WASHINGTON, D.C. — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack last week announced $19.7 million of financial and technical assistance to help communities rebuild and repair damages caused by flooding, drought and other natural disasters.

Funds are made available through the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s (NRCS) Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program. Earlier this year, NRCS distributed $215 million to 26 states to assist in disaster recovery projects around the nation.

This $19.7 million will meet additional needs expressed by states. Congress set up the EWP to respond to emergencies created by natural disasters. In this year’s appropriations, Congress provided funds to put toward wait-listed projects from presidentially or locally declared disasters that occurred during 2011.

Typical projects funded under EWP can include removing debris clogging waterways, protecting eroded stream banks, reseeding burned or eroded areas and in some cases, purchasing floodplain easements on eligible land.

To view recipients, visit www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/ main/national/programs/landscape/ ewpp

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Anyone with a Twitter account can now be among the first to know about food recalls with a new service the USDA is rolling out.

The USDA says state-specific food safety alerts for meat, poultry, and processed egg products are included, as well as information on how to protect food during severe weather events.

Up until now recalls have been announced in news releases and on a general USDA Twitter feed. The agency’s Food Safety and Inspection Service says state feeds will better provide information directly to people affected by recalls. Food recalls often involve specific states where food was distributed.

The alerts can be followed by listing your state’s two-letter designation, followed by underscore (_), then FSISAlert. For example, Iowa is IA_FSISALERT and Nebraska is NE_FSISALERT.

Appeals court won’t upset Michigan ban on wild hogs

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan Court of Appeals has rejected a challenge to the state’s ban on wild hogs.

The Michigan Animal Farmers Assoc. claims the rule is an unconstitutional taking of property and that the Department of Natural Resources had no authority to adopt the regulation. But in a 3-0 decision March 2, the appeals court disagreed.

Wildlife officials consider the wild hogs to be an invasive species that threaten crops and other animals. Some ranch owners say banning animals would cripple their businesses. The ranches allow people to hunt them for sport.

A ban on wild hogs was announced in December 2010 but actual enforcement isn’t expected to become official until the end of this month.

TAYMOUTH TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan farmer who lost two cattle in a pit bull attack is set to receive $1,150 in compensation from Saginaw County taxpayers, thanks to a little-known law dating back a century that mandates counties reimburse farmers who lose livestock to stray dog attacks.

The attack happened in October 2011 on Ed Toddish’s 250-acre cattle farm in Taymouth Township. The 62-year-old farmer said the scene looked “like a slaughterhouse” when he discovered six injured calves. Two were laying on their sides, clinging to life, and the four cattle that survived are now identifiable by their ripped or shredded ears.

“There was blood from one side to the other,” Toddish told MLive.com. “They wouldn’t eat for three, maybe four days before they finally settled down.”

Toddish, who said he grabbed a gun and “popped” one of the dogs he found lying outside, is now looking for financial help through The Dog Law of 1919, which was created at a time when packs of dogs would roam free tormenting and killing livestock.

Saginaw County Controller Marc McGill said the law regulates dog licensing and led to the creation of animal control agencies across the state. By the 1960s and `70s, animal control facilities largely had brought the problem of strays under control, so the stipulation in the law Toddish is using to recoup his loss is rarely applied, McGill said.

The county Board of Commissioners will vote on whether to pay Toddish the $1,150 at its board meeting March 20.

KEYSER, W.Va. (AP) — A Keyser man bothered by noise from the Pinnacle Wind Farm has taken his complaints to the West Virginia Public Service Commission (PSC).

The Mineral Daily News Tribune said Richard Braithwaite wants the PSC to order wind farm owner Edison Mission Group to silence the turbines or turn them off at night. He said he can’t sleep and has headaches.

The company said the noise is not from the blades but from cooling equipment inside the structure. Spokesman Charlie Parnell says a muffler is being installed, and testing will be finished by early April.

He said Edison Mission remains committed to addressing residents’ complaints.

But Braithwaite is skeptical the mufflers will work. PSC staff is set to evaluate both the complaint and the company’s response, then decide how to proceed.