Latest news with #U.SDepartmentofAgriculture
CBS News
13-04-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Small farmers in Colorado impacted by federal budget cuts seek alternative options
Recent cuts and freezes to funding for the U.S Department of Agriculture has some Colorado farms that rely on grants exploring other options for help. Tim Ferrell and his wife Claudia are the owners of Berry Patch Farms in Brighton. Saturday, they celebrated 27 years of business. Their farm specializes in organic berries when they're in season but also grows everything from squash to carrots, arugula and more. Twenty-seven years later, they still love every minute of it. "We are the privileged class," said Tim. "I'll put it that way. We're the privileged class to be out in the ground." However, business has changed over the decades, and labor wages have increased dramatically, making it difficult to stay afloat. "Labor costs have escalated over the past five years or more," said Tim. "It used to be $12 an hour, then $15, and well, now it's $20. So we need help. We need assistance." The farm has gone from eight employees down to four, and that includes Tim and Claudia. "As we get older, we can't move them out as quickly as we used to," said Tim. That's what led Tim to start a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to purchase an Oz Robot, which would help with everything from harvesting vegetables to pulling weeds. It would serve as a much-needed extra hand. "I see it for us as a lot of weeding because we're certified organic, said Tim." Typically, he would be able to apply for a federal grant to purchase the robot, but with the cuts and freezes to USDA funding, that isn't an option. Now, Tim and Claudia are searching for ways to keep their calling in business. "Our calling is to be stewards and to leave this land better than we found it," said Claudia as she looked around the couple's 40-acre farm. The Farrells still have a long way to go to reach their goal of raising $40k, but they're hopeful they'll get there.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Triad food banks, schools impacted by USDA cuts
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. WGHP) — Second Harvest Food Bank staff are tasked with feeding families in need in the northwestern portions of North Carolina This is an effort CEO Eric Aft says is made possible through a partnership with local farmers, specifically, the federally funded Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program. $900,000 of lottery revenue helps High Point school 'We aggregate … the produce as well as the meat and get that together and distribute that to our network partner programs. That includes over 300 food pantries in over 18 counties,' Aft said. The U.S Department of Agriculture cut more than $1 billion in federal funds for two programs. Aft says the cut makes the fight to end food insecurity in NC more complicated. Aft says eventually they'll no longer federally fund some of the farms in the Piedmont Triad. 'Glow House Agriculture … works with many farmers in the area … Another farmer that works with a lot of cattle. We get a lot of beef from them … There will be no more funding going forward. That's going to harm their ability and their work to provide food across the area,' Aft said. Farmers aren't the only ones impacted by federal cuts to nutrition programs. The School Nutrition Association, which represents cafeteria workers, said the USDA cut $660 million to the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program this year. It's a cut Guilford County Schools Superintendent Dr. Whitney Oakley is keeping a close eye on. 'We know that there were cuts to the federal department as recently as yesterday evening. Programs that come federally include most of our special education funding school meals,' Oakley said FOX8 reached out to GCS to see which specific nutrition programs may be impacted. A spokesperson says they're waiting on direction from the North Carolina State Board of Education. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Woman hospitalized in Wyoming with H5N1 bird flu
A woman in Wyoming was hospitalized with H5N1 bird flu, according to health officials who say she was likely infected by handling sickened birds in a backyard flock. According to a statement from Wyoming's public health department, the woman is "an older adult" and has "other health conditions," which may have made her more susceptible to the disease. She is being treated in another state. This marks the first human case of bird flu in Wyoming and the 70th human case in the United States since 2024. Although the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention's website lists only 68 human cases on its website, it does not yet include this case or another announced earlier this week in a poultry worker from Ohio. She is also the fourth person in North America to have been hospitalized with the disease. One person in Louisiana died from the infection. It is not clear whether she was infected with the D1.1 version of the H5N1 virus, which is now widespread in wild birds, poultry and cattle herds in Nevada and Arizona — or the B3.13 version, which is associated with the vast majority of dairy herds. According to the U.S Department of Agriculture, 968 dairy herds have been infected across 16 states — this does not include the herd in Arizona that was reported earlier this week. 'While this is a significant development as bird flu activity is monitored in Wyoming and across the country, it is not something we believe requires a high level of concern among most Wyoming residents,' said Dr. Alexia Harrist, state health officer and state epidemiologist with the Wyoming Department of Health. H5N1 has been reported in wild birds in Wyoming. There have also been reported infections in the state's commercial poultry and dairy cattle. Harrist and the CDC say there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus, and the risk for the general public remains low. She recommended that people do not eat raw or undercooked eggs, meat or other animal products, that they avoid contact with wild birds, and that they don't touch sick or dying wild or domestic birds. She also said people should not drink raw milk or raw milk dairy products.
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Woman hospitalized in Wyoming with H5N1 bird blu
A woman in Wyoming was hospitalized with H5N1 bird flu, according to health officials who say she was likely infected by handling sickened birds in a backyard flock. According to a statement from Wyoming's public health department, the woman is "an older adult" and has "other health conditions," which may have made her more susceptible to the disease. She is being treated in another state. This marks the first human case of bird flu in Wyoming and the 70th human case in the United States since 2024. Although the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention's website lists only 68 human cases on its website, it does not yet include this case or another announced earlier this week in a poultry worker from Ohio. She is also the fourth person in North America to have been hospitalized with the disease. One person in Louisiana died from the infection. It is not clear whether she was infected with the D1.1 version of the H5N1 virus, which is now widespread in wild birds, poultry and cattle herds in Nevada and Arizona — or the B3.13 version, which is associated with the vast majority of dairy herds. According to the U.S Department of Agriculture, 968 dairy herds have been infected across 16 states — this does not include the herd in Arizona that was reported earlier this week. 'While this is a significant development as bird flu activity is monitored in Wyoming and across the country, it is not something we believe requires a high level of concern among most Wyoming residents,' said Dr. Alexia Harrist, state health officer and state epidemiologist with the Wyoming Department of Health. H5N1 has been reported in wild birds in Wyoming. There have also been reported infections in the state's commercial poultry and dairy cattle. Harrist and the CDC say there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus, and the risk for the general public remains low. She recommended that people do not eat raw or undercooked eggs, meat or other animal products, that they avoid contact with wild birds, and that they don't touch sick or dying wild or domestic birds. She also said people should not drink raw milk or raw milk dairy products. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
15-02-2025
- Health
- Los Angeles Times
Woman hospitalized in Wyoming with H5N1 bird blu
A woman in Wyoming was hospitalized with H5N1 bird flu, according to health officials who say she was likely infected by handling sickened birds in a backyard flock. According to a statement from Wyoming's public health department, the woman is 'an older adult' and has 'other health conditions,' which may have made her more susceptible to the disease. She is being treated in another state. This marks the first human case of bird flu in Wyoming and the 70th human case in the United States since 2024. Although the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention's website lists only 68 human cases on its website, it does not yet include this case or another announced earlier this week in a poultry worker from Ohio. She is also the fourth person in North America to have been hospitalized with the disease. One person in Louisiana died from the infection. It is not clear whether she was infected with the D1.1 version of the H5N1 virus, which is now widespread in wild birds, poultry and cattle herds in Nevada and Arizona — or the B3.13 version, which is associated with the vast majority of dairy herds. According to the U.S Department of Agriculture, 968 dairy herds have been infected across 16 states — this does not include the herd in Arizona that was reported earlier this week. 'While this is a significant development as bird flu activity is monitored in Wyoming and across the country, it is not something we believe requires a high level of concern among most Wyoming residents,' said Dr. Alexia Harrist, state health officer and state epidemiologist with the Wyoming Department of Health. H5N1 has been reported in wild birds in Wyoming. There have also been reported infections in the state's commercial poultry and dairy cattle. Harrist and the CDC say there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus, and the risk for the general public remains low. She recommended that people do not eat raw or undercooked eggs, meat or other animal products, that they avoid contact with wild birds, and that they don't touch sick or dying wild or domestic birds. She also said people should not drink raw milk or raw milk dairy products.
