Dairy Calves - News

Protect Your Calves During Fly Season

Tue, 17 May 2022 15:18:17 GMT

With fly season at its peak, calves need extra protection to stay healthy and stress-free.

Stable flies are particularly damaging to calves, because their painful bites on the lower legs are stressful and damaging to calves’ tender skin. Sarah Morrison, researcher at the W.H. Miner Institute, Chazy, NY, said the damage from stable flies can be severe enough to cause noticeable hair loss and scab formation. “Stable fly populations will increase throughout the summer, and have the greatest numbers by the end of August and early September,” noted Morrison.

Biting flies like stable flies also have been identified as a vector that can spread vesicular stomatitis , which is a growing concern in the southwestern U.S. Common houseflies are more of an annoyance but also can spread diseases, and have been recorded in populations as much as 8-fold greater than stable flies.

“Unfortunately, calf housing is an awesome breeding ground for fly populations on the farm,” said Morrison. “Fly maggots grow and develop in accumulations of manure; spilled grain and milk; other spoilage piles; and straw bedding.”

She noted an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plan can be helpful in minimizing fly populations and protecting calves from their damage. IPM focuses on (1) sanitation; (2) biological control; and (3) chemical control. For IPM in calf environments, she advised:

Sanitation – Clean pens weekly and remove excess manure regularly. Mow areas around calf hutches, and elevate hutches to encourage airflow and keep bedding dry. Consider sand, gravel or sawdust as bedding materials instead of straw in warm-weather months.

Biological control – Releasing natural predators in the spring can help keep fly populations from blooming. These natural enemies include black soldier flies, rat-tailed maggots, beetles, mites and wasps.

Chemical control – Chemical sprays should be rotated to prevent insect resistance. Larvicides can be used in heavy breeding areas such as manure storage, but should be used with caution because they also destroy beneficial insect populations. Oral, feed-through larvacides are especially helpful in managing fly populations in calf environments. Baits and traps also are useful in lowering adult fly populations throughout the farm.

“A whole-farm approach should be taken to maximize fly control, and also will positively impact the calf-rearing area,” said Morrison. “Plus it also creates a more pleasant environment for the people caring for the animals.”

What’s Next for Animal Activism in 2021 and What Can We Do About It?

Fri, 18 Dec 2020 21:14:41 GMT

By Hannah Thompson-Weeman, Animal Agriculture Alliance

2020 has taken me so off guard that I am a little hesitant to even attempt to look into my crystal ball and make predictions for 2021. A year ago, I certainly would not have guessed that events and travel would come to a halt in March or that phrases like “mask up” or “social distancing” would be part of our daily conversations. As much as the past year has shown us that being flexible and adaptable is just as valuable as having thorough predictions and plans, I still believe there is merit to taking a moment to reflect on some of the trends we’ve seen this past year and consider how they may impact us moving forward.

The Animal Ag Alliance has remained focused on monitoring animal rights activism this year, and activist groups have not skipped a beat in their efforts to damage the reputation of animal agriculture. Some organizations believe the COVID-19 pandemic is the “tipping point” they need for their messages to go mainstream, and that concept combined with activists trying to take advantage of a new incoming administration means that 2021 could be an even more intense year for activism.

I think we should all be preparing for a few continued trends:

• Activist messaging involving public health and animal agriculture. Activist groups have long claimed that animal agriculture is a threat to public health and the COVID-19 pandemic has added fuel to that fire (despite there not really being any merit to attempting to tie the current outbreak to food production). Unfortunately, this narrative seems to be gaining steam with calls to “reform the food system” to prevent future pandemics. I think we are going to see more and more references to farms as “breeding grounds” for future disease outbreaks and should be focused on debunking that narrative.

• Renewed focus on sustainability. Conversations about the environmental impact of animal agriculture took a backseat for much of 2020, but in the past few months that discussion is heating back up. Restaurant chains like Panera and Chipotle have announced new labeling programs to communicate the environmental footprint of their menu options and we’re starting to hear more about the UN Food Systems Summit coming up in 2021 with an action track focused on “shifting to sustainable consumption patterns.” The animal agriculture community will need to make sure we’re continuing to communicate about our sustainability efforts as we settle into the “new normal.”

• Large-scale protests and demonstrations, including at private homes. Activist groups seem to be upping the ante in terms of protests this year, likely believing that they need to be more and more extreme to get attention. We’ve seen continued protests (despite restrictions on gatherings) everywhere from farms and plants to public health offices, with some involving trespassing and interfering with daily operations. Animal rights activist organizations have also held several protests at the private homes of animal agriculture company and organization leaders, which is a troubling new trend. These continued incidents illustrate that we cannot let farm security slip down our priority list in 2021.

Despite whatever challenges 2021 may bring, know that the Alliance team is here and has your back. Happy New Year!

Read more from Hannah Thompson-Weeman:

Things Animal Rights Activists Say: 2020 Edition

Activists Set Sights on 4-H and FFA Despite Fewer Fairs

Communication Strategy is Critical Part of Crisis Planning

Election 2020: The Upside for Agriculture

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 02:32:11 GMT

Will you be voting policy or personality this election? As Chip Flory said on AgriTalk, there’s a big separation among farm and ranch voters between policy and personality this election, and farmers and ranchers are looking at policy.

According to the latest Farm Journal Pulse Poll, 85% of ag respondents plan to vote to re-elect President Donald Trump.

Regardless of the election outcome, Pro Farmer’s Jim Wiesemeyer and Farm Journal’s John Herath say there are potential positives and negatives for agriculture in either a Trump or Biden presidency. They shared their thoughts in the DC Signal to Noise Podcast on Friday.

“There are pluses and minuses with each candidate, whether he or she be at the presidential level, representative level or the senate level,” Wiesemeyer says. “And that’s what elections are all about.”

As an analyst and reporter, Wiesemeyer tries to connect dots as far as where things may go relative to policy in the agribusiness sector. Some believe that ag-related programs shouldn’t discuss politics, but both Herath and Wiesemeyer argue policy is critical in the business of agriculture.

“What both frustrates and amuses me as analysts, is that if we say that something Trump did was a beneficial move for him, all of a sudden, it’s ‘Oh, you’re just promoting Trump.’ Or if we say something was positive or negative for Biden, we’ll get the same kind of reaction,” Herath points out. “It’s like, ‘No, we’re not saying that. We’re just saying that this particular instance of this particular move was either beneficial or not beneficial to their campaign.”

Wins for Agriculture
The overall ideology of the two political parties are undeniably different when it comes to agriculture. However, Herath says it’s important to highlight that there are wins for agriculture, no matter if Trump wins or if Biden wins.

• Climate Change: The parties will have major difference of opinions relative to how they will implement any climate change provisions, Wiesemeyer says.

“I think that really plays into the next revenue stream for agriculture that I actually see bipartisan support for,” he says. “Because eliminating CO2 emissions on the one hand, could result in regulations that are costly for producers to meet – driving up cost in a very energy-intensive sector.”

But on the flip side, the revenue-generating side is that for carbon credits and other things that agriculture can contribute, to get a revenue stream in place to offset the costs.

• Trade Policy: Wiesemeyer thinks Biden would be very cautious his first year or so on trade policy, very similar to Trump with the exception Biden would be far more positive relative to the World Trade Organization in wanting to get back into its good graces.

“I know that he eventually wants to get back into the Trans-Pacific Partnership, now called the CPTPP,” Wiesemeyer says.

However, Wiesemeyer says they are very similar regarding China – the one exception being Biden consistently says he wants to consult more with allies, whereas Trump says both Republican and Democrat administration in the past tried that and it failed. Wiesemeyer doesn’t see that changing.

• Tax Policy: When it comes to tax policy, he believes Trump would want to at least propose further tax cuts and zeroing in on the middle-class sector this time.

“If Biden were to win, and Congress is Democrat in tone, you would see an increase in corporate taxes, capital gains taxes that would impact more than a few farmers and possible changes in estate taxes relative to lower exemptions and the basis more along the lines of capital gains taxes,” Wiesemeyer says.

• Farm Policy: It all depends on who becomes the Senate and House Ag Committee Chairman because they really write the Farm Bill, Wiesemeyer says.

“Who’s going to lead the Senate Ag Committee – will it be John Bozeman from Arkansas, who would take over from Pat Roberts because he’s retiring, if the Republicans keep control of the Senate? If not, then it’s back to Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat from Michigan, and she’s a known commodity. But what a difference.

“Stabenow is known for changing farm policy relative to more urban agriculture, specialty crops, etc. She’s not nearly as southern-oriented in her focus – that’s an understatement there. Bozeman says he wants to start the debate of the Farm Bill next year, but he doesn’t want to rewrite it next year, because it just takes time.”

Who’s in Control?
Regardless of who wins the election, who controls the Senate is going to be very important for either Trump or Biden. What the president can do will largely be dictated by which party controls the chambers in Congress, especially the Senate.

“Their policies have to be approved. And even if the Democrats were to regain the Senate, by what margin? Margin is going to be very important in the Senate, especially for Biden. We know that a 50/50 vote, the Vice President breaks ties, but even with a 51/49 or a 52/48, Biden may still have trouble because there’s going to be a couple of moderate Democrats in the Senate that may not like some of the proposals coming out from the more left wing of the Democratic Party,” Wiesemeyer says.

Election-Night Coverage
Pro Farmer is teaming up with AgWeb and AgriTalk and a few guest commentators to participate in a live streaming commentary on Election Night beginning at 9 p.m. CT on what is known and not known about ballot results. The live stream will be available on both AgWeb.com and ProFarmer.com .

To prepare for the myriad number of races, we have put together some “dashboard” graphics and information detailing key issues and races for the White House, Senate and House. The following are links to those pdf documents, which will be updated as new information becomes available.

Link to White House race

Link to Senate races

Link to House races

Antimicrobial Resistance Strategic Plan and Public Meeting

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 05:21:58 GMT

The Food and Drug Administration has released its National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) Strategic Plan: 2021-2025. The NARMS program examines bacteria isolated from humans (through CDC data), raw retail meats (through FDA data), and animals at slaughter (through USDA-FSIS data) to analyze and report on patterns of resistance to the most important antimicrobial agents.

The NARMS Strategic Plan was developed in cooperation with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS).

FDA also announced that registration is now open for the 2020 Public Meeting of the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System, which will be held virtually on October 13 and 14, 2020. The purpose of the NARMS Public Meeting 2020 is to share the NARMS Strategic Plan: 2021-2025 with stakeholders and to encourage discussion.

The NARMS Strategic Plan: 2021-2025 lists the program’s strategic goals and objectives, as well as its challenges and opportunities. A central theme of the new NARMS Strategic Plan is One Health, which is a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach to health—working at the local, regional, national, and global levels—with the goal of achieving optimal health outcomes recognizing the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment. In accord with the principles of One Health, NARMS is expanding its testing to include environmental water samples through a collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and animal pathogens through collaborations with FDA’s Veterinary Laboratory Investigation and Response Network (Vet-LIRN) and USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). The NARMS Strategic Plan: 2021-2025 is a roadmap for NARMS activities over the next five years.

Registration is now open for the October 13 and 14, 2020, NARMS Public Meeting and will remain open through 4:00 p.m. ET on September 22, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the public meeting will be held as a live virtual webcast.

Time at the meeting will be devoted to comments from the public and the FDA has opened a docket (docket number: FDA-2020-N-1764) for additional comments. Comments will be accepted starting August 19, 2020. For more information and to register for the virtual public meeting, visit the 2020 NARMS Public Meeting webpage.