vehicle which will enable our
state to regain TB-free status," said Dr. Bob Hillman, head of the TAHC,
the state's livestock and poultry health regulatory agency. "TAHC
commissioners are responsible for protecting livestock from TB and when
necessary, may require testing, to establish or maintain the state's TB-free
status."
"In their resolution adopted at the meeting, the TAHC commissioners
directed dairy operators and purebred cattle owners to comply with testing
requirements," Dr. Hillman pointed out. "However, the commissioners
are optimistic that producers will participate voluntarily, to ensure the
overall health and marketability of Texas cattle."
"All of Texas' 880 dairies and about 2,400 of Texas' purebred--or "seedstock"--beef
cattle herds must be tested for cattle TB, as part of the effort to reclaim our
TB-'free' designation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA),"
explained Dr. Hillman. The testing effort is a major component of the
five-pronged Texas TB plan, developed last year by a task force comprised of
members from the dairy and beef industry and the TAHC. Other aspects of the plan
include testing of breeding cattle exported from the state, enhanced inspection
of carcasses at slaughter, required annual TB testing of rodeo stock imported
from Mexico, and urging cattle producers to voluntarily maintain imported
Mexican feeder cattle apart from native cattle.
Dr. Hillman pointed out that Texas initially achieved TB-free status in 2000,
with the exception of portions of El Paso and Hudspeth Counties, a small area
which still remains under testing and movement restrictions. In 2002, Texas lost
its coveted 'free' ranking after two infected herds were detected. The first was
a purebred cattle herd in Fayette County. The second involved both dairy and
beef cattle on a ranch headquartered in Pecos County. Another infected purebred
cattle herd was detected in Zavala County in August 2003. The infected herds
were destroyed, and another 14,000 head of cattle in nearby or potentially
exposed herds were tested. No additional infection was detected.
"Now we must target classes of cattle where infection has been detected in
the past. To detect any remaining infection, Texas' 880 dairies and at least a
third of the state's purebred beef herds--about 2,400 herds--must be
tested," he said. "More than 450 private veterinary practitioners have
been certified to conduct the TB herd tests under contract with the TAHC, so
dairy operators and participating ranchers will have no out-of-pocket expenses,
other than rounding up and presenting their cattle for testing. The USDA is
paying for this disease surveillance, but tests must be completed before
September 2004, when the federal funding agreement will expire," said Dr.
Hillman.
Adult cattle (24 months of age and older) are test-eligible, and owners may
elect to have their younger, purchased heifers tested, also at no cost. A
veterinarian conducts a TB test by injecting a small amount of tuberculin into
the skin of the animal's caudal fold, under the tail. Seventy-two hours later,
the veterinarian examines the injection site for any swelling, lumps or
thickening of the skin, which indicates a positive response to the test. If the
animal reacts to the test, additional testing will be conducted to rule out or
confirm infection.
"Since November 1, when the effort was 'kicked off,' 80 herds--49 dairies
and 31 purebred beef herds--have been tested and are negative for TB infection.
We still have a long way to go, so we urge dairy operators and ranchers to
contact their private veterinary practitioner or the TAHC to schedule a herd
test." Owners may call their area TAHC office, or the TAHC headquarters in
Austin at 1-800-550-8242.
If TB infection is detected, Dr. Hillman said federal funds are available to buy
the herd, so it can be destroyed, to prevent the spread of disease. "Now is
the best time to find any remaining TB-infected herds in Texas," Dr.
Hillman urged. "We must not regain our 'TB-free' status, only to lose it
again later."
Research
wanes after 2001 deadly outbreak shook Kentucky's horse industry
December 9, 2003
Knight-Ridder Tribune
Janet Patton, Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.
More than 2 1/2 years after Kentucky's $760 million equine industry was
devastated by the deaths of thousands of foals, research into the mystery has,
according to this story, all but ground to a halt for lack of money.
The story says that University of Kentucky scientists are frustrated: They are
tantalizingly close to answers but feel stymied by a lack of financial support.
UK entomologist Bruce Webb was quoted as saying, "We've taken the work as
far as we can without significant levels of funding."
Many horse breeders, desperate for help in May 2001, turned to UK's Gluck Equine
Research Center to tell them what was causing the wave of misery. That year more
than 1,300 full-term foals of various horse breeds were born dead, or limp and
nearly lifeless; more than 3,800 thoroughbred, standardbred, quarter horse,
paint and saddlebred mares aborted mysteriously.
There was an unusually high incidence of a rare heart disease and unexplained,
blinding eye infections that were virtually untreatable.
At the time, a study done for the state estimated the economic hit to the state
at $336 million; losses in 2002, when the problem returned, could bring that
figure closer to $450 million.
Within a month, UK researchers pointed to Eastern tent caterpillars as the cause
of the epidemic, although they could not say how it was happening.
Now many farmers seem to think that mare reproductive loss syndrome, so named
because of the foal losses, is under control with their efforts to eliminate
caterpillars and their favorite food, wild cherry trees, from farms.
That, along with the down economy, has cooled the fund-raising climate.
FSANZ
finds imported honey and prawns safe
December 9, 2003
FSANZ Media Release
http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/
Recent media reports on Channel 7's Today Tonight program claim that imported
honey and imported prawns contain dangerous residue levels of the Nitrofuran
antibiotics; this is not the case.
FSANZ is confident that imported honey and prawns currently on sale are safe.
We have carried out a risk assessment, from available test results, that
indicates people could consume 1.8kg of prawns and 35 kg of honey every day
for life and still have no ill effect.
The nitrofuran that gave rise to the residues found in prawns and honey was
furazolidone. Nitrofurans are a group of antibiotics that are still prescribed
by doctors to treat urinary tract infections with exposure for adults being at
least 2,000,000 times higher than the dietary exposure based on the levels
found in the prawns and honey. However, this nitrofuran is no longer
registered for use as a veterinary chemical in food-producing animals in
Australia and there is no residue limit for it in the Food Standards Code.
Although the foods are safe, they are not legal.
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has instructed the Australian
Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) to test imported honey and imported
prawns for this antibiotic. Any products found to have levels of Nitrofuran
will not be permitted for sale in Australia.
Minnesota
dairy farmers receive help during switch to organic production
December 8, 2003
Knight-Ridder Tribune
Janet Kubat Willette, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
LEWISTON, Minn.--Carmen and Dale Pangrac, with the help of Environmental Quality
Incentive Program dollars, are in a three-year conversion to organic milk and
crop production.
The story says that the couple began investigating organic production when milk
prices dropped to historic lows and stayed there for nearly two years. Organic
milk premiums -- about $5 per hundredweight with today's farmgate prices --
seemed like a good way to increase the farm's income without adding cows.
They also want to make the farm profitable enough so their daughter, Kim, a
senior at St. Olaf in Northfield, can come home to farm.
The Pangracs signed an EQIP contract in 2003, with their first incentive payment
due next year. A farmer can receive an incentive payment of $45 an acre on up to
120 acres of cropland converted, and $25 an acre on up to 250 acres of pasture
converted to organic production. The payments can be received annually for up to
three years.
Payments are issued after the NRCS receives a letter from the farmers'
certifying agency stating they have met the requirements for the year, Kunz
said.
Carmen said it would be better to receive some of the money up front, to help
with expenses incurred in the conversion, such as equipment purchases.
Requirements stipulate that the farmer must keep the land in organic production
for two years after conversion is completed, he said.
Fisherman
sees fish farm damage
December 9, 2003
Alberni Valley Times
4
Jeff Mikus of Tofino, B.C. writes to express his concern over possible fish farm
expansion in Barclay Sound.
Mikus is a commercial fisherman who lives on the West Coast and says he has seen
the damage fish farms have caused in the Tofino area. When fishing prawns, every
year he has to move his gear further away from farms as the bottom of the ocean
is dead. Where Mikus used to catch prawns, shrimp, small crabs and starfish, his
trap is now empty.
Politicians and fish farm reps keep talking about all the jobs these fish farms
create, yet the largest company on the West Coast, PNA, has virtually been shut
down for the last six months, because they have lost all of their fish to
disease and algae blooms.
In Nootka Sound, Grieg Seafood apparently lost $2.2 million pounds this summer
to the same problems for the second straight year.
Does this sound like a good idea for Barclay Sound, where we have on of the few
viable commercial fisheries for salmon on the West Coast and an expanding sport
fishery, as we see our salmon populations on the increase after several lean
years?
Do we want to take a chance with fish farms when everything we hear about them
points to serious problems with open net cage systems?
They are able to use chemicals to kill off sea lice but they also kill off
prawns, crab and other crustaceans.
The amount of raw waste they dump into the ocean every day is destroying the sea
floor.
Florida
man pursues dream of opening fish farm in Gulf of Mexico
December 7, 2003
Knight-Ridder Tribune
Dana Sanchez, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.
The United States, according to this story, imports $7 billion of fish each
year, most of it farmed-raised. Jody Symons, from St. Petersburg, Florida, sees
a way to reduce the trade deficit, stating, "With a declining natural
resource in the Gulf of Mexico you could feed the world and make a little
money.."
Symons, who is president of Florida Offshore Aquaculture Inc. in Madeira Beach,
was cited as saying he and his two partners want to anchor eight large cages 33
miles west-northwest of Anna Maria Island in 100 feet of water, hoping to raise
cobia, amberjack, pompano and more from fingerlings to market size.
The project may never get off the dock because of environmental concerns and
bureaucratic obstacles. But after almost two years of trying, Symons is not
ready to give up.
The story says that each of the flying-saucer shaped cages, called net pens,
could hold 165,000 pounds of fish, and that new technology allows cages to be
raised to the surface for harvesting, then lowered again. Large quantities of
food can be pumped down into the cages with an automatic feeding system.
The cages are covered with an inter-woven fabric called spectra-fiber, which is
harder than steel and cannot be cut with a knife. Fish and food stay inside, if
all goes according to plan.
It is friction, rather than sharp blades, that could wear out the cages, Symons
New
grant to help hog farm odor study
Dec. 8/03
AP
AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State University has, according to this story, been awarded a
$480,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study odor from hog
farms.
Researchers will measure downwind odors from hog farms and how those odors are
affected by weather, season of the year, growth cycle of the animals and
building design and management.
How
lice and bird feathers stick together
December 3, 2003
University of Utah
University of Utah biologists twirled louse-infested bird feathers on an
electric fan and flew pigeons and doves like kites on strings in a study that
found small lice stick to small birds and big lice prefer big birds.
The study also showed why size matters to parasites: Lice infest bird species
with feathers that are just the right size so the insects can hide between
individual “barbs” – the hair-like branches that extend from the shaft of
each feather. When lice can hide in the feathers, the birds cannot preen them
off with their beaks.
Why should anyone care? More than half of all species on Earth are parasites, or
bacteria and viruses that act like parasites. The great diversity of parasites
is tied to the fact that many parasite species evolved so each usually infests
only one species of host organism.
The study “is one of the best demonstrations to date of why parasites are
often specific to a single species of host and under what conditions they jump
hosts,” said evolutionary ecologist Dale H. Clayton, the study’s first
author and an associate professor of biology at the University of Utah. “This
is of strong interest to the public, particularly when it concerns parasites
such as SARS and the West Nile virus.”
“Sometimes parasites from domestic animals switch to humans and sometimes they
don’t,” says biology doctoral student Sarah E. Bush, a co-author of the
study. “So looking at how parasites on birds switch to other species of birds
may help us understand how parasites from mammals switch to humans.”
The study is being published online the week of Dec. 8, 2003, by the journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It was conducted by Clayton;
Bush; former biology undergraduate Brad Goates, now a University of Utah medical
student; and former postdoctoral researcher Kevin Johnson, now at the Illinois
Natural History Survey.
SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), which killed 916 people worldwide in a
2003 outbreak, is caused by a coronavirus that is believed to have jumped to
humans from civets, which are nocturnal, cat-shaped creatures. The West Nile
virus is spread from birds and mosquitoes to humans.
While the new study is not immediately relevant to SARS and West Nile, “if we
know why parasites use some hosts and not other hosts, then we can begin to
predict what hosts may get hit in the future by a given parasite,” Clayton
says.
Genealogy for lice and birds
In one part of the study, the researchers analyzed genetic material from 19
species of lice and 24 species of pigeons and doves. That allowed them to
construct evolutionary family trees for the lice and the birds, showing how each
species was related to or descended from other species during the last 30
million years.
Those evolutionary trees revealed that louse species evolved in concert with
various species of pigeons and doves they infest. As a result, “big birds have
big lice, small birds have small lice,” says Bush.
“We have shown that something as simple as the changing size of a parasite’s
environment – the bird feather – can cause new species of lice to form,”
Clayton says.
“Our research suggests that humans don’t pick up lice from chimps and
baboons because those lice evolved to hang onto to coarser hair. On an even
broader level, the study suggests size matters in terms of what parasites infest
a host. Size is one of the most fundamental properties of all living organisms.
Something as simple as size even may be dictating what cells can be invaded by
parasites like those that cause malaria.”
Experiments to learn why bird size matters to lice
After making measurements to confirm bigger birds have bigger feathers and
smaller birds have smaller feathers, the researchers conducted three sets of
experiments to learn why big lice could only survive on birds with big feathers.
Five species of birds were captured in Arizona, Utah, Oregon and Texas in
accordance with federal and state permits: rock pigeons (average weight 21
ounces), which are the common pigeons seen in city streets worldwide;
band-tailed pigeons (21 ounces); white-tipped doves (6 ounces); mourning doves
(4 ounces); and common ground doves (1 ounce).
One louse species was used: the slender wing louse that normally infests rock
pigeons.
-- The first experiment disproved the hypothesis that lice couldn’t eat
feathers of incompatibly sized birds.
Some abdominal feathers were plucked from all five species, weighed, and
incubated for a month in test tubes with 10 lice per tube. Then the feathers
were removed and weighed, revealing that the lice ate the same, no matter what
size bird the feathers came from.
-- A second set of experiments disproved the hypothesis that large lice would
have trouble clinging to the small feathers of a small bird. The hypothesis is
basically that “if you have evolved to shimmy up telephone poles, then you
might have trouble climbing redwood trees or a clothesline pole,” Clayton
explains.
Bush tested that idea by cutting a small, square piece of feather from each wing
of several rock pigeons. On one wing, she used fabric glue to transplant a piece
of feather from another rock pigeon. This was the control. On the other wing,
she grafted a piece of feather from one of the other four pigeon and dove
species. Then she placed two live lice on each feather graft.
“The idea was to see if rock pigeon lice can hang onto feathers from different
species of birds,” Bush says.
Bush placed each bird on a tether made of fishing line and, one at a time, let
them fly above a University of Utah football field until they landed. In a
related experiment, she painlessly removed feathers with the transplanted
feather piece and taped them to an electric fan rotating at 50 mph for 20
minutes.
Both parts of the experiment showed most of the rock pigeon lice stuck to
feathers, no matter what species of bird was the source of the feather
transplant.
“I had one louse on the fan for seven hours,” Bush says. “I gave up before
it did.”
-- The third and conclusive experiment revealed why a bird’s size matters to
the lice that infest it. The experiment showed that lice of just the right size
were able to hide in the feathers and escape being picked off when the bird used
its beak to preen its feathers.
The researchers started with louse-free birds. Then they transferred 25 lice
that normally infest rock pigeons onto each bird of four other species of
pigeons and doves.
Some birds were allowed to keep their normal preening ability. Preening was
blocked in other birds by placing a harmless C-shaped plastic bit – somewhat
like a horse’s bit – between the upper and lower parts of the beak. Those
birds couldn’t completely close their beaks. They could eat, but were unable
to use the overhang of the upper beak to remove lice.
Normally, a bird’s beak “is like a guillotine,” Bush says. “It chops off
parts of the lice and crushes or slices them to remove them.”
After two months, the scientists counted the number of lice on each bird, and
found big lice couldn’t survive on small birds because they couldn’t hide in
the feathers.
“This study suggests that birds and lice co-evolve in an arms race over time,
with lice changing size as birds, their beaks and feathers also change size,”
Clayton says.
A copy of this embargoed news release and a downloadable, high-resolution photo
to illustrate this story will be available after 9 a.m. MST Weds. Dec. 3 at:
http://www.utah.edu/unews/releases/03/dec/birdlice.html
Classical
swine fever: New test approved
December 5, 2003
The European Commission
http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/index_en.html
The complete document can be viewed at:
http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=IP/03/1665|0|RAPID&lg=EN&display=
The European Commission today adopted a decision approving a new test to be used
after vaccination against classical swine fever (CSF). This test will in the
future make it possible, in case of emergency vaccination with a marker vaccine,
to distinguish vaccinated pigs from pigs naturally infected with CSF. This
distinction is not possible when using conventional vaccination.
Illinois
creates agroterrorism initiatives
December 9, 2003
Meatingplace.com
Eric Hanson
http://www.meatingplace.com/DailyNews/init.asp?clickthrough=true&ID=11581
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced two initiatives designed to help
emergency officials respond to an act of terrorism to the agriculture industry.
The initiatives include funding for an Internet-based system designed to track
agricultural assets as well as the operation of an animal terrorism hotline, a
state press release said.
The first phase of the tracking system is a $22,000 pilot program in Clinton
County that will use satellite technology to plot agriculture assets like
livestock, grain elevators, food processing facilities and transportation
companies, the release said. The county was chosen because it ranks first in the
state for cash livestock sales and second for hogs.
The state is contracting with Science Applications International Corp. to
develop the system, which will create a real-time response tool for the Illinois
Department of Agriculture and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.
If successful, the tool would be expanded to the state's other 101 counties.
The Illinois Animal Terrorism Information Hotline is now available 24 hours a
day at 888/426-4767 for veterinarians, livestock producers and government or
health officials to call in with questions or concerns relating to agroterrorism.
The hotline received an initial funding of $165,000 from state bioterrorism
funds.
Missouri is also showing concern over agroterrorism. At a summit held at the
University of Missouri-Columbia, U.S. Senator Jim Talent warned about the
dangers of agroterrorism and how easily a terrorist might affect the industry.
"It seems almost absurdly easy for a terrorist to tamper with the food
system," Talent, R-Mo., said. "Just the idea—sneaking a vial of
hoof-and-mouth disease and going up and down the road and injecting a couple of
cows."
Talent is working with Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., to submit a proposal making the
university the home of one of two planned national centers for agroterrorism,
the Associated Press reported.
Increase
in fees and charges for egg, poultry, and rabbit grading
December 9, 2003
[Federal Register: (Volume 68, Number 236)]
[Page 68487-68489]
[DOCID:fr09de03-1]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
[Docket No. PY-03-001]
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Final rule.
SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is increasing the fees and
charges for Federal voluntary egg, poultry, and rabbit grading. These fees and
charges are increased to cover the increase in salaries of Federal employees,
salary increases of State employees cooperatively utilized in administering the
programs, and other increased Agency costs.
EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 2004.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Bowden, Jr., Chief, Standardization
Branch, (202) 720-3506.
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