Cleaning and disinfection are important to protect your animals, business, and customers. For conventional farms, there are many synthetic products available to kill microorganisms. However, there are strict rules about what can and cannot be used for organic and alternative farms. Read on to learn more about how to properly protect your organic/alternative farm! Cleaning, … Read more
With emerging diseases, a changing climate, and concerns about feeding a growing population, organic and alternative producers face many challenges. Fortunately, farmers worldwide are getting a helping hand from an unexpected friend. Dung beetles are an often-overlooked part of agriculture, but their benefits are beginning to become unearthed. With over 6,000 species of dung beetles … Read more
While beekeeping is an endeavor that many can take on, but there are many important considerations to protect the bee’s safety and wellbeing. Some obvious reasons to consider beekeeping are fresh honey, beeswax, pollination of gardens and orchards, and a love of bees. Just like the organic production of meat, milk, and eggs, the production … Read more
Ever wonder what they mean when they say immune compromised? It is important to understand to protect yourself, your loved ones, farm visitors, and workers. What does immunocompromised mean? Immune compromised means your immune system isn’t working as well as it should. This can happen for many different reasons. Factors like age or medical treatments, … Read more
Most everyone has heard of rabies, especially as a danger to your pets. But rabies can affect your herd, your pets, and you. It is important to understand and take precautions to protect those important to you. What is rabies? Rabies is a preventable but dangerous disease. Rabies is deadly and affects all mammals, humans … Read more
Have you ever wondered why it isn’t the best idea to sneak a little cookie dough out of the bowl while making a batch? Why do diners put an asterisk by over-easy or sunny side up eggs? Or if the trend of drinking unpasteurized milk is all that safe? All of these foods have the … Read more
No matter the size of your herd or flock, diseases can be spread by animals in contact with each other and with you. How are diseases spread through direct contact? For a disease to be spread through direct contact, there must be a disease agent in the environment on an infected animal. Animals become exposed … Read more
A disease you may have heard about in the news recently is Monkeypox. Monkeypox is rare and relatively unknown in the U.S. If you work with non-human primates, you may be more familiar with this disease. There are currently 460 reported cases of Monkeypox in the U.S. as of July 1, 2022. Health officials are … Read more
Animals can be exposed to diseases due to various factors and agents. Diseases can be spread from animal to animal, to and from humans, and from the environment. Diseases that can spread between animals and humans are called zoonotic diseases. Regardless of the source of the disease, there are many ways the disease can … Read more
As we move into summer and the weather gets warmer, we tend to see an increase in vector-borne diseases (VBD). Vectors are insects, rodents, birds, or other animals that can carry disease pathogens. The most common vectors are insects that suck blood, such as mosquitoes and ticks. VBDs occur in both animals and humans. Every … Read more