The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today (Friday), has confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza (HPAI) in four additional flocks in Minnesota and Iowa. No human infections with the virus have been detected at this time. CDC considers the risk to people from these HPAI H5 infections in wild birds, backyard flocks and commercial poultry, to be low.

USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirmed HPAI H5N2 in two Minnesota Counties, and two in Iowa, including Adair County, where 974,500 chickens are affected at the Rose Acre Farms facility near Stuart.

The affected premises have been quarantined and birds on the property will be depopulated to prevent the spread of the disease. Birds from the flock will not enter the food system.

According to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, in 2014, the U.S. poultry industry produced 8.54 billion broiler chickens, 99.8 billion eggs, and 238 million turkeys. Officials say the United States has the strongest AI surveillance program in the world. As part of the existing USDA avian influenza response plans, Federal and State partners as well as industry are responding quickly and decisively to these outbreaks by following these five basic steps:

1) Quarantine – restricting movement of poultry and poultry-moving equipment into and out of the control area;

2) Eradicate – humanely euthanizing the affected flock(s);

3) Monitor region – testing wild and domestic birds in a broad area around the quarantine area;

4) Disinfect – kills the virus in the affected flock locations; and

5) Test – confirming that the poultry farm is AI virus-free. USDA also is working with its partners to actively look and test for the disease in commercial poultry operations, live bird markets and in migratory wild bird populations.

A report recently released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows there are plenty of jobs in ag-related fields, but not enough college graduates to fill them. Krysta Harden is Deputy Secretary of Agriculture. “Folks don’t really realize the variety of jobs and the availability of the jobs in science and technology, in education, in communication, food production, all the way through the entire chain, frankly,” Harden says.

The report from the USDA and Purdue University states there are nearly 60,000 ag related job openings expected annually in the U.S., but only a little over 35,000 graduates available to fill them. Sonny Ramaswamy, director of the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, says that means there are some great opportunities for recent college graduates.  “For some majors like agribusiness, animal science, crop science, the young people are being offered two to three job offers and signing bonuses,” Ramaswamy says.

The report projects almost half of the ag job opportunities in the next five years will be in management and business. Another 27 percent will be in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) areas. According to the report, more than half the grads in agriculture and ag-related fields are women.

(Radio Iowa)

Gardeners have the opportunity this summer to learn about theme gardens, planting trough gardens, water features and conservation, attracting butterflies and bees, and growing herbs. The Iowa State University Extension and Outreach “Growing Season” webinar series will be offered at multiple locations across Iowa during June, July and August. The Cass County Extension Office is one of the locations hosting these webinars.

This is the sixth year for the Iowa Master Gardener program annual summer series. It is open to all interested gardeners; participants are not required to have completed master gardener training to attend. Each of the three webinars feature an Iowa Master Gardener and ISU Extension and Outreach faculty or staff member presenting the two-hour course at an ISU Extension and Outreach county office. Course topics and speakers include:

JUNE: Design from Yard to Trough, with Iowa State University Department of Horticulture lecturer Lisa Orgler and Fayette County Master Gardener Gary Whittenbaugh. Participants will learn how to add spark to landscape designs and trough planters filled with conifers and their companions.

The Des Moines Botanical Garden and Polk County Master Gardeners Enabling Garden are two of many highlights on the 2015 Cass County Master Gardener bus tour. The trip is scheduled for June 18th, departing from the Cass County Fairgrounds in Atlantic at 8-AM and returning around 6-PM. Other stops include nurseries, gardens and greenhouses in the Greater Des Moines Area. Lunch, catered by Hickory Park, will be served at the Polk County Extension Office.

The trip is sponsored by the Cass County Master Gardeners but is open to everyone. Registrations are due by June 10th, so register soon so you can be sure to save your spot on the bus! The cost is $55. 00 which includes transportation, entrance fees and a meal and snack. Registration forms are available at the Cass County Extension office, and can also be found on the Cass County Extension website at www.exension.iastate.edu/cass.

A full itinerary is on each registration form. Be sure to bring plant labels and boxes to mark the goodies you pick up along the way!

(Press Release)

The Adair & Guthrie County Emergency Management Agencies have assemble a list of Website and printable information about the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). EMA Coordinator Robert Kempf says “This information provides general information, facts, biosecurity guidelines and other information the general public and caretakers of backyard flock may find useful.

These are printable resources from the USDA:
HPAI General Resources and Information
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/downloads/animal_diseases/ai/HPAIgeneralresourcesinfo.pdf
Emergency Response Procedures – Depopulation and Disposal
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/downloads/animal_diseases/ai/ER-DepopDisposal.pdf
Emergency Response Procedures – Cleaning and Disinfection
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/downloads/animal_diseases/ai/ER-CleaningDisinfection.pdf
Emergency Response Procedures – Appraisal and Indemnity
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/downloads/animal_diseases/ai/ER-Appraisal-Indemnity.pdf
USDA Avian Influenza Response: Mass Depopulation and Carcass Disposal
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/downloads/animal_diseases/ai/QA-MassDepopCarcassDisposal.pdf
HPAI Biosecurity Checklist
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/downloads/animal_diseases/ai/HPAIchecklist.pdf

The Center for Food Security & Public Health at Iowa State University has provided this printable sheet of Fast Facts.
http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/FastFacts/pdfs/avian_influenza_F.pdf

This is a link to the USDA APHIS Website that contains guidance about bio-security for backyard flocks.
http://healthybirds.aphis.usda.gov/

This is a link to a printable Avian Influenza informational brochure.
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/animal_health/2011/ProtectYourBirdFromAI_Eng.pdf

This is a link to the Iowa Department of Agriculture Web Page that contains a list of probable and confirmed Avian Influenza cases in the State of Iowa. The green dates behind the county name are the printable press releases announcing the cases.
http://www.iowaagriculture.gov/AvianInfluenza.asp

The leaders of several Iowa farm groups say they’re worried the E-P-A’s final draft of rules to curb pollution in small waterways and wetlands will subject farm ditches and farm ponds to federal oversight. Iowa Farm Bureau president Craig Hill says this final rule failed to address many of the concerns farmers raised after the E-P-A released a first draft of new Clean Water Act regulations last spring. “The penalties are so severe if you are found to be in breach of the Clean Water Act,” Hill says. “Those penalties can range up to $37,500 per instance. Jail is one of the penalty provisions.” Hill says it appears farmers will have to get federal permits for “normal farming practices.”

“The permitting process is very cumbersome, awkward and expensive,” Hill says. “And, according to what we read in this new rule, farmers will be required to get permits for things they’ve never been required to get permits for before.” E-P-A officials say the new rule covers about three percent more waterways in the United States that have a “direct and significant” connection to lakes and rivers that are already covered by the Clean Water Act. Hill says farmers still aren’t sure whether they’ll have to get permits for the ponds on their property.

“Every pond has an overflow. Well, the overflow is not exempt,” Hill says. “So when they say ponds are exempt it has no meaning because the water that comes out of a pond is, by definition, a water of the U.S.” The new rule failed to answer key questions farmers raised last spring, according to Hill, like what is a lawful grass waterway.

“We know what a grass waterway is in Iowa and farmers are installing those on their own accord. Every spring and fall we’re reshaping and trying to perform conservation, but we turn to NRCS — the Natural Resources Conservation Service — for an outline of what is proper and best management practice and so on,” Hill says. “Well, according to EPA, they will only consider a waterway lawful by their definition.”

The president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association says the E-P-A seems to be “restricting” farmers efforts to “voluntarily improve our environment,” rather than partnering with farmers to advance conservation measures. The chair of the Sierra Club’s Iowa chapter praised the E-P-A’s rule, arguing it is “a critical step toward protecting streams and wetlands that feed our drinking water supplies.” Experts offer conflicting opinions about the rule’s potential impact on the lawsuit the Des Moines Water Works has filed against three northwest Iowa counties.

(Radio Iowa)

w/ Denny Heflin

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The price of eggs used by food manufacturers has more than tripled in recent weeks, largely due to the outbreak of bird flu spreading across Iowa, the nation’s number-one egg-producing state. Avian flu has affected more than 21-million egg-laying hens in Iowa so far, with more operations being added to the list almost daily. U-S-D-A poultry economist Alex Melton says food company officials are worried about supply.

Melton says, “When there is a scare in any sort of national market for any commodity, you often see a sharp increase in price followed by a tapering as people are able to take more stock and get more information.” Melton says it’s hard to say how high costs will eventually climb, since no one knows when the avian flu outbreaks will stop. Eggs used in food processing cost 64-cents a dozen back in April, but now the price is over two-25 a dozen. Melton says prices have started to taper, but stabilizing costs depend on the egg industry’s ability to replace and sustain the current flock.

Melton says, “Egg producers can take different actions to try to extend their productivity by either keeping a laying hen in action longer and speeding up repopulation of barns with new pullets.” Roughly ten-percent of the egg-laying hens in the U-S have been affected by avian flu and more than one-third of Iowa’s birds. The latest two probable cases in Iowa were announced Tuesday in commercial egg-laying operations in Adair and Webster Counties.

The Adair County operation has 975-thousand birds, while the facility in Webster County has 160-thousand. If confirmed, it will take the total number of outbreaks statewide to 66. State ag officials say, so far, more than 19-million commercial layers and pullets have been euthanized in Iowa.

(Radio Iowa)

The latest U-S-D-A crop report shows wet weather has slowed planting progress — especially in the southwest part of the state. Overall, 96-percent of the corn crop has been planted, which is one day ahead of last year, and three days ahead of the five-year average. In southwest Iowa, just 81-percent of the corn has been planted, and I-S-U Extension Agronomist, Aaron Sauegling says it’s just been too wet.

“We’re still behind. There’s still corn to be planted in portions of southwest Iowa. There’s actually a fair amount of soybeans to go. I have some producers that have yet to plant any soybeans, and I have some producers that are done,” Sauegling says. Farmers have just had to wait for things to dry up. “It gets close, and there have been some producers that have tried to push that a little bit — to try to literally mud some of this crop in — and it’s just not fit.

Soil conditions have just not allowed us to go out in the field,” Sauegling says. Sauegling says farmers are monitoring weather forecasts, while also keeping an eye on the calendar. “We don’t want to panic too much at this point, but once you start to get to June, we’d sure like to get a chance to get some of the beans in.”

Across the state 81-percent of the corn that’s planted has emerged, which is six days ahead of last year and four days ahead of normal. Soybean planting is 70-percent complete, behind last year’s pace for the first time this year. Thirty-two percent of the soybean crop has emerged, slightly ahead of last year and normal.

(Radio Iowa)

w/ Kate Olson

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