Donald Trump and agriculture.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller says he will help lead Donald Trump’s agriculture advisory committee, which is still in the process of coming together. Miller revealed his involvement in an interview Friday with Texas radio station KFYO, noting he’d serve as a co-chair. He added that the effort would be formally announced early this week. “Personally, I think Donald Trump will be great for agriculture,” Miller said during the KFYO interview, arguing that Trump would appoint conservative judges and combat regulations that adversely affect agriculture — from WOTUS to the Endangered Species Act. “You know he understands over-regulation, and I think that will be tremendous for our producers,” he added. continue

The Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (Agra) has called for greater adoption of technology in agriculture.

The Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (Agra) has called for greater adoption of technology in agriculture as the best solution for improving output among smallholder farmers. The know-how which ranges from improved seeds to storage facilities will increase production and halt wastage after harvest, a move that would assure continued national food security and surplus production for the market, according to Agra Country Head for Tanzania Dr Mary Mgonja who spoke ahead of Farmers Day (Nane Nane) being marked today. Agra which works in 18 countries was formed in 2006 in response to former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's call to focus on problems related to seed production, soil health and agriculture markets specifically for Africa and targets to double yields and incomes for 30 million farming households by 2020. continue

Black quarter Kills 23 Cow and Infects 63 Others In Katsina.

23 cows have been killed by black quarter disease while 63 others have been infected in Musawa Local Government Area of Katsina State. In a report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the disease was isolated on Aug. 5, 2016 when veterinary officers from the state and local council moved in to curb the outbreak. The council’s Director of Agriculture, Alhaji Aliyu Lawal-Doro, confirmed that the affected cows were from Kaduna State moving to neighboring Charanchi Local Government in the state. The official, who spoke through the council’s spokesman, Malam Shuaibu Sa’idu, said when the council officials noticed the high number of deaths, they immediately notified the state veterinary services for urgent intervention. The state government deployed experts to the area to contain the situation, which is now stable. He has however said that veterinary officials and herdsmen in the area have been put on high alert, to avert further outbreak. The official added that the local council was educating livestock owners on the symptoms of the disease, for them to remain vigilant and report cases. The name black quarter or black ill stems from the fact that the infected animal has blackened and swollen hind limb. The infection is acute ,it has a short course of between 12-24 hours and very common in well muscled animals. The vaccination of animals is the best option to prevent loss of prized animals. Black quarter caused by the bacteria Clostridium Chauvoei ,these are present in soils from where they are picked by animals through ingestion of contaminated feeds or soils especially during dry weather when animals graze close to the ground or following soil excavations on the farm. The bacterial spores can remain in the soil for a long period of time,thus in confirmed cases the carcass is not opened but buried deep in the earth to prevent further contamination of environment.The bacteria reside in the intestinal tract and muscles of animals and under suitable conditions they turn around and increase in number and produce poisons that cause the disease Black quarter disease is characterized by a sharp increase in body temperature and very painful localized muscle swelling. The skin around the hip, shoulder, neck and back muscles, will be discolored and when touched produces crackling /sandpaper sound . The animal normally have tremors and will drop,the affected animals in most cases are found dead without any history of sickness. Farmers /herdsmen that are always around their animals can easily observe clinical signs of black quarter and start treatment as the bacteria responds to penicillin.

Agribusiness: leveraging technology in agriculture.

Drones are just one of many technologies whose use in the agricultural sector could cut operation costs and improve yields, helping a growing global population with shrinking resources to cultivate more food with fewer inputs Silicon Valley and the vast cornfields of the U.S. Midwest may appear to have little in common, but a growing relationship between big data and agriculture is poised to improve yields, reduce raw material use and decrease production costs. 

 Over the past year, the precision agriculture industry, which has pioneered the use of unmanned aerial vehicles and robotics to increase data collection and efficiency in agriculture, has continued to expand in the United States and around the world. As drone use in agriculture becomes even more prevalent and new achievements in machine learning and artificial intelligence are made, high technologies — the internet of things, big data, robotics and artificial intelligence — will overlap with agriculture more and more. 

 The concept of precision agriculture, or the use of data to enhance agricultural production, has been around for more than two decades. The field includes a range of different technologies, including GPS-guided tractors, yield and soil monitoring, variable rate applications for water and fertilizers, and data collection by satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles. 

 Technology in agriculture will enable farmers to do more with less — especially as advances in sensor technology and computing technology continue — to keep up with rising demand for agricultural products over the next few decades. Using even one of the precision agriculture technologies can save farmers substantially on a per-acre basis. continue

Cattle farmers warned of imminent lungworm outbreaks .

Livestock farmers are being asked to remain vigilant as the threat of lungworm outbreaks increases. Due to recent warm weather followed by rainfall, this has resulted in perfect conditions for lungworm larvae to migrate from droppings into grass which beef and dairy cattle may be grazing. Sudden outbreaks of lungworm - the parasite which causes parasitic bronchitis in cattle - can be severe and if the early signs of infection are not identified quickly, significant production losses and death of animals could occur. Animal health experts have warned that outbreaks are likely to occur across the country in the coming weeks and months. Sioned Timothy, Merial Animal Health's Veterinary Adviser, said whilst young stock are traditionally thought to be more susceptible to lungworm infection and associated respiratory disease, there is an increasing trend for adult cattle to be affected. continue

A magic box that ripens bananas in 3 days.

Farming just like any venture comes with challenges which may mar your project if not properly addressed. This is very evident in harvesting to processing of agricultural products,many farmers record a lot of losses due to the perishable nature of their production. The handling,storage and preservation of most farm products is where major losses are incurred,thus farmers that dont have access to technology or methodology to preserve or store their products are exposed to risk and to cut their losses they sell at give away prices. Bananas are one of such products that must been handled with care if any profit is to be made because they start to ripen as soon as its cut from the plant and farmers use various methods to hasten the process. The farmers sometimes use chemicals to speed up the process thus exposing the consumers to health risks,while some other farmers put the bananas in bags and tie them up above a fire place,the disadvantage is that there is uneven ripening as all the bananas dont ripen at the same rate,the tendency of the bananas to rot and waste is very high with this technique. Majority of small scale farmers just spread them on a grassland and cover with leaves,this method exposes the bananas to pathogens which not only destroy the crop but also the risk of poisoning in man.This method of ripening also carries with it high rate of losses as the crops can be pilfered and also eaten by wild animals,thus creating another pathway of infection in man. The losses associated with post harvesting management of bananas has been solved with an innovative idea from of Stephen Simotwo, a final year Agricultural Engineering student at Kaiboi Technical Training Institute in Nandi County. The Banana Ripening Box uses a simple technology that modifies conditions for ripening of the fruit in a safe and fast way. The magic box is simple ,easy to use and cost effective as it does not use electricity, the box works on the science of organic ripening. The magic box works on the knowledge of ripening crops naturally,Stephen Simotwo found out that ripening can be stimulated with ethylene gas and he sourced for natural stores of ethylene gas.He discovered that passion fruit has a high concentration of ethylene gas,so he mixed unripe bananas and ripe passion fruit to ripen the bananas and it was a success. This is how the magic box is a wooden box(size will depend on capacity) divided into compartments internally and lined with transparent polythene bags; 1) put the unripe bananas in the box,with the ripe passion fruit in the ratio of 300 bananas to one kilo of passion fruits and close the box tightly(air tight)for 24 hours. 2)open the box for 5 minutes to allow carbon dioxide exit,the bananas begin to ripen now. 3) close the box again for 12 hours to continue the ripening. 4)open again for 5 minutes for escape of carbon dioxide. 5)Close box again and open finally at 72 hours,the bananas will have ripened completely. When passion fruit is not available,tomatoes,pineapple,pawpaw and avocado pears can also be used. Order for box

Woman's Deadly Infection Linked to Horse Riding.

An elderly woman in Seattle died from an infection that she appears to have contracted from a horse she rode, according to a new report. The report is published in the Aug. 5 issue of the journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The 71-year-old woman had visited her daughter, who operates a horse boarding and riding center in King County, Washington. In the week of Feb. 21, 2016, one of the horses developed nasal and eye discharge, suggesting the animal had an infection. The daughter treated the horse with antibiotics, and the animal recovered. The daughter developed a mild sore throat and cough, that same week and her mother also showed symptoms of an upper respiratory infection. Both the mother and daughter had been in close contact with the horse, with the mother petting and riding the horse on at least two days, Feb. 25 and 29. A few weeks later, on March 2, the mother experienced vomiting and diarrhea, and was later found unconscious. She was taken to the hospital, but died on March 3. Officials collected a nasal swab from the previously sick horse, along with a swab of the daughter's throat and samples of the mother's blood. All three samples tested positive for the same strain of bacteria, called Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus (or S. zooepidemicus for short.) This type of bacteria is known to infect animals, including horses, pigs and cats. It's rare that people get sick from S. zooepidemicus, but When infections in people do occur, they can cause a variety of symptoms, including chills, weakness, difficulty breathing, fever, kidney inflammation and arthritis. People can become infected with S. zooepidemicus by consuming unpasteurized dairy products, but the daughter said that she and her mother hadn't consumed any unpasteurized dairy products, nor did they have contact with other animals, except one healthy cat. The findings from this investigation linked a fatal S. zooepidemicus infection to close contact with an ill horse.The mother may have been at increased risk for infection because of her age. It also remains unclear if the woman's respiratory symptoms preceded or followed her infection with S. zooepidemicus. (It's possible that the respiratory symptoms were from a separate infection, which in turn could have made the woman more vulnerable to S. zooepidemicus, the report said.) Doctors always advocate that people thoroughly wash their hands after contact with horses or other animals.#hygiene #hand washing # #soap and #water. culled from Live Science.