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News from Around the Farm World - May 6, 2009

Farmers worry ‘swine flu’
nickname may sink profit

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Like the virus itself, the name “swine flu” is spreading quickly. For the pork purveyors and hog farmers who make up the nation’s $15 billion pork industry, that’s a disaster.
It doesn’t seem to matter that the strain may not come entirely from pigs and cannot be spread by eating pork. Hog prices are already dropping as financial markets worry people will have second thoughts about buying “the other white meat.”

“It’s killing our markets,” said Francis Gilmore, 72, who runs a 600-hog operation in Perry, outside Des Moines, and worries his small business could be ruined by the crisis. “Where they got the name, I just don’t know.”

“They could have just as easily called it bird flu or human flu,” said Ken Horton, executive vice president of the Texas Pork Producers Assoc. “For some reason they tag it with us.”

The swine flu strain that is spreading is a never-before-seen hybrid of human, swine and bird influenza but is widely known as swine flu. Though it is suspected of killing more than 150 people in Mexico, public health officials have said eating products such as bacon, ham and pork chops is safe as long as the meat is cooked thoroughly.

Still, the outbreak has depressed the U.S. pork industry. China, Russia and Ukraine have banned pork imports from Mexico and parts of the United States, and the outbreak has stalled the usual spring rise in U.S. hog prices.

Hog prices nationwide had dropped to an average of about $59 per 100 cwt. April 28, down from about $62 the Thursday before, according to the USDA. Prices typically climb past $70 in late April and May.

State health officials have set up a toll-free hotline to answer questions about the illness. Symptoms of swine flu include high fever, body aches, fatigue, coughing and nausea. The toll-free hotline number is 800-447-1985.

Co-owners of Kent County
deer farm plead guilty

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — The father and son co-owners of a Kent County deer farm who were accused of violating a chronic wasting disease quarantine have pled guilty in the case.
James Schuiteman pled guilty Thursday in Kent County Circuit Court to violating Michigan’s Animal Industry Act by moving a buck in violation of the quarantine placed on their Algoma Township deer farm, J&B Whitetails. The 52-year-old faces up to five years in prison on the felony charge.

His 24-year-old son, Brian Schuiteman, pled guilty to the same charge as a misdemeanor, which carries up to 30 days behind bars.
Prosecutors say the men tried to move the buck in August. The deer tested negative for chronic wasting disease, a contagious and fatal disease that attacks the brains of infected deer and elk.

Theft suspected in ammonia leak that sickened 21

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) — A leak of anhydrous ammonia that sickened 21 people was caused by someone trying to steal the chemical from a farm supplier, authorities said.
Vanderburgh County Sheriff Eric Williams said investigators found damage to the ammonia’s container and tubing and other paraphernalia that suggested a theft.

Anhydrous ammonia is a key component in the production of methamphetamine. Thefts occur regularly at farms and their suppliers. Williams told the Evansville Courier & Press that co-op officials were aware of the demand for ammonia for drug production and have taken appropriate steps to secure it, including keeping the tank in a fenced-in area.

“But nothing’s perfect,” Williams said, adding he suspected the business would review its procedures. “Obviously, some people got in there.”

The leak occurred about 10 p.m. April 24 at the Superior Ag Resources Co-op on Evansville’s west side. Seven people were taken to St. Mary’s Medical Center and 14 were taken to Deaconess Hospital. All were treated and released.

Sean Datzman, who lives near the co-op, said security should be increased. “If you have a theft like that and somebody makes a mistake like that, it can cost people’s lives, and that’s not a good situation at all,” he said.

“My chest was burning, my eyes, my throat, my nose burns all burned. It just makes it really hard to breathe.”
A representative of Superior Ag Resources said the business had no comment.

Firm says it will grow corn, soybeans on Kauai

HONOLULU, Hawaii (AP) — Dow AgroSciences LLC is announcing it will grow seed corn, soybean and sunflower crops on Kauai beginning later this year.

The plants will be grown on former sugar land between Hanapepe and Waimea, on Kauai’s west side. About 3,400 acres of the land will be leased by a Dow subsidiary, Mycogen Seeds, from owner Gay & Robinson, Inc.

The crops will be both genetically modified and conventional, but the company says the project will not include pharmaceutical, or “bio-pharm,” crops.

Mycogen will begin hiring Kauai workers in a month to six weeks. Another seed company, Monsanto, announced in March that it would shut down its seed corn research operation on Kauai and lay off all 30 employees.

Ohio farmers place ads
to explain manure smell

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Dairy farmers in Ohio hope a new ad campaign will help the public understand why they spread manure, which can make for a smelly spring.

The Ohio Dairy Producers Assoc. says a $15,000 campaign will place ads in newspapers in counties with a large number of dairy farms, including Wayne, Holmes and Mercer counties.
Jon Rausch, a manure management specialist with The Ohio State University’s extension, says manure that is properly applied to fields enriches soil, enhances plant growth and saves farmers the costs of chemical fertilizers.

Dairy farmers take steps to minimize odors, including spreading liquid manure during cooler weather, tilling it into the ground as quickly as possible and avoiding such work around holidays.

5/6/2009