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Rhonda Brooks

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin proposes rescinding the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding. If the proposal goes into effect, it could potentially lead to DEF systems no longer being required in tractors, trucks and other equipment using diesel-powered engines — a decision many farmers and others in the ag community would applaud.
Some people seem to be instinctively effective at leading and inspiring other people. But nature isn’t the only way good leaders are made. Nurture plays a valuable role, too.
It is important that dairy and beef producers are prepared for a visit from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. AABP offers some practical steps to take now, including how to interact with agents, recognize valid warrants, and, most importantly, put legal counsel in place in advance.
A 25-page criminal complaint alleges the researcher and her boyfriend were attempting to bring Fusarium graminearum into the country. The fungus causes significant diseases in a number of food crops, including corn, wheat, barley, soybeans and rice. Toxins from the fungus are harmful to humans and livestock.
Losses range between $15 and $88 per head, conservatively, a result of reduced herd productivity, health and reproductive efficiency.
The move could improve the outlook for beef exports to China, which has upped its spending on Australian beef during the past two months.
One researcher says of the 7,800 bulk tank milk samples her company tests annually, 45% of them are positive for the bacterium.
President Trump has announced a series of tariffs, scheduled to roll out over the next few days, on some of agriculture’s most significant trade partners. The outcomes could be a net positive for cattlemen, some beef industry members say.
USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins says the agency is hyper-focused on poultry, but no vaccine is yet available. The agency has ‘separate work streams’ to address the virus in the ‘cattle and dairy’ industries, but dairy is not part of USDA’s primary focus for now.
Even mild cases can impact milk production, health and well-being. Researchers, citing expenses and losses farmers incur from the problem, say costs per case commonly range from $76, on the low end, to more than $336, on average.