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Better Farming
February 2017
BEYOND
THE
BARN
Radar to help track poultry disease
To better understand risks of avian flu transmission, the poultry industry is turning to the same type of
radar technology that provides daily weather updates.
Losing livestock to wildlife preda-
tors is like “living in a high crime
neighbourhood,” according to
Jim
Magee
, retired livestock farmer and
a current wildlife damage investiga-
tor for
OMAFRA
.
The
Ontario Wildlife Damage
Compensation Program
reimburs-
es farmers for livestock losses due to
predators where sufficient evidence
is documented. The program
changed Jan. 1
to reflect stake-
holder recom-
mendations
and improve
program integ-
rity, according
to
Adam
Meyer
, program
administrator for
OMAFRA.
“A big change (for the program)
is implementing more consistency
and transparency in the (compensa-
tion) details,” he said. “Municipal
partners had the difficult responsi-
bility of determining a value for the
(farmer’s) losses. Assigned compen-
sation values have varied greatly for
similar animals – OMAFRA is now
taking on these responsibilities and
standardizing them using industry
market values.”
“We want to make sure produc-
ers are treated fairly and that they
have clear expectations of
the program,” said
Meyer. “We’ve also
greatly improved
information resourc-
es for farmers and
our municipal
partners.”
BF
Changes to wildlife compensations
Global commodities
supercycle trends
Navigating commodity markets can
be a difficult process.
John Baffes
,
senior economist at the
World Bank
Development Prospects Group
,
recently highlighted factors shaping
the markets. “In the short-term,
legislative and policy decisions can
play a huge role (in determining
prices) … but in the long-term, it’s
more so market conditions and
technology,” Baffes said at the
Cana-
dian Food and Drink Summit
.
Risk considerations for the com-
modity exchange include evolving
energy sources and changing weather
patterns. In addition, economic
policies in parts of the south have
recently supported the farm gate
(protectionist national measures to
restrict imported agricultural com-
modities), rather than consumer
prices.
BF
Researchers at the
University of
California
are now able to track wild
bird movement with existing weather
radar stations across the United
States. Much like how radar can track
rain patterns, the emitted signals
bounce off of the birds, relaying their
whereabouts, according to a universi-
ty release.
In terms of the situation north of
the border, “monitoring and tracking
wild birds is something that we (in
Canada) are very interested in
because they are the major vector for
avian influenza” transmission, says
Steve Leech
, national program
manager of food safety, animal care
and research for
Chicken Farmers of
Canada
.
The
Canadian Wildlife Health
Cooperative
, along with the
CFIA
,
runs a wild bird surveillance program,
testing both live birds and those
found dead. “This (program) gives us
an idea of what’s circulating and
where it is,” says Leech.
BF
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