Let’s face it, it has been a busy week. It’s the center of October. Within the northeast, they’re speaking about snowflakes early subsequent week. And in Florida, the cleanup of Hurricane Ian continues. And within the west, the drought remains to be hitting many farms and ranches laborious.
High 7 tales
1. The drought monitor was launched Oct. 13 and plenty of ranchers are feeling the severity of the state of affairs within the west. Oklahoma and Nebraska are nearly coated in extreme drought situations and most states farther west. Virtually all of Missouri is in some a part of a drought state of affairs. Now, the drought situations are shifting eastward stretching so far as Ohio now.
2. In Pennsylvania, Eleven individuals working for one of many nation’s main turkey producers have been charged with animal cruelty after state police stated they had been caught on video kicking, stomping and beating turkeys at a number of farms.
3. In Florida, the hurricane cleanup continues. Many farms are nonetheless with out electrical energy. The Florida Division of Agriculture remains to be gathering info on the extent of the widespread injury to farms and ranches and is asking for a federal farm catastrophe declaration for 17 counties.
Many farms are nonetheless combatting flooded pastures. This implies the grass is not good for grazing, and cattle which were standing in water. Considerations are growing about illness together with foot rot.
Different considerations embody fruit grovers within the areas hit by Hurricane Ian. Many producers say this 12 months’s fruit crop is a complete loss, and estimates are excessive as a lot as 30% of the bushes will not get better. Even earlier than the storm, the USDA had predicted the Florida orange crop could be down by a 3rd this 12 months.
In the meantime, drought that reemerged within the state in late summer time is intensifying as autumn progresses, and the phrase “snow” has appeared within the state forecast for the primary time this season.
The rancher assist cash is thru the Hope After Haley Catastrophe Aid Fund that was launched in late April with about $50,000 in Stockmen’s funding. Donors from the Dakotas, Minnesota and Montana boosted the overall. The appliance deadline was Aug. 1, and the cash was doled out final week.
A 3-day blizzard in mid-April dropped 2-3 toes of snow over a large space of western and central North Dakota, and an Easter Sunday storm that adopted added a number of inches extra. A late-month blizzard dumped one other 1 to 1 ½ toes of snow within the west and in addition introduced freezing rain to the area. Heavy rain fell in lots of areas of jap North Dakota.
Forty-five assist functions had been accepted. The candidates had, on common, a 14% demise loss because of the storms — amounting to about 2,000 whole animals.
Transportation
Plus, transportation has been on plenty of minds. It seems the railroad strike may not be over like we thought.
5. A majority of just about 12,000 unionized railroad staff voted to reject a tentative labor settlement brokered partially final month by President Joe Biden, the primary dismissal by members of a dozen labor teams that should settle for the deal or threat a strike.
Greater than 6,600 members of the Brotherhood of Upkeep of Method Employes voted towards the tentative settlement in comparison with 5,100 votes in favor, the division of the Worldwide Brotherhood of Teamsters stated in a assertion Monday.
The vote ends in a “established order” interval during which no strike can happen whereas the union resumes bargaining with freight railroads, based on the assertion. No “self assist” could happen till after Nov. 19 on the earliest, it stated.
The end result indicators continued discontent overcompensation, working situations and sick-leave insurance policies amongst a few of the greater than 100,000 union-represented staff of US freight railroads.
A river gauge at Osceola, Arkansas, 35 miles north of Memphis, Tennessee, reported a water stage of 8.8 toes under what is taken into account ‘low stage’ on Wednesday, Oct. 12, the fourth-lowest water stage on the location since record-keeping started in 1927.
The barge points disrupted the move of newly harvested grain from Midwest farms to export terminals on the U.S. Gulf Coast, the place some 60% of corn, soybean and wheat exports exit the nation. Northbound shipments of highway salt, fertilizer and different items had been additionally stalled by the closure.
7. And a bunch of truck drivers who haul cattle sounded off on what is occurring of their portion of the agriculture trade. The group mentioned the laws wanted to haul a load of cattle and the way laborious it’s to search out drivers since Covid. Take a look at the story right here.
