Colorado's Bulk-Tank Testing IDs More Avian Flu in Dairy Herds

Aug 07, 2024

By Lisa Schnirring

The Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) today reported its first avian flu outbreaks in dairy herds that are based on mandatory weekly bulk-tank milk testing, which went into effect on July 22.

The testing turned up nine more outbreaks in dairy herds, according to the CDA's line list, which now reflects 63 herds affected since late April.

More than half of Colorado's licensed dairy herds have been hit with outbreaks, many of them in Weld County, where the virus spread to a large commercial poultry farms and infected 10 livestock workers and poultry cullers.

So far, Colorado is the only one of 13 affected states to order regular bulk tank testing.

Officials haven't said if the cows at the farms identified through bulk tank testing had clinical signs.

As of today, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has confirmed 179 H5N1 outbreaks in dairy herds from 13 states. Among the total are 52 from Colorado, which has the most of any state.

Governor extends emergency declaration

In a related development, Colorado Governor Jared Polis on August 2 extended an emergency declaration an extra 30 days — through September 1 — to free up resources for the avian flu response in Weld County.

Polis first announced the emergency declaration on July 5.

Source : umn.edu

Video: Making budget friendly pig feed on a small livestock farm

I am going to show you how we save our farm money by making our own pig feed. It's the same process as making our cattle feed just with a slight adjustment to our grinder/ mixer that makes all the difference. We buy all the feed stuff required to make the total mix feed. Run each through the mixer and at the end of the process we have a product that can be consumed by our pigs.

I am the 2nd generation to live on this property after my parents purchased it in 1978. As a child my father hobby farmed pigs for a couple years and ran a vegetable garden. But we were not a farm by any stretch of the imagination. There were however many family dairy farms surrounding us. So naturally I was hooked with farming since I saw my first tractor. As time went on, I worked for a couple of these farms and that only fueled my love of agriculture. In 2019 I was able to move back home as my parents were ready to downsize and I was ready to try my hand at farming. Stacy and logan share the same love of farming as I do. Stacy growing up on her family's dairy farm and logans exposure of farming/tractors at a very young age. We all share this same passion to grow a quality/healthy product to share with our community. Join us on this journey and see where the farm life takes us.