Where do I find a practicing farm animal veterinarian?

At the request of the NJAES Board of Managers, RCE authored a guidance directory of practicing NJ veterinarians that provide care for food and fiber animals. The series was recently published as a bulletin and two accompanying fact sheets on the NJAES website at https://njaes.rutgers.edu/pubs/.

The list of large animal and poultry veterinarian practices can be found in the bulletin ‘What kind of Veterinarian do I need? How do I find one?. The accompanying state and federal resource fact sheets are excellent resource documents for producer business plan development.

Current and Future NJ Livestock & Poultry Producers. Please note, there is currently a shortage of practicing livestock and poultry veterinarians in NJ that has only been exasperated by the Pandemic. With an estimated state inventory (Eklund, 2017) of 25,000 head of cattle and calves; 17,791 sheep and lambs, 7,500 swine, 1.6 million laying hens, 25,000 broilers, 15,000 turkeys, 16,000 chukars, 29,000 Hungarian partridge, 105,00 pheasants, and 18,000 quail there is a great need to recruit veterinarians.

– Data from National Agriculture Statistical Service. NJ. Census of Agriculture, New Jersey, 2017

–  Author’s note: “Many thanks to the veterinarians in private, state and federal practice who provided input for this resource publication”. – Melissa Bravo, Salem County ANR Agent, September 18th, 2021. 

African Swine Fever Q&A with USDA this week

African Swine Fever Action Week

“Every day the week of September 13-17, from 2:00 pm – 3:00pm EDT, APHIS will host a webinar on a different ASF topic. These webinars will also be recorded. The webinars will be as follows:

  • Monday, September 13: African Swine Fever: Where it Exists and What’s at Stake
  • Tuesday, September 14: Steps APHIS is Taking to Prevent and Prepare for ASF
  • Wednesday, September 15: ASF and the Benefits of Biosecurity
  • Thursday, September 16: What to Expect in an ASF Outbreak
  • Friday, September 17: ASF and the Feral Swine Factor”

Interested producers can register at

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/swine-disease-information/african-swine-fever/seminar/asf-action-week

New round of pandemic assistance application opens Sept 23rd

USDA has announced a new program, called Pandemic Response and Safety Grant Program.

“The Pandemic Response and Safety (PRS) Grant Program provides grants to food processors, distributors, farmers markets, and producers to respond to coronavirus, including for measures to protect workers against novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID–19). This program is authorized and funded under section 751 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (Pub. L. No. 116—260). USDA developed the PRS Grant Program in response to extensive stakeholder feedback during listening sessions in March 2021, and written comments provided through March 30, 2021. Information from the listening sessions is available online at: www.ams.usda.gov/services/ams-covid-stimulus.

Important Dates:
Application Period Opens: September 23, 2021
Application Period Closes: 11:59 PM Eastern Time on November 8, 2021

All applications submitted before the deadline will be considered for funding. Applications will not be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis.” – Pandemic Response and Safety Grant website.

Follow this link for eligibility: https://usda-prs.grantsolutions.gov/usda?id=usda_eligibility_info

 

Concerned about flooded pastures or forage contamination?

If producers have concerns about flooded pastures and forage quality; or concerns about heavy metal contamination in flood contaminated water and soils that can lead to livestock toxicities, here is an article for Progressive Forage I wrote on this topic this spring that may be useful. See the article, Adverse Weather Impacts Essential Nutrient Uptake.

Weather Prediction Center estimated rainfall totals

Weather Prediction Center estimated rainfall totals from Ida as of September 2 2021

In areas impacted by the debris field of tornadic and straight-line winds; and receding flood waters, metal objects and other splintered particles are of concern. Producers (volunteers, workers, families) should review their tetanus vaccinations for themselves and their livestock and be mindful of metal and other small particle debris contamination of any additional forage harvest this season.

Any superficial cuts should be disinfected promptly and monitored for signs of bacterial infection. This is important to remind, as many are wearing rubber boots these days as opposed to hard soled leather boots. Any puncture of any kind should be seen by a doctor if it occurred from an object previously submerged in flood waters.

While this second article in this series focuses on drought bacterial concerns in livestock; it does have useful information on what ingested or respirated bacterial species to be concerned about where livestock have no choice but to consume contaminated forages. See the article, The Biologicak Risk of Drought. 

 

The third article forthcoming in this series for Progressive Forage focuses on mycotoxins associated with droughty conditions was recently published in the September issue: Adverse Weather and Hidden Dangers of Moldy Feed .

 

Additional information about past storm mortalities associated with toxic bacteria, poisonous plants, and plant-pest toxins can be found in the Northeastern Plant Pest Conference abstract, Recent Extreme Weather Events: Animal Deaths Linked to Toxic Plant and Pest Outbreaks.

For local information on the storm rainfall estimates from Ida, follow this link: https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/discussions/nfdscc4.html.

Register now for NJNLA Summer Plant Symposium – New Date – Sept. 21st – 9am-4:30pm – in cooperation with RCE

POSTPONED UNTIL 9/21/2021

Looking for educational content and multiple forms of recertification credits?  

Click here for program information and to register

This year, NJNLA’s Summer Plant Symposium will be at Fernbrook Farms’ outdoor tented area – September 2nd – (9am -3pm with optional credit bearing tour until 4:30pm) – IN-PERSON – Following all CDC guidelines 

Speakers are Steve Rettke and Bruce Crawford (Rutgers University), Randi V. Wilfert Eckel, Richard A. McCoy, and Keynote Speaker Dr. Douglas Tallamy 

Multiple types of credits available:

TALK CREDITS:

  • NJ Pest: Core – 2, 3A – 4, 3B – 2, 8C – 4, PP2 – 4
  • PA Pest: PC – 4, 06 – 4, 18 – 4, 23 – 4
  • ProFACT (Fertilizer): 2 Credits
  • LTE/LTCO: 2.5 Credits
  • NJUCF: 4 Credits
  • ISA: 5 Credits
  • APLD: 5 Credits
  • CNLP: 1 Design, 1 Plants, 2 Environment, 1 Professional
  • NALP: 5 Credits

OPTIONAL TOUR CREDITS (after main event):

  • NJ Pest: 3A – 2, 10 – 2, PP2 – 2
  • LTE/LTCO: .5 Credits
  • NJUCF: 1 Credits
  • ISA: 1.5 Credits
  • APLD: .75 Credit
  • CNLP: .5 Environment, 1 Professional
  • NALP: 1 Credit

 

Harvesting forage and cover crops on prevent plant acreage

USDA’s Risk Management Agency updated their 2021 ‘Prevented Planting Coverage’ in July. This update allows crops planted on insured acreage to be harvested as forage, including cover crops, without resulting in a penalty or reduction of payment if certain conditions apply.

https://rma.usda.gov/News-Room/Frequently-Asked-Questions/Prevented-Planting-Coverage

Scroll down on their page ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ and read the “What are my options for planting forage on prevented planting acres?” sample questions and example scenarios. And the same question is posed related to planting a cover crop.