ASF Outbreak in Wild Boar in Italy Underscores Ease of Movement

Jan 24, 2022

The Veterinary Counsel with the Canadian Pork Council says the discovery of African Swine Fever in Wild Boar in Italy should serve as a reminder of how easily this virus can move. African Swine Fever genotype II has been found in a group of wild boar in northern Italy and new cases continue be reported in wild boar in Germany.

Dr. Egan Brockhoff, the Veterinary Counsel with the Canadian Pork Council and a member of the Swine Innovation Porc Coordinated African Swine Fever Research Working Group says this virus, largely a human driven virus, is making large geographical leaps occasionally and causing a lot of concern throughout the world.

Clip-Dr. Egan Brockhoff-Canadian Pork Council:

The discovery of ASF genotype II in those wild boar in Northern Italy underscored for me how this virus can take large geographical leaps. The closest know positive to that location was approximately 800 kilometers away. So again, we're put into a situation where human and human activities present a risk.

We need to be conscious of that. We can see virus come across the ocean. We could see virus move within the American hemisphere now with the Dominican Republic and Haiti. We do have a wild pig population in Canada and they are at risk, just like our backyard, just like our commercial pigs, all three classes or categories of our pigs are potentially exposed.

It would be extremely concerning if we got ASF in our wild pig population because we have no real control of them. They are the most difficult population to manage and control and so we want to do everything we can to keep this virus out of Canada and really ideally out of all of North America.

Source : Farmscape

Video: Dicamba Returns for Georgia Farmers: What the New EPA Ruling Means for Cotton Growers

After being unavailable in 2024 due to registration issues, dicamba products are returning for Georgia farmers this growing season — but under strict new conditions.

In this report from Tifton, Extension Weed Specialist Stanley Culpepper explains the updated EPA ruling, including new application limits, mandatory training requirements, and the need for a restricted use pesticide license. Among the key changes: a cap of two ½-pound applications per year and the required use of an approved volatility reduction agent with every application.

For Georgia cotton producers, the ruling is significant. According to Taylor Sills with the Georgia Cotton Commission, the vast majority of cotton planted in the state carries the dicamba-tolerant trait — meaning farmers had been paying for technology they couldn’t use.

While environmental groups have expressed concerns over spray drift, Georgia growers have reduced off-target pesticide movement by more than 91% over the past decade. Still, this two-year registration period will come with increased scrutiny, making stewardship and compliance more important than ever.