Two additional cases of bird flu in West Coast farmworkers
Bird flu infections have been confirmed in a dairy worker in California and a poultry worker in Washington, raising the U.S. total to 46 people, said the Centers for Disease Control on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the USDA said tests indicated that migratory waterfowl were the source of H5N1 avian flu infections in two pigs on an Oregon farm.
USDA confident of eradicating virus, although bird flu count keeps climbing
Thirty people have contracted bird flu from exposure to infected animals this year, and more cases are expected, said the Centers for Disease Control on Thursday. At the same briefing, the USDA said it was confident of eradicating the viral disease in dairy herds despite the ever-rising number of outbreaks in California.
Two more California dairy workers have bird flu
California now has 15 confirmed cases of bird flu in humans, all of them dairy farm workers, up from the previous count of 13, said the state Department of Public Health on Wednesday. “While the risk to the general public remains low, additional human cases of bird flu are expected to be identified and confirmed in California among individuals who have contact with infected dairy cattle.”
Carbon pipeline regulation, trophy hunting, and a CAFO ban are on November ballot
A "voter veto" of a state law regulating carbon dioxide pipelines is on the general election ballot in South Dakota and residents of Sonoma County, in California's wine country, will decide on Nov. 5 whether to ban large-scale livestock farms. The handful of state and local referendums across the nation that involve agriculture also include a vote whether to ban slaughterhouses in Denver.
Five additional human cases of bird flu in California, more expected
With five new cases, California accounts for 11 of the 25 cases of human infection by the bird flu virus in the United States this year, said the Centers for Disease Control on Thursday. Additional cases were expected among individuals in contact with infected dairy cattle, said the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
Five California farmworkers have mild cases of bird flu, says state
On the same day the CDC confirmed the third human case of bird flu in California, state officials said Wednesday that they had identified two more possible infections, also farmworkers in the Central Valley. In less than six weeks, California has become the U.S. hot spot for bird flu, with one-third of all the infected dairy herds in the country and all of the human cases since Sept. 6.
California dairy worker has bird flu, first in the state
A dairy farm worker in California’s Central Valley with mild symptoms tested positive for the bird flu virus — the first case in the state and the 16th in the nation this year — said the California Department of Public Health on Thursday. The worker was being treated with antiviral medication and was staying home to recover.
Bird flu spreads among California dairy herds
Five of the six dairy herds infected with the H5N1 avian flu virus this month are in California, all in the past week and all in the Central Valley. State officials said those herds were part of a group of farms targeted for testing because of outbreaks in three other herds at the end of August.
The divers who keep the water flowing on California farms
In FERN's latest story, produced with KQED's The California Report, reporter Lisa Morehouse takes us inside the obscure, but crucial, work done by commercial divers to keep irrigation canals clear and functioning properly.
Rivals trim soy oil’s lead among biomass-based diesel feedstocks
With the explosion in production of renewable diesel, yellow grease and corn oil are cutting into soybean oil's position as the dominant feedstock for biomass-based diesel fuel, said three agricultural economists.
Report: California paraquat use concentrated in poor, Latino communities
Between 2017 and 2021, 5.3 million pounds of the herbicide paraquat were sprayed on California fields, with 66 percent of it in five Central Valley counties whose residents are predominantly poor and Latino, according to a new Environmental Working Group analysis.
‘We are in for a bumpy time’ with Prop 12, says Vilsack
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told state agriculture directors to fasten their Prop 12 seat belts on Wednesday because “we’re going to have to get to a point where ... chaos becomes really prevalent” in the meat market before there’s a decision on who regulates interstate trade. “We are in for a bumpy time,” he said.
USDA awards $196 million for local food production and marketing
As part of President Biden's initiative to strengthen U.S. supply chains, the Agriculture Department announced $196 million in grants, loans, and loan guarantees to projects to expand domestic food and agriculture production on Monday. The awards range from loan guarantees to expand a nut processing plant in California and develop a 35-acre tomato greenhouse and processing plant in South Carolina, to 170 smaller grants across the country.
FDA will have ‘a more meaningful agenda’ on food additives, says deputy commissioner
While California took the spotlight with a new law banning four food additives, FDA deputy commissioner Jim Jones said on Monday that the agency will adopt "a more meaningful agenda" on food chemicals as it reorganizes its food safety wing. Jones, who began work two months ago as chief of human foods, has said the safe use of chemicals and dietary supplements is one of his three priorities.
California can do more to prepare for future floods, says think tank
As Golden State farmers brace for another rainy winter, a new report is urging state officials to aggressively prepare for wet years as much as it prepares for dry ones. Climate change is expected to fuel both more extreme droughts and more winter storms. And while California has made progress in managing drought conditions, it has a long way to go in managing floods. (No paywall)
FDA proposes banning brominated vegetable oil as food additive
The Food and Drug Administration moved to ban the use of brominated vegetable oil in food on Thursday, saying new tests proved conclusively that it was not safe. The agency acted a month after California outlawed BVO, along with three other food additives: potassium bromate, propylparaben, and red dye No. 3.
‘Traditional’ dairy states catch up with ‘modern’ ones
A generation ago, California surpassed Wisconsin, "America's Dairyland," as the No. 1 milk-producing state, a shift that exemplified the growing prominence of dairy farms in the West and Southwest with huge herds producing a flood of milk. The competition is more equally balanced now, said an analysis on Monday. Milk production is roughly equal between the "traditional" dairy states of the Midwest and Northeast and the "modern" states.
Biomass-based diesel crowds out petroleum rival in California
By the end of this decade, "there is a high chance there will be no petroleum diesel used" in California, said agricultural economist Aaron Smith on Monday. This historic upheaval of the fuel market is being driven by state regulations promoting cleaner-burning fuels, he said. "Most California diesel is now made from animal fat, corn oil, soybean oil or used cooking oil."