Category Archives: Just My Thoughts
ReadyAG
ReadyAG is multi-state collaborative project has utilized the expertise of Cooperative Extension professionals from multiple land grant universities in development of a set of disaster planning and continuity of operations worksheets for each of the major agriculture commodities. There are … Continue reading
NACAA Update on NBAF
I attended the Annual Meeting and Professional Improvement Conference of the National Association of County Agricultural Agents (that’s NACAA AM/PIC, for short) in Overland Park, KS, in August. Fortunately the temps did not soar into the 100s during our visit. … Continue reading
USDA APHIS Proposed Animal Disease Traceability Rule
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) issued a proposed rule on August 11 to establish general regulations for improving the traceability of U.S. livestock moving interstate if an animal disease event takes place. Under … Continue reading
Across the Fence episode: Preparing Our Communities for an Agricultural Emergency
On August 9, 2011 UVM Extension Family & Youth Development Specialist Dr. Ellen Rowe and I appeared on WCAX’s daily program Across the Fence to promote our AFRI Biosecurity project’s upcoming Public Policy Forum on September 14, 2011 at the … Continue reading
Is there an alternative to burial and burning?
Yes. Anyone who has looked at pictures from the UK, Japan, or South Korea during their confrontations with foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in the past decade has probably asked themselves whether “we” would be better prepared or more effective in our … Continue reading
Bury our way out of foot-and-mouth disease? Think again.
To illustrate the importance of considering alternatives to burial as a carcass management option, Lori Miller of USDA APHIS, has made it easy to visualize some mind boggling statistics. Policy-makers and those qualified as incident commanders would do well to … Continue reading
Recent foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks deserve a closer look
Taiwan 1997 Taiwan was free of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) from 1929 until 1997. An outbreak in 1997 spread rapidly among swine herds resulting in the destruction of 3.8 million pigs and loss of export markets. Taiwan now produces 6 million … Continue reading
Important Lessons from 2011 Dairy Industry Crisis Drills
In May I attended the first of three 2011 Dairy Industry Crisis Drills in which the featured scenario involves foot-and-mouth disease. These drills were coordinated by Dairy Management Inc. (DMI), which manages the dairy check off program. You may be … Continue reading
Strengthening Community Agrosecurity Planning (S-CAP) Workshop
On May 13 & 14, 2011, UVM Extension held a Strengthening Community Agrosecurity Planning (S-CAP) workshop in Rutland, VT to address agricultural gaps in Vermont’s local and state emergency operations plans. The S-CAP program is sponsored by the Extension Disaster … Continue reading
0, 1, 8, or 2026? How many makes a crisis? (Part 4 of 4)
The worst case: 2001 outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom It hard to argue with 2 thousand cases, 10 thousand culled farms, and over 6 million animals slaughtered being a crisis of horrific proportions. Eight hundred forty-three cases … Continue reading
