Danville veterinary workers save calf,while kayaking.

A kayaking excursion on the Dan River turned into an animal rescue mission for five local veterinary workers Wednesday afternoon near Milton, North Carolina. The five women — employees at Animal Medical Center of Danville — saved a calf from sliding down an embankment into the river. “We were out there kayaking and having a good time and me and one of my friends … heard the mother crying,” said Desiree Robertson, a veterinary technician. “We glanced back and saw the calf stuck in the mud.” Jenny Gauldin, an assistant groomer at the center, said the calf was down a 20-foot drop. The group had started their kayaking trip at Anglers Park before encountering the calf near Milton at the Virginia/North Carolina border. Robertson — along with Gauldin, Megan Barnes and Lauren Spivey — climbed the mudslide, tied a rope around calf’s chest and hoisted him up the bank, Robertson said. Three of them pulled the calf up the bank while Gauldin pushed him from beneath, Gauldin said. “We just went over there and took action,” Robertson said.They delivered the animal back to his mother at the top of the embankment.“We made sure he had suckled and then we left,” Gauldin said, adding that the rescue took about 10-20 minutes. Gauldin said they all were sunburned by the time the rescue was over. One of the calf’s owners, Josh Burnett, said he was “very grateful” the women — who also included veterinary technician Tonya Wyatt — saved the animal. Burnett has known Barnes for 15 years and takes his three dogs to Animal Medical Center. Barnes called Burnett after the rescue and told him what happened, he said. More

Large- animal sedative implicated in human drug overdoses.

Carfentanil a drug used to sedate elephants and other large animals which is 100 times as potent as the fentanyl have been found to be mixed with or passed off as heroin. The appearance of carfentanil, one of the most potent opioids known to investigators, has added another angle to cases of drug overdoses, heroin and abuse of fentanyl. Carfentanil is so powerful that zoo veterinarians typically wear face shields, gloves and other protective gear — "just a little bit short of a hazmat suit" — when preparing the medicine to sedate animals because even one drop splattered into a person's eye or nose could be fatal, said Dr. Rob Hilsenroth, executive director of the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians. He explained that a loaded syringe of a reversal drug is kept on hand in case of an accident and the extremely limited carfentanil supply regulators allow for such facilities to be kept and locked away and its subject to auditing. Investigators are trying to track down the source of the carfentanil. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said he was unaware of any thefts of the drug, which, he noted, could be shipped from abroad or produced here. Chinese companies sell carfentanil online, but it hasn't shown up much in the U.S. drug supply, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. There hasn't been much evidence of carfentanil on the streets or in testing related to criminal cases, said agent Rich Isaacson, a spokesman for the DEA's Detroit Division, which covers Ohio. The drug is thought to be similar in strength to a painkiller known as W-18, which has shown up in heroin in Philadelphia, New England and Canada. Such drugs up the ante in a market where sellers already mix powerful painkillers with or disguise them as heroin to increase their products' potency, which can increase overdose risks for users, especially when they're unaware of what they're using.Some of the surviving users told investigators they thought they were buying heroin. Drugs used for animals have showed up in street drugs before, but carfentanil is so new on the investigative scene that the state's crime lab didn't even have a standard for comparing samples.In some suspected carfentanil cases, emergency responders have had to administer multiple doses of the overdose antidote naloxone, often known by the brand name Narcan, to save people, but even the antidote might not be enough. Continue

Aldi introduces antibiotic-free poultry and pig meat line.

The new line of Never Any! chicken, turkey, ham and bacon products is being sold exclsively at Aldi stores. The products are from animals that have never been given antibiotics and were fed a vegetarian-only diet. Animals processed for Never Any! label were raised without antibiotics and fed a vegetarian diet. The grocery chain Aldi has launched its line of “Never Any!” products, which includes chicken, turkey, ham and bacon. All products under the label will be raised without antibiotics and will be fed an all-vegetarian diet, according to a press release from the company. The Never Any! brand will be sold exclusively at Aldi stores. “We believe every shopper should have access to food they feel good about serving their family,” said Jason Hart, CEO of Aldi. “That’s why we’re dedicated to providing high quality groceries at affordable prices – making healthy living simple for more than 32 million customers who shop our stores each month.” continue

Aquaponics and wealth creation.

Aquaponics farming involves raising fish and growing plants in the same space. This system if properly incorporated will ensure food security. The system maximize space and conserve water through recycling which reduces use of inorganic fertilizer thus saving money. Aquaponics system creates wealth by promoting fish farming and growing plants in same cubicle,thus creating job opportunities and food security. The system is a symbiotic one as the fish provides organic manure through the waste they pass out in the vats and the plants purifies water by removing the nutrients increasing oxygen concentration. The plants provide enough oxygen for the fish to thrive and the waste of fish gives nutrients to plants to grow and produce more oxygen,this unending cycle is the basis of the success of the aquaponics system. Learn how to set up

Fish farming in the desert brings millions to farmer.

A farmer has made millions from fish farming in the desert using sustainable farming technique,the aquaponic system. In the desert where water is scarce, some experts are pushing for a process called aquaponics, where the wastewater from the fish is used to fertilize crops. Rush,a farmer sees fish farming not just as a way to make money, but also to save money by reusing the fish water on the 500 acres of Bermuda grass crop he grows nearby. The fish put waste in the water, which eventually turns into nitrates, a big ingredient in fertilizer. Rush said he saves more than $100,000 a year on fertilizer by using this nutrient-rich water. And, he gets double the use from costs of pumping groundwater from his wells. More

Foothill abortion disease.

Ranchers in California and neighboring states have struggled with foothill abortion disease at least as far back as the 1940s. While the disease seemed to have little impact on the health of the pregnant cows grazing in the foothills, it resulted in their calves being aborted, stillborn or born so weak that they soon died. After more than 50 years of research, the tick-borne bacterium responsible for one of the most troubling and economically devastating cattle diseases in the Western United States has been named and genetically characterized by researchers at the University of California, Davis. Veterinary immunologist Jeffrey Stott and collegues physically examined the bacterium in tissue sections taken during postmortem exams of aborted calves. They then characterized it by partially sequencing three of its genes and named it "Pajaroellobacter abortibovis," recognizing the Pajaroello tick that carries the bacterium as well as its abortion-inducing impact on infected cows and their fetuses. The researchers have developed a preventive vaccine for foothill abortion disease, and the Vaccine trials to prevent the disease are now in the second year. In the 1980s, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine researchers found evidence that the infected cow fetuses were producing an immune response to an unidentified microbe. Between 2000 and 2010, Stott and colleagues identified the microbe as a member of the genus Myxococcus and developed techniques to grow the live bacteria in laboratory mice. Cells from such mice were eventually used to develop the vaccine. This bacterium is like no other animal pathogen ever described,as It replicates only once per day, which explains why it could not be cultivated using standard laboratory techniques. The bacterium also has a much smaller genome than the most closely related, characterized bacterium, indicating that Pajaroellobacter abortibovis has probably lost some of its genetic material as it evolved. The Pajaroello tick is as intriguing as the disease-causing bacteria it carries, Stott said. Unlike more common ticks that burrow their way into the skin of people and animals to feed, the Pajaroello is a soft-bodied tick and does not embed itself in its hosts. The Pajaroello lives in the decomposing plant litter at the base of trees, shrubs and rocks, and is attracted to cattle by the carbon dioxide the animals give off. Only once every few months, the tick makes the effort to pierce the cow's skin and feed on its blood for about 20 minutes. When the bacteria get into the cow's tissue, they travel to the cow's uterus,in cows and other ruminants, no antibodies are passed between the mother and the fetus, so the fetus is immunologically naive and very vulnerable. The fetal development accompanied by a developed immune system triggers an immunological response to the presence of the bacteria. The fetus destroys itself and usually dies about four months after the cow is infected.. The economic losses recorded in cases of foothill abortion disease is high, the disease which occurs in California's coastal mountains and the foothill regions of California, Southern Oregon and Northern Nevada, annually results in the death of an estimated 45,000 to 90,000 unborn calves.

Silicon valley dives into agriculture.

The future of agriculture is technology driven with data,machines,telecommunication and drones changing the way we practice agriculture. Agriculture merging with technology referred to as Agtech is a means to ensure food security by producing enough food for the ever growing population. Technology biased industry,investors,banks and agricultural experts are all looking at ways to produce more food with the constraints of scarce resources for farmers, land availability and old techniques in food production and old seed strains and animal breeds. Agriculture merged with technology has introduced not only machines but improved seed varieties,breeds and technology such as biotechnology to produce more disease resistance and rapidly growing seeds and animal breeds. The key to improved agricultural practices is the use of data alongside machines to provide high yield, within a short time and save cost.Silicon valley has seen the gap between communication and production in agriculture. The lack of reliable data coupled with advanced technological approach is responsible for losses in the field with great economic impact. Silicon valley firms have stepped into agriculture to provide data driven analytics which not only saves time, money and labor costs but also ensures the expected harvest reaches the market on record time. The technology driven agriculture has changed the terrain in countries that have warmed up to this new approach. Agtech involves remote sensors sending data to a digital dashboard that shows real-time analytics on soil temperature and moisture levels and sensors in collars of cattle can also notify health status. Drones in agriculture now fly overhead capturing high-resolution thermal and visual images that show yield variation row-by-row with Phone notifications telling the farmer the optimal time to apply fertilizer, where it’s most needed, and the estimated effect on the harvest. Everything that a farmer once was and once thought about his business has completely transformed in the last 10 years as most of the things done by labor are replaced by machines and easy predictions on harvest is a reality as much of the guesswork and instincts n farming are now replaced with data and diagrams. This trend help farmers become more efficient, productive, and profitable. Google Ventures recently announced investments in both Granular, a company that provides farm management software, and Farmers Business Network, an online service that allows farmers to compare the effectiveness of seeds and inputs. Silicon Valley firms like Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures, and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers are also embracing AgTech start-ups and increasingly looking to agriculture.