Kentucky tobacco barn designated as landmark
MURRAY, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Heritage Council has recognized a tobacco barn in western Kentucky as a landmark in the area. Built in the 1880s, the log frame barn was part of the Arnett Farm in southwest Calloway County. A descendent of the family, Sam Arnett, told the Murray Leger & Times that he sought historic recognition for the barn as a way to signify the cultural importance of tobacco in the region.
Although tobacco barns are plentiful in the area, few have been the subject of artwork. J. C. Goodman, one of Arnett’s cousins, used the Old Arnett Tobacco Barn in one of his paintings. The original work has been shown at local businesses, but prints and postcards of it have been sold around Kentucky and the nation.
Iowa man faces animal neglect charges
SUMNER, Iowa (AP) — A northeast Iowa man faces animal neglect and other charges after livestock carcasses and ailing horses were found on a farm near Sumner.
Authorities say 66-year-old Lawrence Daisy has been charged with 25 counts of neglect and of failing to dispose of the carcasses. The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office says an Iowa State veterinarian examined the horses earlier this week and determined that they were being neglected. Officials say Daisy faces similar charges in Bremer County.
Some of the horses have already been removed from the farm near Sumner, and others are being rescued by private organizations. The Iowa Natural Resources Department has been contacted about removing the carcasses.
Daisy did not immediately return an Associated Press call on March 16. Online court records don’t list the name of his attorney.
Foot-and-mouth disease spreading through Egypt
CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s veterinary authorities say foot-and-mouth disease has left more than 2,000 young cattle dead. Egypt’s local press on Friday quoted veterinary official Essam Abdel-Shakour as saying that 24,500 livestock have been infected with the disease over the past two weeks. Most of the infections have come in the Nile Delta provinces in northern Egypt.
Agriculture Minister Mohammed Ismail told parliament this week that the ministry has ordered the isolation of infected animals, the closure of cattle markets across the country and is working on providing a new vaccine for the highly contagious disease. Egyptian farmers have accused the government of incompetence, and have thrown dead cows in front of the governors’ offices during protests.
Mild winter may benefit farmers throughout Illinois
PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — Farmers in Illinois say the mild winter has given them time to prepare early for the growing season. “Some have been able to get tilling done, while others have been able to apply fertilizer,” Patrick Kirchhofer, manager of the Peoria County Farm Bureau, told the Journal Star in Peoria.
Livestock producers have benefited from not having to buy extra feed and their hay supplies are lasting longer in the warmer weather, said Matt Johnson of Altona, president of the Knox County Cattlemen’s Assoc. But the nicer weather doesn’t mean farmers will be planting earlier, Johnson said.
“Farmers will look at the calendar and see it’s still mid-March. They’ll want to plant in mid-April, even if the weather is warm and the fields are suitable, because it can still get cool,” he reported. The lack of snow was a bonus for Mike Hoeft, a farmer from Delavan. “Every day I don’t have to move snow is a big plus,” Hoeft told the newspaper. |
