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No record yields for potatoes on the Canadian Prairies this year!

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Western Producer A potato harvester at work in southern Manitoba. A PinP photo. The hot, dry weather Western Canada experienced this summer, is blamed. Story here.

One of the biggest tsunamis ever recorded was set off three years ago by a melting glacier

The Washington Post A rare and extreme tsunami ripped across an Alaskan fjord three years ago after 180 million tons of mountain rock fell into the water, driving a devastating wave that stripped shorelines of trees and reached heights greater than 600 feet, a large team of scientists  documented on Thursday . The October 2015 cataclysm in Taan Fiord in southeastern Alaska appears to have been the fourth-highest tsunami recorded in the past century, and its origins — linked to the retreat of a glacier — suggest that it’s the kind of event we may see more often because of a warming climate.The new study even bluntly calls it a “hazard occasioned by climate change.” Story here.

Drug-resistant microbes could threaten future global economy, low income countries in particular

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Journal Club A microbiologist examines the growth of a bacterial culture.  A U.S. Food & Drug Administration photo.  Antimicrobial resistance is not only a major public health threat, but also an economic one, according to researchers at The World Bank. Their new study, published in the journal  World Development , suggests that an increase in drug-resistant microbes could cause millions more people to fall into extreme poverty within the next few decades. “Nobody has estimated the poverty effects before,” says study author Karen Thierfelder, an economics professor at the U.S. Naval Academy and consultant for The World Bank. “We’d like to make more people aware of the problem.” More here. Also Read:  "In Hogs We Trust."   A critique of Manitoba’s “runaway” hog industry. Part 1 - Antibiotic Overuse.

Worries Deepen That Another Deadly Hog Disease May Arrive in Canada

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African Swine Fever in China Prompts Call for Review of Biosecurity on Canadian Farms   Farmscape for September 4, 2018 African Swine Fever has now been reported over a vast area in China.   A PinP photo. In light of this, Manitoba Pork is encouraging pork producers to reevaluate biosecurity.   The virus affects pigs of all ages causing high mortality and, while it doesn't affect humans and isn't considered a food safety risk, it is highly transmissible, it is trade limiting and it is federally reportable.   Jenelle Hamblin, the Manager of Swine Health Programs with Manitoba Pork, says the world is a smaller place than it once was with people and products moving in short amounts of time for many reasons. Clip-Jenelle Hamblin-Manitoba Pork:   As a sector we need to be normally aware of the people that are coming onto our premises and where they've been prior to coming but, in the case such as this, it's important to conside

'It’s not if, it’s when': the deadly pig disease spreading around the world

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The Guardian Swine fever has made its way into China, home to half the world’s pigs. Farmers in Estonia are already counting the cost. Story here. The images below show piglets with "PED," another deadly disease of hogs which has been  rampant in North America (& Manitoba) in recent years. Photos by Manitoba Pork. Related: Officials Worry Yet Another Lethal Pig Disease May be Headed to Canada. In Hogs We Trust  Part 111 - The magnitude of livestock diseases, worldwide.

Gulf of Mexico ‘dead zone’ is the largest ever measured

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National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration This NASA image shows the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. The dead zone is now approaching an area the size of Manitoba's Lake Winnipeg!  More here.

How animal waste is helping turn China's lakes green

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The Guardian                                    Lest we North Americans feel smug, this image shows                                                           one of countless "eutrophied" sloughs in Manitoba,                                                                                              on the Canadian prairies .                                                                                                                            A PinP   photo.      Animal husbandry is contaminating China's water and has been linked to bright-green lakes, a phenomenon know as eutrophication.  More here.   Related: In Hogs We Trust -  Part 1V - The health and environmental price we Manitobans will pay for an expanded hog industry.

Bad News for Crops! Global Warming = More & Hungrier Bugs!

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PHYS ORG A corn rootworm.  Public Domain . Crop losses for critical food grains will increase substantially as the climate warms, as rising temperatures increase the metabolic rate and population growth of insect pests, according to new research. More here. Most harm will befall crops in the temperate zone (shown in green). 

The more pesticides bees eat, the more they like them

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PHYS  ORG Bumblebees forage on organic chives. Another PinP photo. Bumblebees acquire a taste for pesticide-laced food as they become more exposed to it, a behaviour showing possible symptoms of addiction. More here.

How does agriculture affect vulnerable insect-eating birds?

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The American Ornithological Society A tree swallow. A PinP photo. Aerial insectivores--birds that hunt for insect prey on the wing--are declining across North America as agricultural intensification leads to diminishing insect abundance and diversity in many areas. A new study from  The Condor: Ornithological Applications  looks at how Tree Swallows' diets are affected by agriculture and finds that while birds living in cropland can still find their preferred prey, they may be working harder to get it.  More here. Related:   New Studies Show Farm Chemicals Are Affecting More Than Bees. Bird Populations are Declining, Too. Is modern agriculture's hold on nature becoming a death grip?

Officials Worry Yet Another Lethal Pig Disease May be Coming to Canada

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by Larry Powell The Manager of the "Canada West Swine Health Intelligence Network"  warns, now that African Swine Fever (ASF) has been confirmed in China, the risk of it spreading to North America, has increased.  Dr. Jette Christensen, veterinary epidemeologist. Dr. Jette Christensen (above) describes ASF as "a serious and trade-limiting viral infection." Speaking on the industry-sponsored radio program, "Farmscape," she assured listeners, if  the Canadian industry follows import regulations, "they should be safe." But she also warns that the virus can survive for months outside the host in pork products. The swelling around the kidneys and the muscle hemorrhages shown here are  typical of pigs with  African swine fever.  Karen Apicelli USDA Dr. Christensen warns Canadian producers, that workers they hire, could bring the disease home with them after vacationing in China or Eastern Europe. And they should even be car