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| News from Around the Farm World |
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| Michigan urges vaccinations
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A high rate of rabies cases in Michigan this year has state agriculture officials urging residents to vaccinate their pets, livestock and horses.
As of late last week, state officials had documented 170 cases of rabies in animals – mostly bats – so far this year. That compares to 49 cases in animals in 2006.
State health officials don’t know what is behind the increase in cases, although some experts say rabies may be cyclical. Increased awareness because of media attention focused on rabies in some Michigan counties may also play a role in the higher number of reported cases.
The reported rabies cases in animals are scattered across much of the Lower Peninsula. The state says 163 bats, three skunks, two cats and one dog and one horse have tested positive this year.
Higher wheat prices expected
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (AP) — It seems wheat farmers will be smiling over the next few months.
Wheat prices have seen a recent spike, mostly due to bad weather in the world’s wheat-growing regions. However, the spike can also be attributed to less wheat in the United States, as farmers here cut their wheat crops over the last decade in favor of growing more corn and soybeans, which were seen as more profitable.
At the Minneapolis Grain Exchange on Friday, spring wheat for September delivery rose another 11 cents to $7.71 a bushel – setting another record. Wheat is trading more than $8 a bushel at exchanges in Kansas City, Mo., Chicago and elsewhere.
“Especially with these high prices, we’re certainly expecting to see wheat (plantings) coming back in a big way,” said Elaine Kub, a commodity analyst with DTN. “Wheat is, by far, more profitable (for farmers) than soybeans or corn right now ... That would be true even if wheat fell to $7 a bushel.”
In recent years, the ethanol boom made growing corn more attractive to farmers, and foreign competitors boosted their wheat production. As a result, U.S. wheat prices were around $4 a bushel for years.
Analysts say current wheat prices will entice farmers to plant more wheat, so the prices will eventually retreat. But for a few months, wheat consumers will be paying significantly more.
Two charged in neglect case
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Two people were charged after authorities seized nearly 80 neglected animals from two homes north of Solon, Iowa, last month.
John Joseph Reilly, 57, is accused of two counts of animal neglect and one count of livestock neglect. His wife, Malinda Dittberner, 83, was charged with one count of animal neglect, Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek said last week.
The charges stem from an Aug. 7 incident in which investigators seized 58 dogs, 19 goats and one goose from the homes. Both properties are owned by Dittberner. The animals were turned over to the Iowa City/Coralville Animal Care and Adoption Center to be adopted.
Court records filed Sept. 5 show deputies responded to a complaint of conditions at Dittberner’s property by a citizen. Records show Reilly is accused of failing to supply the dogs with sufficient amounts of food and water.
Pulkrabek said some of the goats that were seized died. Those that survived were sold. The goose is being cared for by a local veterinarian, he said.
The sheriff said Reilly and Dittberner also were living in poor conditions, using five-gallon buckets for their waste.
Two survive collapsed corn crib
CLEARFIELD, Iowa (AP) — A southwestern Iowa couple was found trapped more than 33 hours after an old corn crib collapsed on them, officials said.
Rodney and Beverly Straight of Clearfield were found in the debris the evening of Sept. 4. The corn crib collapsed the previous morning, said Dwayne Cason, the town’s fire chief.
Cason said the Straights had been doing work to remove the corn crib when the roof fell on top of them. A neighbor called authorities after he came to remove corn from another bin on the property and heard a noise, he said.
The couple were conscious when found. They were taken to Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines, where they were in serious condition.
Minor injuries after crash
SAUNEMIN, Ill. (AP) — Six people were treated for injuries suffered when a school bus collided with soil-tilling farm equipment near the rural Illinois community of Saunemin last week.
St. James Hospital spokeswoman Pamela Meiner said nine students and two adults were taken to the Pontiac, Ill., hospital with “minor to moderate” injuries. She said five were quickly released, while one student was sent to Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, Ill., with injuries that weren’t life-threatening.
Authorities say the students were from Tri-Point High School in Cullom, Ill. Meiner says they were on their way back to school from the Livingston Area Vocational Center in Pontiac.
Immigration enforcement debate muddies farm bill
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — Consumers could see the price of fruits and vegetables double if the nation does not address a looming farm labor shortage in the wake of tightening immigration enforcement, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) said Saturday.
Peterson told producers attending the Kansas State Fair that the agriculture committee will focus on the immigration issue as it strives to do its part to make sure there is adequate labor. He said some crops will not be harvested this year unless something is done.
Peterson said after the forum that he has talked with judiciary committee leaders in an effort to hold either separate or joint hearings on the issue within the next two weeks.
“We are going to let producers come in and tell their stories, what they are concerned about. We think there could be significant increases in food prices caused by this if we don’t fix it,” Peterson said.
Farmers need a realistic guest worker program, he said.
“Everybody recognizes something has to be done in agriculture, but one of the problems we’ve got is that people don’t want to fix our problems without fixing the rest of it. ... They feel they may lose momentum to get the overall problem solved,” he said. |
| 9/12/2007 |
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