Monthly Archives: September 2009

Disease Outbreak and Consumption of Raw Milk in Wisconsin

A ProMed-mail post (September 16, 2009)

Glass of milk 2009

DNA test results and other evidence have now established that an outbreak of illness involving at least 35 people, the majority children and teens, was linked to drinking unpasteurized milk. Wisconsin food safety officials are cautioning consumers not to drink raw milk and farmers not to sell it to the public.

“Laws requiring pasteurization of milk have been on the books for more than half a century, and there are good public health reasons for that,” said Steve Ingham, head of the Food Safety Division in the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection [DATCP]. Continue reading Disease Outbreak and Consumption of Raw Milk in Wisconsin

The Community Value of a Dairy Farm

N. Alan Bair
Director of Dairy Industry Relations
The Pennsylvania State University

PA Cows Paint

I recently had the opportunity to make a short presentation to a mixed audience of local farmers and their neighbors in Perry County on the value of a dairy farm to a community. The organizers requested this topic primarily for the non-farm neighbors thinking it would give them a better appreciation of what a farm brings to the community and potentially “soften” some existing and future farm-urban conflicts. Based on the comments after my brief talk it became apparent that the farmers in the audience appreciated the information as much as their neighbors, reminding us once again that agriculture has a wonderful story to tell – but we must remember to tell it! With all the current bad news in the dairy industry, everyone appreciates hearing some positive things about the important work of producing dairy foods.

What a dairy farm brings to a community can be summarized into three main categories: Prosperity, People and the Planet.

Continue reading The Community Value of a Dairy Farm

DHS Firm on Kansas Site for Bio-Defense Research Lab

Sep 1, 2009
By: James M. Lewis
DVM NEWSMAGAZINE

WASHINGTON — Despite a critical report from another agency and a fair amount of political pressure, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) remains committed to the Manhattan, Kan., site it chose for building a new national bio-defense research laboratory and says it won’t re-open the site-selection process.

As part of the 2010 government appropriations bill, Congress asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a separate study on DHS’s recommendation to move the Level-3 laboratory at Plum Island, N.Y., to Kansas. The study was to evaluate whether it would be safe to conduct research into foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) at a mainland site for the first time, rather than on the offshore island where it’s been handled for decades in an aging facility. Continue reading DHS Firm on Kansas Site for Bio-Defense Research Lab

On the Road – The Dairy & Animal Science Road Tour

Terry D. Etherton

August 27 was a day of education, exploration and enlightenment for the 55 students and staff who participated in the annual New Student Industry Tour, hosted by Penn State’s Department of Dairy and Animal Science and Department of Poultry Science.

Now in its 11th year, the tour offers incoming freshman and other students new to the campus, a unique educational opportunity to view the diversity of Pennsylvania agriculture, from the traditional to the exotic.  It has been a big “hit” since we launched the tour.

Road Tour Krall Dairy August 2009 Paint

Continue reading On the Road – The Dairy & Animal Science Road Tour