Rabbit Wars: Farmers Told to Blow Up Rabbits

Australia - Australian farmers are being urged by authorities to use poison gas and even ammonium nitrate explosive to blow up rabbits, as biological controls fail. A warning issued to farmers by the South Australian Environment Department urges them to “overcome the rabbit’s tremendous breeding potential” by traditional means such as bulldozers, poison baits, fumigation, dogs and even explosives.....More

Swine Flu News-Farmers fear pigs may get "swine" flu from people

KANSAS CITY (Reuters) – Humans have it. Pigs don't. At least not yet, and U.S. pork producers are doing everything they can to make sure that the new H1N1 virus, known around the world as the "swine flu," stays out of their herds.

"That is the biggest concern, that your herd could somehow contract this illness from an infected person," said Kansas hog farmer Ron Suther, who is banning visitors from his sow barns and requiring maintenance workers, delivery men and other strangers to report on recent travels and any illness before they step foot on his property.

"If a person is sick, we don't want you coming anywhere on the farm," Suther said.

Those sentiments were echoed by producers around the nation this week as fears of a possible global flu pandemic grew, with more than 200 people sickened, including more than 100 in the United States, and at least 177 dead, all but one in Mexico.

"There is no evidence of this new strain being in our pig populations in the United States. And our concern very much is we don't want a sick human to come into our barns and transmit this new virus to our pigs," said National Pork Producers chief veterinarian Jennifer Greiner.

"If humans give it to pigs, we don't have things like Tamiflu for pigs. We don't have antivirals. We have no treatment other than to give them aspirin," said Greiner.

The World Health Organization on Thursday officially declared it would stop calling the new strain of flu "swine flu," because no pigs in any country have been determined to have the illness and the origination of the strain has not been determined.

The never-before-seen H1N1 flu virus has elements of swine, avian and human varieties.

PIGS BEHIND SECURITY FENCES

Still, U.S. hog farmers said flu fears have hit them hard in the wallet as hog prices plummeted this week in response. Many countries reacted to the outbreak earlier this week by banning pork or meat from U.S. states that have human cases of the flu. And Egypt ordered the slaughter of all pigs in the country as a precaution.

U.S. hog producers have already been struggling financially for more than a year due to poor prices and high feed costs. If the new flu strain does hit their herds, it could spur further price declines, and could potentially spread broadly through herds.

To try to protect against such a scenario, industry groups and veterinarians this week warned farmers to step up their biosafety protocols, keeping pigs in barns behind security fences with access by any outsiders extremely limited.

Purdue University veterinarian Sandy Amass said farmers should keep an eye on pigs for "coughing, runny nose, fever and a reduction in feed intake," and to have the animals tested immediately if they exhibit such flu symptoms.

"Pigs get flu just like people get flu," Amass said. "We're want to do everything possible so the pigs don't get infected."

For Carroll, Iowa, producer Craig Rowles that means if any of his workers feel sick, they are ordered to take time off work -- paid -- to keep them away from the pigs.

"It's a real issue," Rowles said. "If the pigs get it, there isn't much we can do. Water, aspirin, and bed rest, that's all we've got."

(Reporting by Carey Gillam; additional reporting by Bob Burgdorfer in Chicago, Editing by Sandra Maler)

Odd News:Swiss police google farmers, find marijuana field

ZURICH, Switzerland – Swiss police said Thursday they stumbled across a large marijuana plantation while using Google Earth, the search engine company's satellite mapping software.

Police said they arrested 16 people and seized 1.1 tons (1.2 US tons) of marijuana as well as cash and valuables worth 900,000 Swiss francs ($780,000).

Officers discovered the hemp field in the northeastern canton (state) of Thurgau last year while investigating an alleged drug ring, said the head of Zurich police's specialist narcotics unit Norbert Klossner.

The plantation, measuring almost two acres (7,500 square meters), was hidden inside a field of corn. But officers using Google Earth to locate the address of two farmers suspected of involvement in the drug operation quickly spotted the illegal crop.

"It was an interesting chance discovery," said Klossner.

Prosecutor Gabi Alkalay told reporters in Zurich that she plans to complete her criminal investigation in February, after which she will formally charge the 16 suspects and ask for prison sentences for all of them.

The gang is alleged to have sold up to 7 tons (7.7 US tons) of hashish and marijuana between 2004 and 2008, with an annual turnover of 3-10 million francs a year, officials said.
Get Sirius----Comedy---2009 Dodge Ram----Advertise Here and 24 Other Sites!

Strange-Lamb-eating sea eagles upset Scottish farmers

Lamb-eating sea eagles upset Scottish farmers
LONDON (Reuters) - Sheep farmers in remote northwest Scotland are furious about a sea eagle reintroduction programme, saying the huge birds of prey are damaging their livelihoods by killing 200 lambs in the past year.

The Scottish Crofting Foundation said some crofts, small farms producing mainly lamb or beef, had seen lamb numbers fall over the past five years because of the sea eagles' diet.

More...
"It's come to the stage now that we have lost, in the whole peninsula, around 200 lambs and we believe this is solely due to the sea eagles," William Fraser, chairman of the Gairloch and Poolewe branch of the Crofting Foundation, told Reuters.

"In a few years time there'll be no sheep left on the hills," said Fraser, who owns a 4-acre croft with 150 sheep.

Conservation groups began gradually reintroducing sea eagles to parts of Scotland from 1975. Britain's largest bird of prey had become extinct there in the early 20th century.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) says the programme is an outstanding conservation success story.

Three breeding pairs live in Gairloch, where Fraser has his farm.

Fraser said the sea eagles -- which have a wing span of eight feet and can weigh eight kgs (18 lbs) when fully grown -- will snatch even year-old sheep.

The crofters will meet next week to discuss the problem but Fraser suggested the young eagle chicks could be taken out of their nests and taken elsewhere. It was up to the conservation groups to solve the problem, he said.

Scottish Natural Heritage, the Forestry Commission of Scotland and the RSPB, which jointly run the sea eagle reintroduction programme, were unconvinced by Fraser's estimate.

"The number (of lambs) that they are suggesting is extremely surprising to us," said RSPB spokesman James Reynolds.

Reynolds said that last week an RSPB team in Scotland examined a sea eagle nest on Gairloch and found their diet consisted largely of Fulmars, a sea bird, and quite large lamb bones, suggesting they were scavenged.

"We're working with the Scottish Crofting Foundation very closely on this issue," Reynolds said, adding that sea eagles generated about 1.5 million pounds ($2.8 million) a year in wildlife tourism for the island of Mull, where eight pairs live.

(Reporting by Golnar Motevalli; Editing by Ralph Boulton)


Share It, Post It, Email it!
Funny Sarah Palin Videos----Pics For Myspace----Cute Pics