Latest news with #Tabler
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tennessee poultry experts say egg prices due to remain high
Chickens roam at Kelsey Keener's Sequatchie Cove Farm. (Photo: Sequatchie Cove Farm) As Americans look toward the Easter season, and the price of eggs continues to climb, many Tennesseeans are considering changing their usual Easter plans in order to keep eggs on their menus and hidden in their yards. Ginny Minniger's grocery budget isn't as tight as some people's, she says, but she will forgo a few things in order to buy eggs to color for Easter. 'There are some traditions I must carry on,' the Chattanooga woman said. 'So I'll forgo some of the chocolate bunny treats so that I'll be able to afford two dozen eggs to color. I'll defy hard times and buy those eggs!' Dr. Tom Tabler, University of Tennessee Poultry Extension and Research Specialist, doesn't foresee a decline in the price of eggs any time soon. 'Don't expect much relief from high egg prices as we head into the Easter season, always a time of high egg demand,' he said. Tennessee poultry industry not as hard-hit by avian flu, data show In 2023, the average consumption of eggs in the U.S. was estimated at 281 per person. Egg demand has increased for the past 23 consecutive months while avian influenza continues to plague egg-laying chicken flocks across the nation, keeping egg prices at an all-time high. Tabler said the disease has decimated the egg supply in recent months. And at a time when egg demand is high, supply and demand are also helping to fuel egg prices. 'That is not likely to change in the near future,' Tabler said. 'Since the start of the most recent avian influenza outbreak in February 2022, roughly 100 million table-egg laying hens have been lost to the disease.' 'Roughly 52 million of those 100 million were lost between October 2024 and February 2025,' said Tabler. 'The loss of so many birds in such a short timeframe has driven egg prices to record high levels.' According to federal government policies, if one bird in a flock of laying hens is affected by avian influenza, the entire flock must be depopulated. Historically, eggs purchased directly from farms are lower-priced than in supermarkets. 'Local farmers that have signs near the road saying 'Farm fresh eggs for sale' is a good way to find eggs cheaper,' Tabler said. 'Social media may be another potential source to find eggs. Your local county Extension office may be another possibility.' Kelsey Keener has farmed his family land in Marion County since he was a young boy and now offers organic vegetables, native plants, grass-fed meats, fruits, farmstead cheese and pasture-raised eggs at the farm stand at his Sequatchie Cove Farm. He has a flock of 5,000 laying hens and expects that number to grow to 7,000 layers by late April. And with the high demand for eggs and consumers looking for lower prices, business has never been better, he said. 'The national egg shortage caused by the avian flu outbreak has actually been really good for our family's egg operation, as we have had more demand for our eggs than we have ever experienced in our 20-plus years of farming,' he said, adding that the price of the farm's eggs rose 50 cents a dozen, a price increase that was planned before the avian flu epidemic became widespread. Keener sells his eggs for $7 per dozen from the farm and $8 per dozen at Main Street Market on Wednesdays in Chattanooga. To ensure the eggs his customers buy are safe, he feeds his chicken high-quality food and offers them outdoor space in the fresh air to roam. 'That being said, if you have any concerns about the safety of the eggs you are eating, be sure to cook them,' Keeler said. 'The heat from cooking kills all potentially harmful viruses and bacteria.' Restaurants, too, are feeling the pinch of high prices and, in turn, passing the higher prices on to their customers. Mason Whitman, manager of Brother Juniper's, a popular breakfast eatery in Memphis, said his restaurant has added a $1 surcharge per each egg dish on the menu, such as omelets and eggs Benedicts. 'This is a temporary measure, though,' he said. 'We can do away with that once the prices we pay from our suppliers in Arkansas come down.' Farmers and table egg companies are working to replace lost flocks, but it's a process that takes time. 'Replacement birds must be hatched and raised for up to six months before they can begin laying eggs,' Tabler said. 'As long as we continue to lose laying flocks to avian influenza on a regular basis, we will continue to be playing catch up with replacement flocks and egg prices will remain high and possibly go higher for the remainder of the year.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Tennessee poultry industry not as hard-hit by avian flu, data show
The majority of Tennessee birds killed due to avian flu (either by contracting the virus or by euthanasia after exposure to limit an outbreak) have been in commercial facilities, according to the USDA. (Photo: John Partipilo) Ongoing bird flu outbreaks continue to ravage commercial poultry flocks in Indiana and Ohio, where two counties issued emergency declarations this week. But Tennessee appears to be faring better, at least for now. 'It's not that we have not been affected, but we have not been affected by avian influenza near as much as what some other states have,' said Tom Tabler, statewide poultry extension specialist at the University of Tennessee. The current outbreak of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus has been detected in wild, commercial and backyard flocks since February 2022, according to the CDC. The virus is deadly to chickens and turkeys and is typically spread by wild migratory birds. Under current U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, if one bird tests positive in a commercial flock or backyard coop, the entire flock must be euthanized in an effort to stop the spread, Tabler said. Nearly 163 million birds have been affected across the U.S. since early 2022, including 9 million birds in Ohio within the last month. Tennessee has seen 456,070 birds affected since the outbreak began in 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's data dashboard. The majority of those birds were from five commercial flocks. Tennessee's last reported detection was in a non-commercial flock of 30 birds in Greene County on Jan. 16, according to USDA data. Nobody seems to know why just yet, but broilers do not seem to be quite as susceptible to avian influenza as table egg laying flocks and turkey flocks. – Tom Tabler, University of Tennessee Extension A commercial operation in Gibson County reported 37,700 birds affected in late November, the most recent commercial-scale outbreak in Tennessee. The state's most impactful string of five outbreaks struck Weakley County in December 2022, resulting in the deaths of 397,100 birds from commercial breeders. While Ohio and Indiana are among the country's top egg producers, Tennessee's main commercial product is broiler chickens — birds raised for meat. 'Nobody seems to know why just yet, but broilers do not seem to be quite as susceptible to avian influenza as table egg laying flocks and turkey flocks,' Tabler said. He posited that broiler chickens are usually processed when they are young, while laying hens can be older. The USDA recently granted a conditional license for a bird flu vaccine for use in chickens, but the vaccine has not yet been cleared for commercial use or sale. That strategy is also complicated by trade relationships — some trade partners will not accept exports from countries that allow vaccinations, said Jada Thompson, a professor of agricultural economics at the University of Arkansas. There is no treatment for the virus, leaving biosecurity practices as the best line of defense for commercial and backyard flocks alike, Tabler said. But those practices might be a new concept to novice chicken owners. Commercial producers are used to biosecurity practices, Tabler said, 'because this is not the first go-around the U.S. has had with avian influenza.' A smaller outbreak in 2014 killed about 50 million birds — at that time, the largest HPAI outbreak in U.S. history. Tabler describes biosecurity as a three-legged stool: isolation, traffic control and sanitation. To have sound biosecurity, all three are key. Isolating flocks from any exposure to other birds that might be carrying the virus can reduce risk, he said. The same logic goes for traffic in and around areas where flocks are raised and kept — whether that is vehicle or foot traffic. Wild birds spread the virus through nasal secretions and fecal material, which can end up being tracked from one location to another on boots, tires or through other means. Ohio health officials report first human case of avian flu That's where sanitation comes in. Commercial producers may use foot baths at the door of chicken houses, or may require the use of disposable boots or shoe covers, Tabler said. 'Right now, nothing can be too clean,' he said. Tennessee is home to several large-scale chicken processors, including Tyson Foods, Koch Foods, Perdue Foods and Pilgrim's Pride. Tyson Foods opened a poultry complex in Humboldt, a city in Gibson and Madison counties, in 2021. The company did not respond to requests for comment, but its website states that all of its U.S. poultry operations 'continue to operate under heightened biosecurity.' That includes limiting non-essential visitors, disinfecting vehicles before they enter farms and special uniform and footwear requirements. All flocks are tested before they leave the farm, the website states. The number of backyard flocks in Tennessee is nearly impossible to measure. Anyone can have backyard chickens so long as they comply with local ordinances, Tabler said, and they aren't required to register like commercial flocks do. 'It is unbelievable how popular backyard chickens have become just in the last five or six years since the pandemic,' he said. But people who are new to caring for backyard chickens may need more education on biosecurity measures, something Tabler and county agents throughout the state are trying to promote through talks and online resources. Backyard flock owners can implement biosecurity measures without too much difficulty, 'but it does take more time' and attention, he said. Any place that flock owners congregate presents a risk of transmission, Tabler explained. Manure can be tracked in and out of popular feed stores or coffee shops, he said, and if an owner doesn't take precautions to change shoes or clothes before making contact with their chickens, 'that increases the risk factor.' The H5N1 virus is also being seen in mammals like bears, raccoons, skunks and possums, because they may feed on dead birds that carry the virus, Tabler said. The flu has also been seen in dairy cows and in humans (U.S. dairy and poultry workers), according to the CDC. Tennessee hasn't logged any cases in humans. But the CDC hasn't documented person-to-person spread as of Feb. 20, and it classifies the public health risk to humans as 'low.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Yahoo
Texas death row inmate mouths final 2-word message to victims' families before execution
A remorseful death row inmate pleaded for forgiveness and mouthed one final message before being put to death in Texas Thursday, 20 years after he killed his strip club manager and another man. Richard Lee Tabler, 46, also admitted to killing two teenage dancers at the club and said he had found God during his two decades in prison. "I had no right to take your loved ones from you, and I ask and pray, hope and pray, that one day you find it in your hearts to forgive me for those actions," Tabler said strapped to the death chamber gurney, looking at relatives of his victims who watched through a window a few feet away. "No amount of my apologies will ever return them to you." Florida Newlyweds Get Justice After Family Fishing Trip Ended In Murder He told the victims' family members that there wasn't a day that went by in which he didn't regret his actions and thanked prison officials for their compassion and show that he could "change and become a better man and rehabilitate." After apologizing several more times, Tabler said that it was the beginning of a new life for him in heaven. Read On The Fox News App He told the warden at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, "I am finished," and as the drugs began pouring into his body he mouthed once again, "I'm sorry." Tabler then began breathing quickly. After about a dozen breaths, all movement stopped. Tabler shot and killed Mohammed-Amine Rahmouni, 28, and Haitham Zayed, 25, in a remote area near Killeen in Central Texas on Thanksgiving 2004 after luring them there on the false pretense of buying stolen stereo equipment. Rahmouni was the co-owner of a club called TeaZers and the two had fallen out. Investigators said Rahmouni allegedly said he could have Tabler's family "wiped out" for $10. Two days later, Tabler shot and killed an 18-year-old dancer at the club, Tiffany Loraine Dotson, who he said he had been seeing, along with another dancer, 16-year-old Amanda Benefield. Tabler was convicted of killing the two men and sentenced to death, so prosecutors didn't need to pursue the conviction for the young women's murders, Paul McWilliams, who prosecuted Tabler nearly two decades ago, told USA Today. "The murder of the men was as cold-blooded as it could be," McWilliams said. "The killing of the girls was just senseless. There was absolutely no reason for that." Bryan Kohberger Case: Idaho Makes Key Move On Firing Squad Executions Dotson's father, George, was among the witnesses. He declined to comment on Tabler's apologies, saying he needed time to process what he had just seen but was glad to have seen it. "I couldn't wait," he said. "It took me 20 years to get here." "Today is for Tiffany," said her godfather, Tom Newton. "And this is justice." Click Here For The Fox News App During the sentencing phase of his trial, prosecutors introduced Tabler's written and videotaped statements saying he killed Dotson and Benefield because he was worried they would tell people he had killed the men. Tabler had asked several times for courts to stop his appeals and let him be executed. His lawyers questioned whether he was mentally competent. In 2008, he prompted a massive lockdown at the 150,000-inmate prison when he smuggled a cell phone into the facility and began making death-threat phone calls to then-state Sen. John Whitmire, who is now the mayor of Houston. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Original article source: Texas death row inmate mouths final 2-word message to victims' families before execution
Fox News
14-02-2025
- Fox News
Texas death row inmate mouths final 2-word message to victims' families before execution
A remorseful death row inmate pleaded for forgiveness and mouthed one final message before being put to death in Texas Thursday, 20 years after he killed his strip club manager and another man. Richard Lee Tabler, 46, also admitted to killing two teenage dancers at the club and said he had found God during his two decades in prison. "I had no right to take your loved ones from you, and I ask and pray, hope and pray, that one day you find it in your hearts to forgive me for those actions," Tabler said strapped to the death chamber gurney, looking at relatives of his victims who watched through a window a few feet away. "No amount of my apologies will ever return them to you." He told the victims' family members that there wasn't a day that went by in which he didn't regret his actions and thanked prison officials for their compassion and show that he could "change and become a better man and rehabilitate." After apologizing several more times, Tabler said that it was the beginning of a new life for him in heaven. He told the warden at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, "I am finished," and as the drugs began pouring into his body he mouthed once again, "I'm sorry." Tabler then began breathing quickly. After about a dozen breaths, all movement stopped. Tabler shot and killed Mohammed-Amine Rahmouni, 28, and Haitham Zayed, 25, in a remote area near Killeen in Central Texas on Thanksgiving 2004 after luring them there on the false pretense of buying stolen stereo equipment. Rahmouni was the co-owner of a club called TeaZers and the two had fallen out. Investigators said Rahmouni allegedly said he could have Tabler's family "wiped out" for $10. Two days later, Tabler shot and killed an 18-year-old dancer at the club, Tiffany Loraine Dotson, who he said he had been seeing, along with another dancer, 16-year-old Amanda Benefield. Tabler was convicted of killing the two men and sentenced to death, so prosecutors didn't need to pursue the conviction for the young women's murders, Paul McWilliams, who prosecuted Tabler nearly two decades ago, told USA Today. "The murder of the men was as cold-blooded as it could be," McWilliams said. "The killing of the girls was just senseless. There was absolutely no reason for that." Dotson's father, George, was among the witnesses. He declined to comment on Tabler's apologies, saying he needed time to process what he had just seen but was glad to have seen it. "I couldn't wait," he said. "It took me 20 years to get here." "Today is for Tiffany," said her godfather, Tom Newton. "And this is justice." During the sentencing phase of his trial, prosecutors introduced Tabler's written and videotaped statements saying he killed Dotson and Benefield because he was worried they would tell people he had killed the men. Tabler had asked several times for courts to stop his appeals and let him be executed. His lawyers questioned whether he was mentally competent. In 2008, he prompted a massive lockdown at the 150,000-inmate prison when he smuggled a cell phone into the facility and began making death-threat phone calls to then-state Sen. John Whitmire, who is now the mayor of Houston.
Los Angeles Times
14-02-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Texas executes man for 2004 double killing
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — A Texas man who killed his strip club manager and another man, and later prompted a massive lockdown of the state prison system when he used a cellphone smuggled onto death row to threaten a lawmaker, was executed Thursday night. Richard Lee Tabler, 46, was given a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. The time of death was 6:38 p.m. Central time, 15 minutes after a lethal dose of the powerful sedative pentobarbital was administered in his arms. 'There is not a day that goes by that I don't regret my actions,' Tabler said, strapped to the death chamber gurney, looking at relatives of his victims who watched through a window a few feet away. 'I had no right to take your loved ones from you, and I ask and pray, hope and pray, that one day you find it in your hearts to forgive me for those actions,' Tabler said. 'No amount of my apologies will ever return them to you.' He expressed love to his family and friends, lawyers and supporters, and he thanked prison officials for their compassion and 'the opportunity to show you that I can change and become a better man and rehabilitate.' After apologizing several more times and saying this was the beginning of a new life for him in heaven, he told the warden: 'I am finished.' As the drugs began, he mouthed once again, 'I'm sorry,' then began breathing quickly. After about a dozen breaths, all movement stopped. Tabler — the second person executed in Texas in a little over a week, with two more executions scheduled by the end of April — was condemned for the Thanksgiving 2004 shooting deaths of Mohammed-Amine Rahmouni, 28, and Haitham Zayed, 25, in a remote area near Killeen in central Texas. Rahmouni was the manager of a strip club where Tabler worked until he was banned from the place. Zayed was a friend of Rahmouni, and police said both men were killed in a late-night ambush disguised as a meeting to buy stolen stereo equipment. Tabler also confessed to killing two teenage girls who worked at the club, Tiffany Dotson, 18, and Amanda Benefield, 16. He was indicted but never tried in their killings. Dotson's father, George, was among the witnesses. He declined to comment on Tabler's apologies, saying he needed time to process what he had just seen but was glad to have seen it. 'I couldn't wait,' he said. 'It took me 20 years to get here.' 'Today is for Tiffany,' said her godfather, Tom Newton. 'And this is justice.' Tabler had repeatedly asked the courts to drop his appeals and that he be put to death. He changed his mind on that point several times, and his attorneys have questioned whether he was mentally competent to make that decision. Tabler's prison record includes at least two instances of attempted suicide, and he was granted a stay of execution in 2010. 'Petitioner has spent the last twenty years in the Courts, and see's no point in wasting this Courts time, nor anyone else's,' Tabler wrote to the state Court of Criminal Appeals on Dec. 9, 2024, after his current execution date was set. Tabler's death row phone calls in 2008 to state Sen. John Whitmire, who is now the mayor of Houston, prompted an unprecedented lockdown of more than 150,000 inmates in the the nation's second-largest prison system. Some were confined to their cells for weeks while officers swept more than 100 prisons to seize hundreds of items of contraband, including cellphones. Whitmire led a Senate committee with oversight of state prisons, and said at the time that Tabler warned him that he knew the names of his children and where they lived. Whitmire, through a spokesperson at the mayor's office, declined to comment on Tabler's pending execution. The American Civil Liberties Union appealed Tabler's case to the U.S. Supreme Court last year, claiming he was denied adequate legal representation during his lower court appeals by attorneys who refused to participate in hearings at what they said was his request. The ACLU appeal argued that Tabler's attorneys ignored a psychological exam that determined he had a 'deep and severe constellation of mental illnesses ' that had been ignored since childhood. The court refused to halt his execution. The club Tabler worked at was called TeaZers. Investigators said he had a conflict with his boss, Rahmouni, who allegedly said he could have Tabler's family 'wiped out' for $10. Tabler recruited a friend, Timothy Payne, a soldier at nearby Ft. Cavazos, and lured Rahmouni and Zayed to a meeting under the guise of buying the stolen stereo equipment. Tabler shot them both in their car, then pulled Rahmouni out and had Payne record video of him shooting Rahmouni again. Tabler later confessed to the killings. During the sentencing phase of his trial, prosecutors introduced Tabler's written and videotaped statements saying he also killed Dotson and Benefield days later because he was worried they would tell people he killed the men. Investigators said that before he was arrested, Tabler called the Bell County Sheriff's Office to taunt deputies about the murders and threatened to kill more employees and undercover law enforcement at the strip club. Also Thursday, in Florida, a man convicted of killing a husband and wife during a fishing trip at a remote farm while their toddler looked on was put to death by lethal injection in that state's first execution this year. Vertuno and Graczyk write for the Associated Press. Graczyk reported from Huntsville and Vertuno from Austin, Texas.
