Pandemic Helps Underscore Need for Biosecurity in Livestock Transport

Jan 24, 2022

The President of Truck Wash Technologies says the global pandemic has helped demonstrate how disease spreads and the need for biosecurity in the movement of livestock. Truck Wash Technologies designs and builds custom automated truck wash systems focussing on complex cleaning applications and is one of the partners involved in a Swine Innovation Porc initiative aimed at speeding up and reducing the cost of cleaning and disinfecting swine transport trailers.

Jyrki Koro, the President of Truck Wash Technologies and a member of the Swine Innovation Porc Truck Wash Advisory Group, notes when it comes to the livestock sector, both swine as well as poultry, the focus is biosecurity.

Clip-Jyrki Koro-Truck Wash Technologies:

Livestock is travelling south and disease spreads, as we've learned through this current pandemic we're going through. Obviously, there's a keen interest in mitigating disease spread and it has been established quite clearly that animal transport is one of the main vectors of transmitting disease from one animal to the other.

There are some substantial reasons as to why we want to develop a system like this. The idea of euthanizing and destroying animals when they're infected in various industries, from some of the research we've done, the cost is quite substantial.

Obviously animal welfare is first and foremost in the thought process.

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.