Pandemic Flu Preparation: The Workplace and the Community

Yes, we can expect our lives to be “touched” by an avian influenza pandemic. Our diets and daily routines will be altered, and the concern of all of us will be to protect ourselves and our families. Since we don’t know how serious the pandemic may be in our communities, it only pays to prepare. Advance planning can make our homes safe and comfortable. It’s not an overwhelming task, and there are many guidelines to help. Look at it this way: The better we are prepared, the better we will respond and rebound, and when it’s all over, the better and stronger will be our families, community, and state

Top 10 Recommendations to Consider When Feed Quality/Quantity/Costs are Compromised

This article provides ten recommendations that ranchers should consider when their feed quality, quanity, and costs are compromised

Using Non-Protein Nitrogen to Control Feed Costs

What is non-protein nitrogen? All proteins contain nitrogen, but not all nitrogen is contained in proteins. For example, urea and anhydrous ammonia are two compounds which contain significant amounts of nitrogen, but neither is a protein. Instead, they are called nonprotein nitrogen (NPN) compounds

Pandemic Flu Preparation: If we don’t have utilities, how do we cook, keep things clean?

Yes, we can expect our lives to be “touched” by an avian influenza pandemic. Our diets and daily routines will be altered, and the concern of all of us will be to protect ourselves and our families. Since we don’t know how serious the pandemic may be in our communities, it only pays to prepare. Advance planning can make our homes safe and comfortable. It’s not an overwhelming task, and there are many guidelines to help. Look at it this way: The better we are prepared, the better we will respond and rebound, and when it’s all over, the better and stronger will be our families, community, and state

Health Risks of Drinking Raw (Unpasterurized) Milk

Why be concerned about drinking raw milk? All milk and milk products have the potential to transmit pathogenic (disease-causing) organisms to humans. All the nutritional components that make milk and milk products an important part of the human diet also support the growth of these pathogenic organisms. People who prefer, for whatever reason, to drink raw milk face the greatest risk of contact with these pathogens. Dairy producers selling or giving raw milk to friends and relatives put them at risk for foodborne illness

Harvesting and Feeding Drought-Stressed Corn

How to best harvest, store and use drought-stressed corn is a problem dairy and livestock producers may encounter at one time or another. The severity of the drought, cultural practices, plant growth, plant maturity and livestock feeding regimes are factors that influence how to harvest, store and feed most effectively the drought-stressed corn. Dairy and livestock producers attempting to salvage usable feed from their drought-stressed fields of corn must not only be wary of poisoning their livestock, but poisoning themselves as well. Accumulation of nitrates in drought-stressed corn can cause nitrate toxicity in animals and ensiled drought-stressed corn can produce poisonous nitrogen gases during the fermentation process, which may be lethal to livestock and humans

Flooding: Planning and Preparation

Floods are the most common natural disaster, but not all floods are alike. Regardless of the cause of flooding, disaster planning and preparation will reduce the impact of flooding and enhance response and recovery. There are some very simple steps an individual or family can take to plan and prepare for flooding

Home Pasteurization of Raw Milk

This document provides information on home pasteurization of raw milk, preferred methods of pasteurization, and health safety while these processes are performed

If you find a dead bird— and wonder if it has the bird flu virus

South Dakotans have been vigilant, sending dead blue jays, magpies, crows, hawks, owls, and eagles into the South Dakota Department of Health, seeking to know if the birds died fromWest Nile virus (WNV). We can stop looking. WNV is in South Dakota to stay. There is nothing further we can learn from testing birds forWNV. Therefore, if you find an individual dead blue jay, magpie, or crow, dispose of the bird, taking the safety precautions listed on the next page. But we cannot let down our guard. Birds are considered to be reservoirs for almost all influenza virsues, and occasionally a lethal new virus comes along. We must be on the lookout for a new avian influenza virus known as Asian High Path H5N1 in wild birds, particularly if we come across groups of dead ducks, geese, pheasants, chickens, or turkeys