Needle exchange programs for drug users could be coming to six counties across the state, including Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties, as state health officials work with local leaders to stop the spread of infectious diseases in the face of the heroin epidemic. The efforts are being lead locally and are at various stages of formation, but state officials are encouraging the programs and offering technical assistance and some funding, said Onyeka Anaedozie, deputy director of the Maryland Department of Health’s Infectious Disease Prevention and Health Services Bureau. [node:read-more:link]

An 11-year-old cow in Alabama tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday. The cow tested positive for the atypical L-type of BSE after exhibiting clinical signs at an Alabama livestock market, the USDA said in a press release. Atypical BSE can arise spontaneously in cattle herds, usually in animals 8 years old or older [node:read-more:link]

Crops and pastures continue to suffer in North Dakota as drought persists. The weekly crop report from the federal Agriculture Department says some farmers have started haying small grains crops that aren’t worth harvesting.Forty percent of North Dakota’s staple spring wheat crop is rated poor or very poor. Many other crops are in the same situation. [node:read-more:link]

If you are truly concerned about the welfare of animals and the quality of their lives, you should start thinking globally. If you’re sincere about your love for animals, you should make every attempt to go to the animals that are in the most deplorable situations and work hard to improve their conditions. [node:read-more:link]

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is authorizing the use of additional Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands for emergency grazing and haying in and around portions of Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota affected by severe drought. USDA is adding the ability for farmers and ranchers in these areas to hay and graze CRP wetland and buffer practices. “We are working to immediately address the dire straits facing drought-stricken farmers and ranchers,” said Perdue. [node:read-more:link]

Specialty crop farmers need the U.S. [node:read-more:link]

“The trend towards Hispanic dairy workers was started in New York in the late 1990s,” said Thomas Maloney, farm management extension specialist in the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University. He explained that dairy farms began to grow, but there wasn’t much of a workforce who was willing to do the work.  “[American workers] were not that interested and they didn’t stay very long and the workers who were good seemed to be few and far in between, and if you lost one it was hard to get another one,” Maloney said. [node:read-more:link]

The American Horse Council Foundation announced July 19 it will be extending the deadline to complete its horse owner and supplier survey to Aug. 18. The results of the survey will be used to update the AHC's National Economic Impact Study. "The survey has been open since the beginning of June, and unfortunately we have only had around 9,000 responses," said AHC president Julie Broadway. [node:read-more:link]

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today applauded President Donald J. Trump’s declaration of intent to nominate Ted McKinney for Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs and Dr. Sam Clovis for Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics. [node:read-more:link]