USDA 2016 Agricultural Outlook Forum Plenary Panel Announced

USDA 2016 Agricultural Outlook Forum Plenary Panel Announced WASHINGTON, Jan. 12, 2016 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced the members of this year's Agricultural Outlook Forum Plenary Panel on "Providing Leadership for Present and Future Generations in the Transformation of Agriculture." This year's panelists have backgrounds in academia, business, farming and media, bringing a range of expertise to this discussion on transforming the future of agriculture. The group includes Elizabeth Garrett, President of Cornell University; Ilene Gordon, CEO of Ingredion; Pamela Hess, Executive Director of the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture; and Pam Johnson, an Iowa farmer and former president of National Corn Growers Association. The Forum's plenary panelists have unique perspectives on the present and future of agriculture and rural America. Technology is opening doors to new applications for producers and throughout the marketing chain, while demographics are changing across the country's rural landscape and farm households. These trends coupled with new markets domestically and abroad, as well as new programs under the 2014 Farm Bill, form the basis for the 92nd Agricultural Outlook Forum. The opening plenary will feature remarks from Secretary Vilsack and Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden and "The 2016 Economic Outlook for Agriculture" presented by USDA Chief Economist Robert Johansson. The Forum's keynote speaker is Howard Buffett, CEO of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. Mitch E. Daniels, Jr., President of Purdue University and former Governor of Indiana will be the dinner speaker. Thirty concurrent track sessions supporting this theme include the Agriculture Talent Pipeline, Bioproducts, Commodities, Land & Tenure Transition, New Markets, Organics, Risk Management, Scientific Advancement, and Trade, to Urban Agriculture. Deputy Secretary Harden will also host a session on opportunities in agriculture for new and beginning farmers and host a Women's Agriculture Networking event. USDA has hosted the Agricultural Outlook Forum since 1923. It's also USDA's largest annual meeting, attracting 1,600 attendees. It serves as a platform to facilitate conversation of key issues and topics within the agricultural community, including producers, processors, policy makers, government officials and NGOs, both foreign and domestic. The two-day meeting will be held at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Virginia, Feb. 25–26, 2016. To view Forum information and register go to www.usda.gov/oce/forum. #

Eastern NM dairy losses will have local impact

Eastern NM dairy losses will have local impact Las Cruces Sun News By Jason Gibbs There’s no question the post-Christmas blizzard in eastern New Mexico will have a long-term impact on the state’s dairy industry. While southern New Mexico dairy farmers were largely spared from the large-scale loss of livestock seen around Roswell, Clovis and Portales, the effects of the storm will be felt in Doña Ana County as well, said Jeff Witte, New Mexico’s secretary of agriculture. Witte spent the latter part of last week surveying storm losses in the eastern portions of the state, and said the number of head of cattle lost was still being determined, and the infrastructure losses still being tallied. Some estimates put the number of cattle deaths, largely in the dairy industry in New Mexico and West Texas, as high as 20,000 to 40,000, Witte said those numbers might exaggerate the actual losses. The federal government has implemented disaster relief eligibility for impacted ranchers and farmers. “Farmers and ranchers play a critical role in our state’s economy. I encourage New Mexico families who have suffered financial hardship due to the winter storms to utilize these relief programs so they can rebuild their herds and continue our rich agricultural traditions,” said U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-NM. “For more information about eligibility and applying for disaster assistance, New Mexicans should contact their local U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency office, or visit fsa.usda.gov.” “We don’t know,” Witte said last week of the overall amount of loss. “Early on, there was tremendous speculation using percentages. We are finding that’s not the case. We are finding better numbers in some cases. We are looking predominantly at dairy folks. Anything in a confined condition, and they had winds up to 80 miles per hour. It happens so fast there is no way to prepare for Goliath.” While losses in the southern regions of the state were minimal, many dairy operations have vested interests in both regions and will likely see a shift, moving stock from the southern areas to the eastern dairies and, in the short term, increasing production to fill the needs for the state’s dairy industry, including value-added agricultural products such as cheese or yogurt. New Mexico has become a national leader in cheese and milk production, averaging more than 672 million pounds of milk per month and a total of more than 8 billion pounds in 2014, the last year for which statistics are available from the Department of Agriculture. This tallies out to over 168,000 tanker loads of raw milk a year generated in the state of New Mexico alone. “There are going to be losses on the east side of the state and they will be coming out of Doña Ana County,” Witte said. “There’s going to be some opportunity to move yearlings and younger dairy cattle to the eastern side of the state. The unique part of New Mexico’s dairy industry is many Doña Ana County dairies also operate in Roswell and on the eastern side of the state. “The biggest thing was getting feed to the stock,” Witte added. “The rail system was down, roads were blocked and people couldn’t move the feed. Supplies were there, so that was good.” The days of disruption while farmers struggled to account for and feed stranded cattle did have an impact on the state’s cheese making plants, including F & A Dairy Products on Las Cruces’ west mesa, although to a much lesser degree and not enough to slow production, said Bob Snyder, vice president of F & A. “Locally we weren’t impacted like they were on the east side of the state,” Snyder said. “They lost a lot of milk, lost a lot of cows. As far as F & A, we are fine. We met our projection needs but couldn’t get the milk we wanted to get. I don’t know what we’ll get for next week. I’ve got calls in” to the dairies to see what they can deliver. It will take some time for dairy farmers to recover from the loss of stock. Beverly Idsinga, the executive director of Dairy Producers of New Mexico, a trade group that also has members in West Texas, told the New York Times that it may take a year to return milk production to its pre-storm levels in eastern New Mexico, which is home to 75 percent of all dairy farms in the state. However, with southern New Mexico producers moving stock back to the eastern plains and ramping up production, and given a well-established flow of milk from across the United States, the impact will be minimal, despite a brief shortage due to the lost herds and the inability to move milk from farm to factory during and immediately after the storm. “There were days of disruption that impacted cheese-making facilites who were not getting milk, but every cheese factory is back up to speed,” Witte said. Meanwhile, dairy farmers and beef cattle ranchers are still recovering from the storm.The health of their animals is their primary focus. “What happens in a deal like this is initially a period of 48 hours farmers can’t get cattle back to milking parlors, then trucks couldn’t get in so they had to dump the milk,” Witte said. The industry term of “dumping” milk does not mean the milk is wasted. Instead, it is used as a feed supplement for livestock. Now, dairy farmers are again milking their remaining cows and shipping that milk to processing facilities where it is pasteurized and packaged in jugs or cartons, or turned into value-added products like cheese and yogurt. Ranchers are now better able to access the far reaches of their pastures. They are getting feed to their cattle to supplement their grazing, and breaking the ice that forms in water troughs so their animals have water to drink. Aside from herd health, longer-term concerns for dairy farmers and beef cattle ranchers include rebuilding their herds, as well repairing barns and other agricultural buildings that were damaged by the storm’s heavy snows and high winds, Witte said. Dubbed in media reports as Goliath, the record snowstorm was not without an upside for New Mexico agriculture. Wet snow likely benefitted cold-season crops such as winter wheat, which is grown in the state’s eastern counties. Another silver lining for southern New Mexico is an opportunity to ramp up production and move stock to the decimated dairies in eastern New Mexico as those farmers and ranchers recover from the loss. But the New Mexico agricultural community, as it always has, will come out to support their neighbors. “The biggest thing was it was heartwarming to watch the community come together, opening roads, life and safety issues,” Witte said. “Every storm has a silver lining and I guess that was it. It brings people together for the common good.”

UAVs offer opportunity for Extension education

UAVs offer opportunity for Extension education Jan 7, 2016 Ron Smith Unmanned aircraft (drones) can offer significant advantages to farmers and consultants, who see the new technology as a potential aid to crop scouting, mapping, and analysis of various in-field systems and applications. They also may prove useful educational tools for Extension and research scientists, says Scott Graham, University of Tennessee, Jackson, who, along with fellow UT Jackson Extension specialists Scott Stewart and Heather Kelly, and Jeremy Green, Clemson University, has looked at ways these airborne tools can be used to benefit clients. Graham presented their findings at the Crop Consultants Conference at the annual Beltwide Cotton Conferences in New Orleans. “We can use these devices to show the scope and scale of research,” he says. “We can show how we collect data from research plots, how we harvest; we can present differences between varieties from a bird’s eye view.” Varieties that are susceptible to a particular disease, pest, or environmental condition show up on videos shot as the drone flies over plots. They also can be used to make stand assessments and establish or check prescription/precision applications. “We can also use drones to make an impression,” Graham said, showing a video of a drone flying over cotton plots with herbicide-tolerant and susceptible varieties. “We can create a virtual field day, and show crop changes from planting through harvest. We can show seasonal changes and different aspects of a crop.” AN AFFORDABLE TOOL He says many available UAVs aren’t a burdensome expense. “Drones cost from as little as $150 to you-can’t-afford-it,” he says. “But for $900 to $1,100 you can get a useful tool.” Adding a small camera and software makes the data and videos accessible. The units also may use spectral sensing and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) to monitor crop health in season. The technology comes with restrictions and challenges — training to use the systems takes time and expense, and users do assume some liability. Graham showed videos of skilled operators launching and landing drones with almost perfect precision, and flying prescribed courses over fields. He also showed them, in less skilled hands, crashing into pickup trucks, trees and crops, and chasing a technician. “It takes practice to operate a drone safely,” he says. “Things can go wrong; you will need spare blades and extra batteries. Safety is important — these things can hurt people.” Operators must be aware of wind speed and possible obstructions, he says. “There are also privacy issues — you can’t fly over private property.” Registration with the Federal Aviation Administration is also required to operate a drone.

NM dairies still digging out from 100-year storm

NM dairies still digging out from 100-year storm Albuquerque Journal By Lauren Villagran / Journal Staff Writer - Las Cruces Bureau Dairymen and women forged their way through snow blowing so hard and fast it seemed to come in sideways. They dug through drifts as tall as a man, working to get their cows milked and fed in temperatures that with the wind chill dropped far below zero. At home, they rolled breakfast burritos and turned out crockpots of hot food for their families and workers stranded by the storm. The power went out. The roads were impassable. For two days after Christmas, the blizzard “Goliath” pounded eastern New Mexico, hitting dairies around Clovis, Portales and Roswell especially hard. Many dairy cows – possibly thousands – were smothered by massive snowdrifts, fatally injured in the treacherous weather or struck with illness that could kill them in coming days. The losses are still being tallied. “Producers are still digging the snow out of their facilities,” said Beverly Idsinga, executive director of the Dairy Producers of New Mexico, an industry group. “They have lost animals, but their first priority isn’t to count the lost. Their first priority is to take care of the survivors.” ‘Screaming blizzard’ The region is used to the occasional winter storm, but nothing of this magnitude. Farmers, state and federal agencies and emergency responders held conference calls ahead of time to discuss preparations. Still, the severity of the blizzard, particularly gale-force winds, caught many producers off guard. “It was a screaming blizzard for a day and a half, two days,” said Charlie DeGroot, co-owner of Three Amigos Dairy in Roswell. “The wind with the snow is the problem because (the cows) will crowd to one side of the pen to stay warm. They start making a snow drift. The major losses will be with the young stock.” Tara Vander Dussen blogged about what her family farm and others went through, how everyone pulled together – the hard work through the blizzard at all hours, the exhaustion, the efforts to keep everyone warm and fed. She said the family’s three Rajen Dairy farms near Clovis lost 18 cows, 50 calves and 10 tankers’ worth of milk – a loss of more than $80,000 in wasted milk alone. Together, the Rajen farms milk about 10,000 cows a day. “We weren’t able to milk,” she said. “The snowdrifts were piling up at the back of the barn, and we couldn’t get the cows in. The power went off, and the wells went off. The farm ran out of water. Snow was piling up in the pens. We really had that wind, and that was the killer. If the snow had fallen straight, it wouldn’t have been that bad. It all piling in one area created a lot of problems.” The storm moved in late Dec. 26 and raged through two nights. Peak gusts reached 82 mph near Clovis, and the wind chill sharpened the already icy temperatures, according to Kerry Jones, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque. The danger to animals and humans was serious. “During the heart of the event, wind chills ranged from minus 5 to minus 25,” he said. “When wind chills get to minus 15 or 18, exposed skin freezes in about 30 minutes. When you have winds that are that strong, sustained for that long, it is just brutal.” $1.5B industry New Mexico’s 145 dairies – most of them family-owned – are a $1.5 billion industry that produces 4 percent of the nation’s milk supply. At least 90 dairies were in the worst part of the storm across Chaves, Roosevelt and Curry counties. Farmers who lost cows and calves may be eligible for financial relief under the 2014 federal Farm Bill, according to the USDA’s Farm Service Agency. New Mexico State University extension dairy specialist Robert Hagevoort said producers could have lost 5 percent of their herds. An estimate of 30,000 dead cows, quoted widely in the media, is speculative, said Hagevoort, Idsinga and officials with the Farm Service Agency. It is still too early to tell, Hagevoort said. “That will tell you the extent of the storm,” he said. “We’re still trying to figure out where we’re at. It’s obvious the losses are extensive.” Milk production was hurt as dairies struggled to get cows to milking parlors, and tanker trucks couldn’t get into or out of dairies with the roads snowed in. Dairies “poured milk down the drain for four days,” said Lynn Muncy, executive director of the Chaves County office of the Farm Service Agency. Producers lost “millions of gallons,” he said. Still, milk prices at the grocery store aren’t expected to rise as a result of the storm due to ample supply on the market, Hagevoort said. How quickly the dairies recover may depend on how mild – or not – the rest of the winter is, he said. Vander Dussen’s extended family works in the dairy industry. Many risked life and limb, she said, to care for their animals, laying out new feed every time the snow began piling up, breaking up ice in the water troughs, clearing the paths to milk barns. “These stories I keep hearing, it’s amazing more people weren’t lost or hurt,” she said. “This is how much people care about their cows and their employees. It was a 100-year storm. It was amazing how much more prepared we could have been, but I just don’t think anyone had any idea.”

NMDA Pesticide News

Message: 1 Date: Fri, 8 Jan 2016 18:17:08 +0000 From: Pesticide regulatory updates from NMDA Subject: [Nmdapesticides] Pesticide Compliance January 2016 Listserv To: "nmdapesticides@nmsu.edu" Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hello Subscribers, In this listserv: Renewal Season, Applying for a License, Worker Protection Standard Revision, Certification and Training Proposed Changes, Pesticide Product Renewals, and NMDA's New Inspectors. Renewal Season for Pesticide Licenses Ends January 31st! Renewal season comes to a close on January 31st, 2016. If you have not sent in your renewal form and appropriate fees by January 31st you will have to reapply and take all of your exams again. If you did not receive a renewal form please call us immediately at 575-646-2134! Your renewal forms show CEU credits turned in by October. Remember, if you are a Commercial Applicator, Public Applicator, or a Noncommercial Applicator you must have 4 General CEUs to be eligible to renew. If you're certified in wood-destroying pest control (termites, category 7D), you'll also need 4 CEUs in that category. If you are a Termite Technician or a 7D Pest Management Consultant you must have 4 wood-destroying pest CEUs. If you're a Private Applicator you must have 5 CEUs. *Remember that if you are a commercial applicator you must have current insurance on file with NMDA before your license will be renewed.* Renewal Fees Are Now Double: Commercial Applicators - $150 Noncommercial Applicators - $150 Pest Management Consultants - $150 Dealers - $150 Public Applicators - $0 Operator/ Technician - $100 Call us at 575-646-2134 or email pesticides@nmda.nmsu.edu with any questions or concerns you may have in regards to your pesticide license renewal. Applying for a Pesticide License in 2016 Applications for Commercial, Operator/Technician, Public, Noncommercial and Pest Management Consultant licenses are now ONLINE. Here's how to get started: 1. Sign up to receive your customer account with Metro Online Services. 2. Apply for your New Mexico pesticide license. You'll need the password you got when you opened your Metro account. 3. NMDA will review your application and email your Approval or a request for more information. Your Approval will include your Pesticide Application ID number. 4. Schedule and pay for your exam(s) with Metro. You'll use your Pesticide Application ID number here too. If you prefer to take the paper exams at NMDA sessions, refer to the schedule below and call NMDA to reserve a spot. Once NMDA has approved your license application you will be able to schedule your exam(s) through Metro at one of the computer-based testing centers in Albuquerque, Farmington, Hobbs, Las Cruces, Portales and Santa Fe. Metro will charge $55 per exam, payable when you schedule. Individuals at the testing site will verify your identity, take your picture, and set up and proctor your exam. You will get your score and a detailed results print-out as soon as you complete the exam. If you have any questions please call us at 575-646-2134 or email pesticides@nmda.nmsu.edu . Federal Worker Protection Standard Revision For those of you involved in greenhouses, nurseries, or agriculture, the Federal Worker Protection Standard (WPS) has been revised for the first time since 1992. Although the revised WPS will be in effect this December, compliance with most of the provisions will not be required until December of 2016. Among the changes are an annual training requirement (compared to every 5 years under the old WPS) for Workers and Handlers; a minimum age of 18 for Handlers and early entry Workers; application exclusion zones; and more. EPA and states will be developing materials to assist agricultural employers and others to comply, including new/revised manuals, fact sheets, presentations, web pages, etc. For more information on the revision of the WPS go to http://www2.epa.gov/pesticide-worker-safety/revisions-worker-protection-standard. EPA Proposed Changes for Certification and Training EPA is also proposing changes to the existing Federal regulation that covers the certification and training of pesticide applicators, which has had no substantive updates since 1974. A lot of major changes are proposed in this draft regulation which can be looked at on this EPA web page: http://www2.epa.gov/pesticide-worker-safety/epa-proposes-stronger-standards-people-applying-riskiest-pesticides. Most states, including New Mexico, already have State laws that are more restrictive than the Federal requirements, but if the proposal goes into effect as drafted, New Mexico will have to make some changes. We encourage anyone interested to read the documents EPA has placed in the Federal docket at regulations.gov and make constructive comments and suggestions; this is YOUR OPPORTUNITY to have a voice in the Federal rulemaking process! Go to the web site above to learn more. Pesticide Product Registration and Renewals Pesticide Product Renewals are in full swing right now. The deadline for products to renew is January 31st. After the 31st there will be a double fee. All pesticides and devices must be registered before they can be offered for sale in New Mexico. Products are registered by their marketing label, not their active ingredient or EPA number. For instance, if the product is marketed with different fragrances, alternate brand names, "lock and load" or water-soluble bags, etc., each different fragrance, formula, etc. must be registered. NOTE: All labels, revisions and supplemental distribution forms should be submitted in PDF format via either email or on a CD. To register, submit: 1. A completed application form. 2. Marketing labels for each product, in PDF format; send via email or on a CD. 3. For any supplementally distributed products, a PDF of EPA Form 8570-5, Notice of Supplemental Distribution. 4. The registration fee of $100 per product. Special registrations (experimental use permits, Section 18 exemptions, and 24c exemptions) are not subject to the registration fee if their parent product is registered. For more information on Product Registration please contact Erica Millette at 575-646-4697 or email her at emillette@nmda.nmsu.edu New Pesticide Inspectors NMDA's Pesticide Compliance group now has all of its pesticide inspector positions filled. Welcome to Neil Dolly and Luz Hernandez! Stephen Baca, Inspector Supervisor, 505-362-1392 Nathan Abrahamson, Albuquerque & Central, 505-948-4349 Erin Worth, Albuquerque & Northwest, 505-999-7336 Luz Hernandez, Las Cruces & Southwest, 575-496-6493 Emil Matthews, East, 575-418-8217 Neil Dolly, East, 575-202-7551 Upcoming New Mexico CEU Workshops 2016 Cotton Growers Association Conference January 13th Ruidoso, NM Southwest Hay and Forage Conference January 14th Ruidoso, NM 2016 Southwestern Conference January 26-28 Albuquerque, NM Pesticide Applicators Workshop January 28 Hobbs, NM NMAAA Annual Convention January 27-29 Mescalero, NM Pesticide Applicators Workshop February 3rd Farmington, NM Think Trees New Mexico February 4-5 Albuquerque, NM CTN Continuing Education Course February 4th Sunland Park, NM NM Organic Conference February 19-20 Albuquerque, NM For more information on upcoming workshops please visit our website: http://www.nmda.nmsu.edu/pesticides/workshops/ Got Recommendations? We invite you to suggest topics that you are interested in hearing about from the Pesticide Compliance group. Send us an email at pesticides@nmda.nmsu.edu with the words "Topics of Interest" in the subject line. That's all for now folks! NMDA Pesticides Listserv You are recieving this email because you have subscribed to the NMDA Pesticides Listserv. To unsubscribe please go to: https://mailman.nmsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/nmdapesticides Confidentiality Notice: New Mexico has a very broad public records law. Most written communications to or from state employees are public records. Your e-mail communications may therefore be subject to public disclosure. This e-mail, including all attachments is for the sole use of the intended recipients. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited unless specifically provided under the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.nmsu.edu/pipermail/nmdapesticides/attachments/20160108/bf19153c/attachment.html ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ NMDAPesticides mailing list NMDAPesticides@mailman.nmsu.edu https://mailman.nmsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/nmdapesticides End of NMDAPesticides Digest, Vol 33, Issue 1

Here’s what to look for if you suspect rabies in cattle Dec 30, 2015 Connor Orrock, K-State Research and Extension

I am reprinting this article just as a reminder. It was just a few years ago that in Eddy County we had a horse with rabies, and Dr. Urig and I investigated a range cow that it turned out did not have ti but was suspect. That years we had 48 confirmed cases of rabies. Currently in west Texas there is concern by the Texas department of Health and they will be monitoring for it. Rabies may be a bigger problem than some folks think. The most commonly diagnosed domestic carrier of rabies in the Midwest is cats; however, in Kansas, there has been a recent increase in cattle confirmed with rabies. “In Kansas the past two years, cattle have been the most common domestic species we’ve diagnosed with rabies,” says Gregg Hanzlicek, director of production animal field investigations for the veterinary diagnostic laboratory at Kansas State University. “This year, we have 13 confirmed bovine cases. Last year there were nine.” Hanzlicek says the skunk is the most likely carrier that spreads the disease to domestic animals such as dogs, cats, horses and cattle. Those species then will show the clinical signs of rabies. For producers interested in where rabies has been located in Kansas, the veterinary diagnostic laboratory’s website has a tab called “Disease Trends” that showcases the number of recent rabies cases, by species within each county. Producers can use that map to see the specific cases of different diseases throughout the state,” Hanzlicek explains. “It is updated every Monday morning, and it shows in the state, county-by-county, what species and the number of that species have been confirmed with several important diseases, including rabies.” HOW INFECTION OCCURS The rabies virus is spread through the saliva of a positive animal, Hanzlicek says. Being bitten by a positive animal is the primary way the virus is spread. However, other methods of spreading the disease include saliva from a positive animal getting into an open wound, or saliva from a positive animal getting into a mucus membrane—the eyes, gums or lips—of another animal or human. The time between infection and the onset of clinical signs varies, he adds. It can range from as early as a few weeks to as late as a few months after infection. “Many animals will start to carry the virus in their saliva before they start to show clinical signs,” Hanzlicek says, adding that the rabies virus is different than most other viruses, because it does not enter the bloodstream. Rather, the rabies virus travels through the nerves from the point of infection. For the latest on southwest agriculture, please check out Southwest Farm Press Daily and receive the latest news right to your inbox. “Let’s say an animal is bitten on its back leg,” Hanzlicek says. “Rabies will travel through the nerves of the back leg to the spinal cord, and then from the spinal cord it will go to the brain. When it gets into the brain we start seeing the clinical signs.” An animal bitten on the nose, as it is believed most cattle are, will start showing clinical signs earlier than an animal bitten on the back leg because the virus has less distance to travel to the brain. This accounts for the time variation between being infected and showing clinical signs. “Once rabies is in the brain, it will get into the salivary glands,” Hanzlicek says. “Then every time that animal bites another animal or human, it is going to spread the virus. Toward the end of the disease, we believe all of the organs that have nerves are basically infected with the virus. Therefore, an animal thought to be rabid should not be salvaged.” CLINICAL SIGNS OF INFECTION Hanzlicek says behavioral changes alone are not definitive for rabies. Other possible signs include anorexia, head pressing, bellowing (rabid cattle many times exhibit a unique vocalization), continually trying to defecate, unproductive defecation and unexplained rear-limb lameness. “There are many different clinical signs, but we say if an owner sees one of his or her animals acting strangely, rabies has to be on the list to rule out,” Hanzlicek says. Rabies has two forms, a furious form and dumb form. “The furious form is the form we remember from the movies, where the dog becomes rabid,” Hanzlicek says. “The infected animal will attack inanimate objects, such as tractors, feed bunks and fences. They will also attack animate objects, including other animals and humans. We do see cattle with the furious form, but it is more rare than the dumb form.” “With the dumb form, cattle act like they are not aware of their surroundings. They are quiet. They stand off, and they may head press. Often, they will start drooling at the mouth and have difficulty swallowing, and they might become slightly bloated.” Often when producers see abnormal salivation or trouble swallowing, they think something is stuck at the back of the throat, Hanzlicek says. This can lead to human exposure to rabies, because producers will reach into the mouth of the cow or the calf to see if some object is present. While they are doing so, they are exposed to the saliva that contains the rabies virus. WHAT TO DO WHEN SUSPECTING INFECTION Hanzlicek stresses that no treatment exists for rabies. Once an animal shows clinical signs, typically within four to five days that animal will get progressively worse and die. “If I am a producer, and I see a behavioral change in one of my animals, I will put rabies on the list of possible causes and call a veterinarian,” Hanzlicek says. “Veterinarians can help identify rabies, but also most veterinarians are vaccinated for rabies. They know what precautions to take to avoid contamination when examining the rabies suspect animal.” Therefore, let the veterinarian look into the mouth of a potentially infected animal; don’t personally do those examinations. Unfortunately, the only way to definitively diagnose rabies is in a deceased animal, where a specific portion of the brain is required for testing. Veterinarians are trained to sample the appropriate portion of the brain for a diagnosis. Effective rabies vaccinations are available for humans, dogs, cats, horses and cattle. Hanzlicek recommends that producers who show cattle consider vaccinating those cattle for rabies. If the show animals contract rabies, there is more of a chance of exposure to humans. “While it isn’t always practical to vaccinate the whole cow herd, some herds in Kansas have started due to the number of skunks that are present in their area,” he says. “However, in certain states rabies is more prevalent than in Kansas, and veterinarians in some states do recommend all cattle receive the rabies vaccine.”

Over-regulation limits farmer access to necessary tools Dec 30, 2015 Ron Smith

Regulation in agricultural research may be necessary to insure product and system safety, says David Baltensperger, but government agencies err in trying to regulate production to the point that researchers and individual farmers are denied access to necessary tools. Controversies surrounding genetically modified crops (GMOs) top the list of issues his organization follows, says Baltensperger, who is head of the Department of Soil and Crop Science at Texas A&M University and president of the Crop Science Society of America. He cited other issues during a presentation at the recent Texas Plant Protection Association annual conference at Bryan. They include climate change, bioenergy, water quality, intellectual property, scientific travel, food labeling, drones in agriculture and pesticide/technology registration. He says misinformation often results in negative responses to new products — GMOs being a prime example. In a recent survey, he says, 80 percent of respondents indicated they did not want GMO ingredients in their food. “But 80 percent also responded that they did not want DNA in their food either.” He says it’s important that scientific organizations such as the CSSA coordinate with other scientific groups, industry, university researchers, and others to dispel the myths surrounding agriculture technology.