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| News from Around the Farm World - April 21, 2010 |
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Girl, 1, struck, killed at N. Indiana farm
SHIPSHEWANA, Ind. (AP) — Authorities say a 1-year-old girl was killed when she was struck by machinery while playing in the barnyard of a northern Indiana farm.
The LaGrange County Sheriff’s Department said the child was playing near a skid loader and was hit the evening of April 13 on the farm near the town of Shipshewana. The girl, identified by WNDU of South Bend as 20-month-old Emily K. Miller, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The department said the death appeared to be accidental, but that its investigation was continuing.
Body at Iowa State ID’d as missing student
AMES, Iowa (AP) — The body of a man found in a building at the old Iowa State University dairy farm has been identified as a student missing since January.
The university issued a news release Thursday afternoon saying the state medical examiner’s office identified the body as 22-year-old Jonathan Lacina of Grinnell. Lacina’s body was found Wednesday night by a university police officer who was searching the area.
An autopsy was performed Thursday. No other details of cause of death have been released. University Police Chief Jerry Stewart said in the release that it may be weeks before final autopsy results are available. The investigation is continuing.
Lacina was reported missing by his father on Jan. 30. He was last seen on Jan. 22. The building where Lacina’s body was found was no longer being used.
Illinois farmer recovering after fumes
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A western Illinois farmer was recovering in a Springfield hospital late last week after inhaling toxic fumes from an anhydrous ammonia leak.
Marvin Stumpf said from his hospital bed that he was overcome by a cloud of fumes from a 2,000-gallon tank of the fertilizer on his farm as he worked the afternoon of April 11. Stumpf farms in rural Green County.
Tim Thaxton, chief of the Carrollton Fire Protection District, said it appears a worn-down hose on the tank leaked. Stumpf said his son, Andy, and nephew, Daryl Schnelten, were nearby and got him out of the white cloud of fumes and to the doctor. They both needed less serious medical treatment.
Deer at Michigan farm test for bovine TB
CHEBOYGAN, Mich. (AP) — The state says a deer at a Cheboygan County farm has tested positive for bovine tuberculosis.
Tim Reis, a wildlife biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment, told the Cheboygan Daily Tribune the deer was in the county’s southeastern corner, near Presque Isle and Montmorency counties.
WWTV-TV reported the suspected case was found in January in a doe that was part of the farm’s herd and testing confirmed the disease this month. WLUC-TV reported at least 300 deer in a 10-mile radius will be tested.
The disease began showing up a decade ago in cattle, deer and other animals. It has been confined primarily to the northeastern Lower Peninsula.
Indiana ag trip to China set for June
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (AP) — Indiana Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman is planning a trip to China in June to promote the state’s farm products and agriculture industry.
Skillman’s office announced last week that nearly 20 agriculture leaders are expected to join her on the trip June 1-10. Stops are planned in Zhejiang province and Beijing. The state said Indiana had nearly $670 million in food and agriculture product exports to China during 2008.
Skillman previously led trade delegations to Central America in 2005, Taiwan and Vietnam in 2006 and Mexico in 2008. Gov. Mitch Daniels plans a trade mission to Japan and other Asian nations this fall.
Keepseagle report postponed to late May
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an order last week to continue the deadline for a joint status report on Keepseagle et. al. vs. Vilsack to May 20, with a status conference May 26.
Defendants filed the class action lawsuit in 1999, alleging that for 18 years prior, USDA agencies had discriminated against Native American farmers seeking ag-related loans, and caused others with loans not to be able to refinance under the same reasonable terms white farmers were accorded.
Defendants’ attorneys and USDA representatives are negotiating to possibly reach a settlement in the case, rather than going to trial. Mid-April was the deadline, but the parties filed a joint motion to move it back a month.
Lead attorney Joseph Sellers said, “At the request of the USDA, the plaintiffs agreed to request a brief additional stay of the litigation, in the hope that the additional time will permit the parties to make real progress in establishing a basis for settlement. We’ve only agreed to an additional 30-day stay, as the plaintiffs want to avoid any more delay than is absolutely necessary to determine if there is a real possibility of settlement.” |
| 4/21/2010 |
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