DETROIT (AP) — Owners of new Ford vehicles will be able to tune in to AM radio in their cars, trucks and SUVs after all.

CEO Jim Farley wrote in social media postings Tuesday that the company is reversing a decision to scrub the band after speaking with government policy leaders who are concerned about keeping emergency alerts that often are sounded on AM stations.

“We've decided to include it on all 2024 Ford and Lincoln vehicles," Farley wrote on Twitter. "For any owners of Ford's EVs without AM broadcast capability, we'll offer a software update” to restore it, Farley wrote.

The move comes after a bipartisan group of federal lawmakers introduced a bill Wednesday calling on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to require AM in new vehicles at no additional cost.

Sponsors of the “AM for Every Vehicle Act” cited public safety concerns, noting AM's historic role in transmitting vital information during emergencies, such as natural disasters, especially to rural areas.

Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., one of the bill’s sponsors, said eight of 20 major automakers including Ford, BMW and Tesla have pulled the band from new vehicles.

Ford removed AM from the 2023 Mustang Mach-e and F-150 Lightning electric pickups after data collected from vehicles showed that less than 5% of customers listened to it, spokesman Alan Hall said. Electrical interference and reducing cost and manufacturing complexity also played a role.

The company also took it out of the 2024 gasoline-powered Mustang, but will add it back in before any of the muscle cars are delivered, Hall said.

The EVs will get an online software update to put AM back into the vehicles, and Ford will keep including it in future vehicles as it looks at innovative ways to deliver emergency alerts, Hall said.

Ford and others also suggested that internet radio or other communication tools could replace AM radio. But Markey and others pointed to situations where drivers might not have internet access.

The Federal Communications Commission and National Association of Broadcasters praised the legislation, which is also backed by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., Rep. Tom Kean, Jr., R-N.J., Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., among others.

But the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a U.S. trade group that represents major automakers including Ford and BMW, criticized the bill, calling the AM radio mandate unnecessary.

The trade group pointed to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Integrated Public Alerts and Warning System, which can distribute safety warnings across AM, FM, internet-based and satellite radios — as well as over cellular networks.

The alliance said the bill gives preference to a technology that's competing with other communications options.

Messages were left Tuesday seeking comment from BMW and Tesla.

According to the National Association of Broadcasters and Nielsen data, more than 80 million people in the U.S. listen to AM radio every month.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/5/1684855234628.png" alt="The move comes after a bipartisan group of federal lawmakers introduced a bill Wednesday calling on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to require AM in new vehicles at no additional cost.-courtesy photo" />
 <figcaption>The move comes after a bipartisan group of federal lawmakers introduced a bill Wednesday calling on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to require AM in new vehicles at no additional cost.-courtesy photo</figcaption>
 </figure>DETROIT (AP) — Owners of new Ford vehicles will be able to tune in to AM radio in their cars, trucks and SUVs after all.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">After speaking with policy leaders about the importance of AM broadcast radio as a part of the emergency alert system, we&#39;ve decided to include it on all 2024 <a href="https://twitter.com/Ford?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Ford</a> &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/LincolnMotorCo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LincolnMotorCo</a> vehicles. For any owners of Ford EVs without AM broadcast capability, we’ll offer a software…&mdash; Jim Farley (@jimfarley98) <a href="https://twitter.com/jimfarley98/status/1661024295110463491?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 23, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>CEO Jim Farley wrote in social media postings Tuesday that the company is reversing a decision to scrub the band after speaking with government policy leaders who are concerned about keeping emergency alerts that often are sounded on AM stations.“We've decided to include it on all 2024 Ford and Lincoln vehicles," Farley wrote on Twitter. "For any owners of Ford's EVs without AM broadcast capability, we'll offer a software update” to restore it, Farley wrote.The move comes after a bipartisan group of federal lawmakers introduced a bill Wednesday calling on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to require AM in new vehicles at no additional cost.Sponsors of the “AM for Every Vehicle Act” cited public safety concerns, noting AM's historic role in transmitting vital information during emergencies, such as natural disasters, especially to rural areas.Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., one of the bill’s sponsors, said eight of 20 major automakers including Ford, BMW and Tesla have pulled the band from new vehicles.Ford removed AM from the 2023 Mustang Mach-e and F-150 Lightning electric pickups after data collected from vehicles showed that less than 5% of customers listened to it, spokesman Alan Hall said. Electrical interference and reducing cost and manufacturing complexity also played a role.The company also took it out of the 2024 gasoline-powered Mustang, but will add it back in before any of the muscle cars are delivered, Hall said.The EVs will get an online software update to put AM back into the vehicles, and Ford will keep including it in future vehicles as it looks at innovative ways to deliver emergency alerts, Hall said.Ford and others also suggested that internet radio or other communication tools could replace AM radio. But Markey and others pointed to situations where drivers might not have internet access.The Federal Communications Commission and National Association of Broadcasters praised the legislation, which is also backed by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., Rep. Tom Kean, Jr., R-N.J., Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., among others.But the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a U.S. trade group that represents major automakers including Ford and BMW, criticized the bill, calling the AM radio mandate unnecessary.The trade group pointed to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Integrated Public Alerts and Warning System, which can distribute safety warnings across AM, FM, internet-based and satellite radios — as well as over cellular networks.The alliance said the bill gives preference to a technology that's competing with other communications options.Messages were left Tuesday seeking comment from BMW and Tesla.According to the National Association of Broadcasters and Nielsen data, more than 80 million people in the U.S. listen to AM radio every month.

Ford decides to keep AM radio on 2024 models

By ADAM GOLDSTEIN <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/02/17/state-ag-officials-push-for-on-time-farm-bill-to-fund-slew-of-programs/">States Newsroom</a>

WASHINGTON — The deadliest outbreak of bird flu in U.S. history is prompting growing concern in Congress, and Department of Agriculture researchers are awaiting the preliminary results of four trials of vaccines for poultry.

Some lawmakers are warming to the idea of a vaccination campaign, long considered a fringe idea because of the cost and potential consequences. Trade groups warn that vaccinated poultry would not be accepted in many overseas markets, disrupting exports.

While bird flu likely poses little health danger to humans, it’s contributed to spikes in U.S. egg prices and decimated poultry flocks.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://extension.umn.edu/poultry-health/avian-influenza-basics-noncommercial-poultry-flock-owners">Among the domestic poultry affected</a>&nbsp;are chickens, turkeys, pheasants, quail, ducks and geese — in both big commercial operations and increasingly popular backyard flocks.

Since the current strain of highly-pathogenic avian influenza — H5N1 — began circulating in the country in February 2022, farmers across the country have lost or had to cull&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-2022/2022-hpai-commercial-backyard-flocks">more than 58 million poultry birds.</a>

The USDA estimates it has already spent&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/downloads/animal_diseases/ai/epi-analyses-hpai-poultry-july2022.pdf">more than $670 million</a>&nbsp;in insurance indemnities and sanitation services to combat the ongoing bird flu outbreak.

And with many wild birds starting their spring migration, roughly&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-2022/2022-hpai-commercial-backyard-flocks">140,000 poultry birds</a>&nbsp;were infected with the virus nationwide in April.

While food costs are stabilizing, members of Congress from both parties are asking how the U.S. can do better at controlling bird flu.

“We’ve all seen first-hand how high pathogenic avian flu has devastated domestic poultry populations, where depopulations have had to take place,” said Rep. Jim Costa, a California Democrat, at an April 18 House Agriculture Committee hearing.

“We’ve got to continue to refine and improve our approach to address animal disease, and USDA needs all the tools to guarantee a robust response.”

The USDA is testing two proprietary vaccines developed through its Agricultural Research Service, as well as bird flu vaccines from pharmaceutical companies Merck Animal Health and Zoetis Inc.

But animal health experts note that a bird flu vaccine is not the immediate solution that some believe it to be.

Jenny Lester Moffitt, undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs at the USDA, said at an April 24 press event that it will take a minimum of 18 to 24 months to produce a viable vaccine, which is not guaranteed to be effective against infection.

Yuko Sato, a poultry veterinarian and associate professor at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, said at an April 26 media event that “the vaccine is not a silver bullet” for an end to the outbreak.

“You would have to make sure that if you vaccinate — but still have positive birds — you can stamp out the virus,” Sato said. “Otherwise, we’ll never be looking at eradicating the virus from the United States.”

Here are the answers to some common questions about the ongoing bird flu outbreak and potential vaccines.

What is highly-pathogenic avian influenza?

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/influenza-a-virus-subtypes.htm">Highly-pathogenic avian influenza,</a>&nbsp;commonly known as HPAI, bird flu, or “high-path,” is a deadly respiratory virus that affects wild birds and poultry.

The contagious disease comes from the Influenza A family, and is characterized by the H5 or H7 categories of hemagglutinin — or spike protein — structures on its surface, which it uses to infect cells. The virus is spread via airborne transmission, or exposure to the byproducts of an infected bird, like saliva, mucus or feces.

Poultry and other domesticated birds with the disease will often exhibit a lack of energy, produce soft-shelled or misshapen eggs, and have swollen heads.

The highly-pathogenic version of the disease was first identified in China in 1996, and has mutated several times over the last three decades through swapping genetic material with low-pathogenic avian influenza strains within wild birds.

David Swayne, former director of the Agricultural Research Service’s Southeast Poultry Research Lab in Athens, Georgia, said at an April 26 media briefing that 87% of avian influenza strains are made up of blended genetic material from other strains. He said that this natural mutation process can make a vaccine less effective against the virus year over year.

Wild migratory birds are the primary transmission vector in the current outbreak, accounting for roughly 85% of disease spread,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/pest-disease/defend-flock/webinar-prevention-to-recovery-sept2022-qas.pdf">according to the USDA.</a>&nbsp;These animals, including terns, ducks, and geese, can contract and pass along the disease without obvious physical symptoms.

Yet an HPAI infection spreads quickly among a flock of poultry, with infections leading to mortality at a rate of 90% to 100% in chickens and turkeys, often within 48 hours, according to the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/animal_health/bro-protect-poultry-from-ai.pdf">Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.</a>

When a farmer detects the disease in a commercial flock, the only USDA-recommended option is to kill the remaining birds, dispose of the carcasses, and decontaminate the facility to mitigate spread.

Who is getting infected? Should I be worried?

Despite the threat H5N1 presents to poultry, experts with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that people do not need to brood over getting sick.

The agency reports that&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/inhumans.htm#:~:text=Since%20December%202021%2C%2011%20human,reported%20since%201997%20are%20available.">11 cases of bird flu</a>&nbsp;have been reported among humans since 2021, with only one “mild” case occurring in the United States. And as of 2023, there have been no reported cases of human-to-human transmission of HPAI, according to t<a target="_blank" href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2023-DON453">he World Health Organization.</a>

Swayne said at the media event that only 875 human cases of H5 bird flu have been reported since 1996. About 40% were fatal. He noted these infections have occurred largely among humans handling domesticated poultry, and not from encounters with wild birds.

The USDA has documented&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-2022/2022-hpai-mammals">176 mammals in the United States&nbsp; infected with the disease&nbsp;</a>since 2022, including skunks, foxes, seals, and mountain lions, among other species. Wildlife experts from the U.S. Geological Survey published&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.03.10.532068v1">a study in April&nbsp;</a>finding much of this disease spillover can be traced back to predation on wild birds.

Still both Swayne and Hill pointed to a recent event in which&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/06/americas/bird-flu-sea-lion-deaths-peru-intl-latam/index.html">3,500 sea lions became infected with the virus in Peru</a>&nbsp;as one worth monitoring for mutations that could affect mammals.

How does the current outbreak compare to past bird flu outbreaks?

The current iteration of the highly-pathogenic avian influenza virus was&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://scdhec.gov/sites/default/files/media/document/10510-DHA-01-20-2022-HPAI_Final.pdf">first detected domestically</a>&nbsp;on January 13, 2022, in a wild bird in Colleton County, South Carolina. The first domesticated animal case of the disease was found on a turkey farm in Dubois County, Indiana on February 8, 2022.

Since then, the disease has spread across 47 states, affecting more than 833 commercial and backyard poultry flocks.

Still, this is not the first outbreak of HPAI that the federal government has responded to. And despite the scope of these numbers, many animal health experts say current USDA efforts represent a significant improvement over earlier outbreaks of the disease.

Sato recalled that a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/emergency_management/downloads/hpai/2015-hpai-final-report.pdf">2015 outbreak of HPAI,</a>&nbsp;previously considered the worst outbreak on record, required the culling of 50.4 million birds on Midwestern poultry operations.

She added that 70% of the cause of new infections from that outbreak was farm-to-farm lateral spread from workers in 21 states, including Arkansas, Iowa, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

In contrast to that outbreak, Sato said that now “we’ve done a really good job with biosecurity.” Biosecurity refers to preventive measures producers can take to limit spread of the disease, like disinfecting farm machinery and providing clean clothing and protective equipment to farmworkers.

Sato said that with producers embracing these practices, the lateral spread of avian influenza decreased from&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/downloads/animal_diseases/ai/epi-analyses-hpai-poultry-july2022.pdf">70% of reported cases in 2015 to roughly 16% of reported cases in 2023.</a>

Moffitt added that efforts to control the virus are projected to cost the country less than 50% of its 2015 expenditures of $1.6 billion.

However, animal disease experts caution that the U.S. is dealing with a more widely dispersed and distinct disease than that of the 2015 HPAI outbreak.

Nichola Hill, an&nbsp;assistant professor of biology at&nbsp;the University of Massachusetts, said at the April 26 media event that researchers have detected the virus in 150 of the approximately 1,000 wild bird species found in the U.S., and the disease has affected&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-2022/2022-hpai-wild-birds">more than 6,000 wild birds.</a>

Greg Tyler, the president and CEO of USA Poultry and Egg Export Council, said that this version of the disease has also gotten into&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.fws.gov/media/migratory-bird-flyways-north-america">all four major migratory flyways&nbsp;</a>for wild birds in the U.S.

Sato said that more backyard flocks of poultry are being affected by the spread of bird flu from migratory populations — a total of 507 small to mid-sized flocks — in contrast to the 21 backyard flocks affected in 2015.

There are also new concerns emerging among experts that this deadly disease could become endemic to North America without significant public-private collaboration to reduce spread, according to&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320723001428?via%3Dihub">an April study</a>&nbsp;from researchers at the University of Maryland.

“Federal agencies, state agencies, the agriculture sector and wildlife management — we are all going to have to deal with this together, because we can’t afford not to,” said Jennifer Mullinax, an assistant professor in the University of Maryland Department of Environmental Science and Technology,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://agnr.umd.edu/news/why-bird-flu-different-scientists-say-new-avian-influenza-requires-urgent-coordinated-response">in a release.</a>

While some animal health experts say developing a vaccine for the current bird flu strain could be a valuable tool, trade experts caution that a national vaccination strategy would not come quickly, or without tradeoffs for the nation’s&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.fas.usda.gov/data/commodities/poultry-meat-prods-ex-eggs">$6 billion poultry export industry.</a>

Sato said that a national vaccination strategy for the roughly 10 billion commercial-purpose birds in the United States could be time-intensive, and cost billions of taxpayer dollars.

Tom Super, senior vice president of communications at the National Chicken Council, said that&nbsp;his organization does not support the use of a vaccine for HPAI right now, as&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023aof-Padilla.pdf">most countries do not accept exports</a>&nbsp;from countries that vaccinate for the virus.

These non-tariff trade barriers are designed to protect other nations’ unvaccinated poultry flocks from immunized birds that still carry the disease.&nbsp;Super added that if the U.S. vaccinates domestic birds, the broiler industry will be cut off from exports, costing billions of dollars to the U.S. economy every year.

Tyler added that his organization found that if a vaccination campaign happens without adjustments to trade policy, there could be a potential loss of 200,000 farm jobs.

Moffitt said that negotiations between the USDA and foreign partners are still ongoing to maintain international poultry export markets for certain states amid outbreaks in others in the country.

Tyler said that the Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and Foreign Agricultural Service have made significant progress in developing regionalization agreements with foreign governments since 2015.

He noted that the U.S. poultry industry has managed roughly $11.7 billion in exports over the last two years, despite the ongoing challenges of HPAI and bans on poultry exports by certain countries like China.

Super and Tyler both advocated for continued funding for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to provide rapid-response support to farms.

Moffitt urged adhering to biosecurity measures like interstate surveillance and the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/animal_health/cal-defend-the-flock-2023.pdf">Defend the Flock&nbsp;</a>program at the April 18 hearing. Moffitt cited that the number of infections in commercial flocks in March 2023 decreased tenfold compared to March 2022, proof the USDA’s current strategy of rapid tests and reporting is working.

“We know how to respond quickly, so producers can get back to producing food, how important biosecurity is, how to keep markets open,” she said. “We know what to do, and we are ready.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/4/1649945707315.jpg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>By ADAM GOLDSTEIN <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/02/17/state-ag-officials-push-for-on-time-farm-bill-to-fund-slew-of-programs/">States Newsroom</a>WASHINGTON — The deadliest outbreak of bird flu in U.S. history is prompting growing concern in Congress, and Department of Agriculture researchers are awaiting the preliminary results of four trials of vaccines for poultry.Some lawmakers are warming to the idea of a vaccination campaign, long considered a fringe idea because of the cost and potential consequences. Trade groups warn that vaccinated poultry would not be accepted in many overseas markets, disrupting exports.While bird flu likely poses little health danger to humans, it’s contributed to spikes in U.S. egg prices and decimated poultry flocks.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://extension.umn.edu/poultry-health/avian-influenza-basics-noncommercial-poultry-flock-owners">Among the domestic poultry affected</a>&nbsp;are chickens, turkeys, pheasants, quail, ducks and geese — in both big commercial operations and increasingly popular backyard flocks.Since the current strain of highly-pathogenic avian influenza — H5N1 — began circulating in the country in February 2022, farmers across the country have lost or had to cull&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-2022/2022-hpai-commercial-backyard-flocks">more than 58 million poultry birds.</a>The USDA estimates it has already spent&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/downloads/animal_diseases/ai/epi-analyses-hpai-poultry-july2022.pdf">more than $670 million</a>&nbsp;in insurance indemnities and sanitation services to combat the ongoing bird flu outbreak.And with many wild birds starting their spring migration, roughly&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-2022/2022-hpai-commercial-backyard-flocks">140,000 poultry birds</a>&nbsp;were infected with the virus nationwide in April.While food costs are stabilizing, members of Congress from both parties are asking how the U.S. can do better at controlling bird flu.“We’ve all seen first-hand how high pathogenic avian flu has devastated domestic poultry populations, where depopulations have had to take place,” said Rep. Jim Costa, a California Democrat, at an April 18 House Agriculture Committee hearing.“We’ve got to continue to refine and improve our approach to address animal disease, and USDA needs all the tools to guarantee a robust response.”The USDA is testing two proprietary vaccines developed through its Agricultural Research Service, as well as bird flu vaccines from pharmaceutical companies Merck Animal Health and Zoetis Inc.But animal health experts note that a bird flu vaccine is not the immediate solution that some believe it to be.Jenny Lester Moffitt, undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs at the USDA, said at an April 24 press event that it will take a minimum of 18 to 24 months to produce a viable vaccine, which is not guaranteed to be effective against infection.Yuko Sato, a poultry veterinarian and associate professor at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, said at an April 26 media event that “the vaccine is not a silver bullet” for an end to the outbreak.“You would have to make sure that if you vaccinate — but still have positive birds — you can stamp out the virus,” Sato said. “Otherwise, we’ll never be looking at eradicating the virus from the United States.”Here are the answers to some common questions about the ongoing bird flu outbreak and potential vaccines.<h2>What is highly-pathogenic avian influenza?</h2><a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/influenza-a-virus-subtypes.htm">Highly-pathogenic avian influenza,</a>&nbsp;commonly known as HPAI, bird flu, or “high-path,” is a deadly respiratory virus that affects wild birds and poultry.The contagious disease comes from the Influenza A family, and is characterized by the H5 or H7 categories of hemagglutinin — or spike protein — structures on its surface, which it uses to infect cells. The virus is spread via airborne transmission, or exposure to the byproducts of an infected bird, like saliva, mucus or feces.Poultry and other domesticated birds with the disease will often exhibit a lack of energy, produce soft-shelled or misshapen eggs, and have swollen heads.The highly-pathogenic version of the disease was first identified in China in 1996, and has mutated several times over the last three decades through swapping genetic material with low-pathogenic avian influenza strains within wild birds.David Swayne, former director of the Agricultural Research Service’s Southeast Poultry Research Lab in Athens, Georgia, said at an April 26 media briefing that 87% of avian influenza strains are made up of blended genetic material from other strains. He said that this natural mutation process can make a vaccine less effective against the virus year over year.Wild migratory birds are the primary transmission vector in the current outbreak, accounting for roughly 85% of disease spread,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/pest-disease/defend-flock/webinar-prevention-to-recovery-sept2022-qas.pdf">according to the USDA.</a>&nbsp;These animals, including terns, ducks, and geese, can contract and pass along the disease without obvious physical symptoms.Yet an HPAI infection spreads quickly among a flock of poultry, with infections leading to mortality at a rate of 90% to 100% in chickens and turkeys, often within 48 hours, according to the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/animal_health/bro-protect-poultry-from-ai.pdf">Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.</a>When a farmer detects the disease in a commercial flock, the only USDA-recommended option is to kill the remaining birds, dispose of the carcasses, and decontaminate the facility to mitigate spread.<h2>Who is getting infected? Should I be worried?</h2>Despite the threat H5N1 presents to poultry, experts with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that people do not need to brood over getting sick.The agency reports that&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/inhumans.htm#:~:text=Since%20December%202021%2C%2011%20human,reported%20since%201997%20are%20available.">11 cases of bird flu</a>&nbsp;have been reported among humans since 2021, with only one “mild” case occurring in the United States. And as of 2023, there have been no reported cases of human-to-human transmission of HPAI, according to t<a target="_blank" href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2023-DON453">he World Health Organization.</a>Swayne said at the media event that only 875 human cases of H5 bird flu have been reported since 1996. About 40% were fatal. He noted these infections have occurred largely among humans handling domesticated poultry, and not from encounters with wild birds.The USDA has documented&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-2022/2022-hpai-mammals">176 mammals in the United States&nbsp; infected with the disease&nbsp;</a>since 2022, including skunks, foxes, seals, and mountain lions, among other species. Wildlife experts from the U.S. Geological Survey published&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.03.10.532068v1">a study in April&nbsp;</a>finding much of this disease spillover can be traced back to predation on wild birds.Still both Swayne and Hill pointed to a recent event in which&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/06/americas/bird-flu-sea-lion-deaths-peru-intl-latam/index.html">3,500 sea lions became infected with the virus in Peru</a>&nbsp;as one worth monitoring for mutations that could affect mammals.<h2>How does the current outbreak compare to past bird flu outbreaks?</h2>The current iteration of the highly-pathogenic avian influenza virus was&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://scdhec.gov/sites/default/files/media/document/10510-DHA-01-20-2022-HPAI_Final.pdf">first detected domestically</a>&nbsp;on January 13, 2022, in a wild bird in Colleton County, South Carolina. The first domesticated animal case of the disease was found on a turkey farm in Dubois County, Indiana on February 8, 2022.Since then, the disease has spread across 47 states, affecting more than 833 commercial and backyard poultry flocks.Still, this is not the first outbreak of HPAI that the federal government has responded to. And despite the scope of these numbers, many animal health experts say current USDA efforts represent a significant improvement over earlier outbreaks of the disease.Sato recalled that a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/emergency_management/downloads/hpai/2015-hpai-final-report.pdf">2015 outbreak of HPAI,</a>&nbsp;previously considered the worst outbreak on record, required the culling of 50.4 million birds on Midwestern poultry operations.She added that 70% of the cause of new infections from that outbreak was farm-to-farm lateral spread from workers in 21 states, including Arkansas, Iowa, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.In contrast to that outbreak, Sato said that now “we’ve done a really good job with biosecurity.” Biosecurity refers to preventive measures producers can take to limit spread of the disease, like disinfecting farm machinery and providing clean clothing and protective equipment to farmworkers.Sato said that with producers embracing these practices, the lateral spread of avian influenza decreased from&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/downloads/animal_diseases/ai/epi-analyses-hpai-poultry-july2022.pdf">70% of reported cases in 2015 to roughly 16% of reported cases in 2023.</a>Moffitt added that efforts to control the virus are projected to cost the country less than 50% of its 2015 expenditures of $1.6 billion.However, animal disease experts caution that the U.S. is dealing with a more widely dispersed and distinct disease than that of the 2015 HPAI outbreak.Nichola Hill, an&nbsp;assistant professor of biology at&nbsp;the University of Massachusetts, said at the April 26 media event that researchers have detected the virus in 150 of the approximately 1,000 wild bird species found in the U.S., and the disease has affected&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-2022/2022-hpai-wild-birds">more than 6,000 wild birds.</a>Greg Tyler, the president and CEO of USA Poultry and Egg Export Council, said that this version of the disease has also gotten into&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.fws.gov/media/migratory-bird-flyways-north-america">all four major migratory flyways&nbsp;</a>for wild birds in the U.S.Sato said that more backyard flocks of poultry are being affected by the spread of bird flu from migratory populations — a total of 507 small to mid-sized flocks — in contrast to the 21 backyard flocks affected in 2015.There are also new concerns emerging among experts that this deadly disease could become endemic to North America without significant public-private collaboration to reduce spread, according to&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320723001428?via%3Dihub">an April study</a>&nbsp;from researchers at the University of Maryland.“Federal agencies, state agencies, the agriculture sector and wildlife management — we are all going to have to deal with this together, because we can’t afford not to,” said Jennifer Mullinax, an assistant professor in the University of Maryland Department of Environmental Science and Technology,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://agnr.umd.edu/news/why-bird-flu-different-scientists-say-new-avian-influenza-requires-urgent-coordinated-response">in a release.</a><h2>What about a vaccine?</h2>While some animal health experts say developing a vaccine for the current bird flu strain could be a valuable tool, trade experts caution that a national vaccination strategy would not come quickly, or without tradeoffs for the nation’s&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.fas.usda.gov/data/commodities/poultry-meat-prods-ex-eggs">$6 billion poultry export industry.</a>Sato said that a national vaccination strategy for the roughly 10 billion commercial-purpose birds in the United States could be time-intensive, and cost billions of taxpayer dollars.Tom Super, senior vice president of communications at the National Chicken Council, said that&nbsp;his organization does not support the use of a vaccine for HPAI right now, as&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023aof-Padilla.pdf">most countries do not accept exports</a>&nbsp;from countries that vaccinate for the virus.These non-tariff trade barriers are designed to protect other nations’ unvaccinated poultry flocks from immunized birds that still carry the disease.&nbsp;Super added that if the U.S. vaccinates domestic birds, the broiler industry will be cut off from exports, costing billions of dollars to the U.S. economy every year.Tyler added that his organization found that if a vaccination campaign happens without adjustments to trade policy, there could be a potential loss of 200,000 farm jobs.Moffitt said that negotiations between the USDA and foreign partners are still ongoing to maintain international poultry export markets for certain states amid outbreaks in others in the country.Tyler said that the Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and Foreign Agricultural Service have made significant progress in developing regionalization agreements with foreign governments since 2015.He noted that the U.S. poultry industry has managed roughly $11.7 billion in exports over the last two years, despite the ongoing challenges of HPAI and bans on poultry exports by certain countries like China.Super and Tyler both advocated for continued funding for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to provide rapid-response support to farms.Moffitt urged adhering to biosecurity measures like interstate surveillance and the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/animal_health/cal-defend-the-flock-2023.pdf">Defend the Flock&nbsp;</a>program at the April 18 hearing. Moffitt cited that the number of infections in commercial flocks in March 2023 decreased tenfold compared to March 2022, proof the USDA’s current strategy of rapid tests and reporting is working.“We know how to respond quickly, so producers can get back to producing food, how important biosecurity is, how to keep markets open,” she said. “We know what to do, and we are ready.”

Is a poultry vaccine the answer for worst bird flu outbreak ever?

DENVER (AP) — Sitting in front of a hulking red tractor, Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill Tuesday making Colorado the first state to ensure farmers can fix their own tractors and combines with a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/farm-equipment-repairs-d5ea466725328d965a85a62130503d49">“right to repair” law</a>&nbsp;— which compels manufacturers to provide the necessary manuals, tools, parts and software.

Colorado, home to high desert ranches and sweeping farms on the low-and-level plains, took the lead on the issue following a nationwide outcry from farmers that manufacturers, such as John Deere, blocked them from making fixes and forced them to wait precious days for an official servicer to arrive — waits that imperiled profits.

While their increasingly high-tech tractors or combines sit impotent, a hailstorm could decimate a crop or a farmer could miss the ideal planting window, farmers said.

“Farmers have had to wait three or four weeks to get repairs done to equipment when they can do repairs themselves. That’s just unfathomable,” said Bill Midcap, whose son is a fifth-generation rancher on Colorado's eastern plains.

Lawmakers in at least 10 other states have introduced similar legislation, including in Florida, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Texas and Vermont.

Colorado has taken the lead, but Democratic Rep. Brianna Titone, the bill's sponsor, and Dan Waldvogle, director of the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, said it's a potential launch pad for other states and even at the federal level where discussions about similar legislation are already underway.

At the signing ceremony Tuesday afternoon, under a light drizzle of rain, Polis said: “This bill will save farmers and ranchers time and money and support the free market in repair” before exclaiming, “first in the nation!”

Behind the governor and arrayed farmers and lawmakers sat a red Steiger 370 tractor owned by a farmer named Danny Wood. Wood's tractor has flown an American flag reading “Farmers First,” and it been one of two of his machines to break down, requiring long waits before servicers arrived to enter a few lines of computer code or make a fix Wood could have made himself.

Polis and Titone climbed inside the tractor for a photo as the ceremony ended.

Polis signed the bill after the legislation advanced through long committee hearings, having been propelled forward mostly by Democrats even though a Republican lawmaker co-sponsored the bill. The proposal left GOP lawmakers stuck between their farming constituents pleading for the ability to repair their equipment and the manufacturers who vehemently opposed it.

Manufacturers and dealerships raised concerns that providing tools and information to farmers would allow equipment owners to illegally crank up the horsepower and bypass emissions controls — putting operator safety and the environment at risk.

They also argued that the law would expose companies’ trade secrets. Republican Rep. Richard Holtorf, a farmer himself, further worried that it would push dealerships out of business, especially in rural parts of the state.

The bill’s proponents acknowledged that the legislation could make it easier for operators to modify horsepower and emissions controls. But they argued that farmers are already able to tinker with their machines, and doing so would remain illegal.

The law falls into the broader “right to repair” campaign, which has picked up steam across the country and applies to a range of products, from&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-technology-business-apple-inc-smartphones-afb6e6603bdb5c0bb510de5b4c685f69">iPhones</a>&nbsp;to hospital ventilators. Independent mechanics and car owners have access to tools and parts because of a 2014 memorandum of understanding signed by the automotive industry.

Two years ago, President Joe Biden directed the Federal Trade Commission to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-joe-biden-business-government-and-politics-7e5d6c82ee4f1b66fd4c3b78d1ddd18e">beef up its right-to-repair enforcement</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/7/1625596705829.png" alt="Lawmakers in at least 10 other states have introduced similar legislation-file photo" />
 <figcaption>Lawmakers in at least 10 other states have introduced similar legislation-file photo</figcaption>
 </figure>DENVER (AP) — Sitting in front of a hulking red tractor, Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill Tuesday making Colorado the first state to ensure farmers can fix their own tractors and combines with a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/farm-equipment-repairs-d5ea466725328d965a85a62130503d49">“right to repair” law</a>&nbsp;— which compels manufacturers to provide the necessary manuals, tools, parts and software.Colorado, home to high desert ranches and sweeping farms on the low-and-level plains, took the lead on the issue following a nationwide outcry from farmers that manufacturers, such as John Deere, blocked them from making fixes and forced them to wait precious days for an official servicer to arrive — waits that imperiled profits.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/4/1682461813370.png" alt="Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill Tuesday making Colorado the first state to ensure farmers can fix their own tractors and combines- courtesy photo" />
 <figcaption>Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill Tuesday making Colorado the first state to ensure farmers can fix their own tractors and combines- courtesy photo</figcaption>
 </figure>While their increasingly high-tech tractors or combines sit impotent, a hailstorm could decimate a crop or a farmer could miss the ideal planting window, farmers said.“Farmers have had to wait three or four weeks to get repairs done to equipment when they can do repairs themselves. That’s just unfathomable,” said Bill Midcap, whose son is a fifth-generation rancher on Colorado's eastern plains.Lawmakers in at least 10 other states have introduced similar legislation, including in Florida, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Texas and Vermont.Colorado has taken the lead, but Democratic Rep. Brianna Titone, the bill's sponsor, and Dan Waldvogle, director of the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, said it's a potential launch pad for other states and even at the federal level where discussions about similar legislation are already underway.At the signing ceremony Tuesday afternoon, under a light drizzle of rain, Polis said: “This bill will save farmers and ranchers time and money and support the free market in repair” before exclaiming, “first in the nation!”Behind the governor and arrayed farmers and lawmakers sat a red Steiger 370 tractor owned by a farmer named Danny Wood. Wood's tractor has flown an American flag reading “Farmers First,” and it been one of two of his machines to break down, requiring long waits before servicers arrived to enter a few lines of computer code or make a fix Wood could have made himself.Polis and Titone climbed inside the tractor for a photo as the ceremony ended.Polis signed the bill after the legislation advanced through long committee hearings, having been propelled forward mostly by Democrats even though a Republican lawmaker co-sponsored the bill. The proposal left GOP lawmakers stuck between their farming constituents pleading for the ability to repair their equipment and the manufacturers who vehemently opposed it.Manufacturers and dealerships raised concerns that providing tools and information to farmers would allow equipment owners to illegally crank up the horsepower and bypass emissions controls — putting operator safety and the environment at risk.They also argued that the law would expose companies’ trade secrets. Republican Rep. Richard Holtorf, a farmer himself, further worried that it would push dealerships out of business, especially in rural parts of the state.The bill’s proponents acknowledged that the legislation could make it easier for operators to modify horsepower and emissions controls. But they argued that farmers are already able to tinker with their machines, and doing so would remain illegal.The law falls into the broader “right to repair” campaign, which has picked up steam across the country and applies to a range of products, from&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-technology-business-apple-inc-smartphones-afb6e6603bdb5c0bb510de5b4c685f69">iPhones</a>&nbsp;to hospital ventilators. Independent mechanics and car owners have access to tools and parts because of a 2014 memorandum of understanding signed by the automotive industry.Two years ago, President Joe Biden directed the Federal Trade Commission to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-joe-biden-business-government-and-politics-7e5d6c82ee4f1b66fd4c3b78d1ddd18e">beef up its right-to-repair enforcement</a>.

State is 1st to pass ‘right to repair’ for farmers

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The ongoing bird flu outbreak has cost the government roughly $661 million and added to consumers' pain at the grocery store after more than 58 million birds were&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-business-bird-flu-flu-animals-189a7c08d848047f00b3f7b5bec39e67">slaughtered</a>&nbsp;to limit the spread of the virus.

In addition to the cost of the government response and rising prices for eggs, chicken and turkey, farmers who raise those animals have easily lost more than $1 billion, said an agricultural economist, though no one has calculated the total cost to the industry yet.

The bad news is that with the outbreak entering its second year and the spring migratory season looming, there is no end in sight. And there is little&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-health-environment-and-nature-iowa-agriculture-9245d97453568576bd0b564f9c52c343">farmers</a>&nbsp;can do beyond&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/science-health-business-iowa-agriculture-f5a5c6fbf1d6b551413fb249086fdbec">the steps they have already taken</a>&nbsp;to try to keep the virus out.

Unlike past years,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-flu-prices-animals-1ec0f5a8e5485300fe117f87f8470f06">the virus that causes</a>&nbsp;highly pathogenic avian influenza found a way to survive through the heat of last summer, leading to a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-minnesota-animals-flu-animal-2f02b2d35e82feb05273d9a72e898170">rise in cases</a>&nbsp;reported in the fall.

The outbreak is already more widespread than the last major bird flu outbreak in 2015, but it hasn't proven as costly yet partly because the government and industry applied lessons learned eight years ago.

“The past year has been devastating for the turkey industry as we experience, unequivocally, the worst HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza) outbreak in the industry’s history,” National Turkey Federation spokeswoman Shelby Newman said.

In the current outbreak, 58.4 million birds have been slaughtered on more than 300 commercial farms in 47 states. That is because any time the virus is detected, the entire flock on that farm — which can number in the millions — must be killed to limit the spread of the disease. Only Hawaii, Louisiana and West Virginia have yet to report a case of bird flu. Iowa — the nation's biggest egg producer —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-business-iowa-bird-flu-4c49e56a8c84c425c308e97617e31066">leads the nation</a>&nbsp;with nearly 16 million birds slaughtered.

In 2015, about 50 million chickens and turkeys were slaughtered on more than 200 farms in 15 states.

That previous outbreak remains the most expensive animal health disaster in U.S. history. The federal government spent nearly $1 billion to deal with infected birds, clean up barns and compensate farmers. It cost the industry roughly $3 billion as farmers incurred additional costs and lost money when they didn’t have any birds on their farms.

This bills continue to pile up this year as cases spread, and that includes the cost to consumers.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bird-flu-business-213d845ae92814bf3189eec9c1ccf902">Egg prices shot up</a>&nbsp;to $4.82 a dozen in January from $1.93 a year earlier, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://ag.purdue.edu/cfdas/resource-library/average-food-prices/">latest government figures</a>. That spike prompted calls for a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-commodity-markets-jack-reed-business-1b32cb587f20a8d44eaf707f72635e70">price-gouging investigation</a>&nbsp;although the industry maintains that the combination of bird flu and significantly higher feed, fuel and labor costs is what’s driving prices so high.

The price for a pound of chicken breast was $4.32 in January. That’s down slightly from last fall when the price peaked at $4.75, but it is up significantly from the year before when chicken breasts were selling for $3.73 per pound.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn’t track retail turkey prices the same way as part of its inflation data, but the Agriculture Department says the wholesale price of turkey went from $1.29 per pound last January just before the bird flu outbreak began to $1.72 per pound last month.

The number of birds slaughtered peaked last spring at almost 21 million in March, leaving farmers leery of what they must face in the months ahead. University of Georgia virus researcher David Stallknecht said there is some hope that this spring might not be quite as bad because turkeys and chickens may have developed some immunity to the virus.

The key problem with bird flu is that the highly contagious virus is spread easily by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-business-minnesota-environment-0ec6d3f11b09ddd023d7d5d50ab7f8c1">wild birds</a>&nbsp;through their droppings and nasal discharges. Despite the best efforts of farmers, it is hard to keep the virus out.

Farmers have gone to great lengths by requiring workers to shower and change clothes before entering barns, sanitizing trucks that enter a farm and investing in separate sets of tools for every barn. Some farms have even upgraded barn ventilation and installed laser systems to discourage wild birds from congregating.

“We recommend all producers redouble their efforts to protect their birds through good biosecurity practices,” said Lyndsay Cole, a spokeswoman for the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service that's leading the government's response.

Farmers began following those steps after the 2015 outbreak, and this outbreak has only reinforced the need to tighten biosecurity.

“America’s egg farmers continue to double-down on biosecurity protocols to protect our flocks and maintain a stable egg supply. We are grateful that there has been little to no farm-to-farm spread in this current outbreak,” said Oscar Garrison, senior vice president of food safety and regulatory affairs at the United Egg Producers trade group.

Poultry and egg producers, partnering with the government, are parsing this outbreak for new lessons in keeping birds healthy.

“That’s really the key – early detection. It’s kind of like a forest fire - the earlier you detect it, the easier it is to contain and eradicate,” National Chicken Council spokesman Tom Super said.

Officials say bird flu doesn’t represent a significant threat to human health. Human cases are extremely rare and none of the infected birds are allowed into the nation’s food supply. And properly cooking poultry to 165 degrees Fahrenheit will kill any viruses.

There has only been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-health-environment-colorado-b98906e0a1899bb1f92da30a7b1dbe28">one human case</a>&nbsp;of bird flu confirmed during this outbreak and that was a man who had been helping slaughter and remove infected birds from a Colorado farm. He recovered from the illness after a few days.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/10/1666346539753.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The ongoing bird flu outbreak has cost the government roughly $661 million and added to consumers' pain at the grocery store after more than 58 million birds were&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-business-bird-flu-flu-animals-189a7c08d848047f00b3f7b5bec39e67">slaughtered</a>&nbsp;to limit the spread of the virus.In addition to the cost of the government response and rising prices for eggs, chicken and turkey, farmers who raise those animals have easily lost more than $1 billion, said an agricultural economist, though no one has calculated the total cost to the industry yet.The bad news is that with the outbreak entering its second year and the spring migratory season looming, there is no end in sight. And there is little&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-health-environment-and-nature-iowa-agriculture-9245d97453568576bd0b564f9c52c343">farmers</a>&nbsp;can do beyond&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/science-health-business-iowa-agriculture-f5a5c6fbf1d6b551413fb249086fdbec">the steps they have already taken</a>&nbsp;to try to keep the virus out.Unlike past years,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-flu-prices-animals-1ec0f5a8e5485300fe117f87f8470f06">the virus that causes</a>&nbsp;highly pathogenic avian influenza found a way to survive through the heat of last summer, leading to a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-minnesota-animals-flu-animal-2f02b2d35e82feb05273d9a72e898170">rise in cases</a>&nbsp;reported in the fall.The outbreak is already more widespread than the last major bird flu outbreak in 2015, but it hasn't proven as costly yet partly because the government and industry applied lessons learned eight years ago.“The past year has been devastating for the turkey industry as we experience, unequivocally, the worst HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza) outbreak in the industry’s history,” National Turkey Federation spokeswoman Shelby Newman said.In the current outbreak, 58.4 million birds have been slaughtered on more than 300 commercial farms in 47 states. That is because any time the virus is detected, the entire flock on that farm — which can number in the millions — must be killed to limit the spread of the disease. Only Hawaii, Louisiana and West Virginia have yet to report a case of bird flu. Iowa — the nation's biggest egg producer —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-business-iowa-bird-flu-4c49e56a8c84c425c308e97617e31066">leads the nation</a>&nbsp;with nearly 16 million birds slaughtered.In 2015, about 50 million chickens and turkeys were slaughtered on more than 200 farms in 15 states.That previous outbreak remains the most expensive animal health disaster in U.S. history. The federal government spent nearly $1 billion to deal with infected birds, clean up barns and compensate farmers. It cost the industry roughly $3 billion as farmers incurred additional costs and lost money when they didn’t have any birds on their farms.This bills continue to pile up this year as cases spread, and that includes the cost to consumers.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bird-flu-business-213d845ae92814bf3189eec9c1ccf902">Egg prices shot up</a>&nbsp;to $4.82 a dozen in January from $1.93 a year earlier, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://ag.purdue.edu/cfdas/resource-library/average-food-prices/">latest government figures</a>. That spike prompted calls for a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-commodity-markets-jack-reed-business-1b32cb587f20a8d44eaf707f72635e70">price-gouging investigation</a>&nbsp;although the industry maintains that the combination of bird flu and significantly higher feed, fuel and labor costs is what’s driving prices so high.The price for a pound of chicken breast was $4.32 in January. That’s down slightly from last fall when the price peaked at $4.75, but it is up significantly from the year before when chicken breasts were selling for $3.73 per pound.The Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn’t track retail turkey prices the same way as part of its inflation data, but the Agriculture Department says the wholesale price of turkey went from $1.29 per pound last January just before the bird flu outbreak began to $1.72 per pound last month.The number of birds slaughtered peaked last spring at almost 21 million in March, leaving farmers leery of what they must face in the months ahead. University of Georgia virus researcher David Stallknecht said there is some hope that this spring might not be quite as bad because turkeys and chickens may have developed some immunity to the virus.The key problem with bird flu is that the highly contagious virus is spread easily by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-business-minnesota-environment-0ec6d3f11b09ddd023d7d5d50ab7f8c1">wild birds</a>&nbsp;through their droppings and nasal discharges. Despite the best efforts of farmers, it is hard to keep the virus out.Farmers have gone to great lengths by requiring workers to shower and change clothes before entering barns, sanitizing trucks that enter a farm and investing in separate sets of tools for every barn. Some farms have even upgraded barn ventilation and installed laser systems to discourage wild birds from congregating.“We recommend all producers redouble their efforts to protect their birds through good biosecurity practices,” said Lyndsay Cole, a spokeswoman for the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service that's leading the government's response.Farmers began following those steps after the 2015 outbreak, and this outbreak has only reinforced the need to tighten biosecurity.“America’s egg farmers continue to double-down on biosecurity protocols to protect our flocks and maintain a stable egg supply. We are grateful that there has been little to no farm-to-farm spread in this current outbreak,” said Oscar Garrison, senior vice president of food safety and regulatory affairs at the United Egg Producers trade group.Poultry and egg producers, partnering with the government, are parsing this outbreak for new lessons in keeping birds healthy.“That’s really the key – early detection. It’s kind of like a forest fire - the earlier you detect it, the easier it is to contain and eradicate,” National Chicken Council spokesman Tom Super said.Officials say bird flu doesn’t represent a significant threat to human health. Human cases are extremely rare and none of the infected birds are allowed into the nation’s food supply. And properly cooking poultry to 165 degrees Fahrenheit will kill any viruses.There has only been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-health-environment-colorado-b98906e0a1899bb1f92da30a7b1dbe28">one human case</a>&nbsp;of bird flu confirmed during this outbreak and that was a man who had been helping slaughter and remove infected birds from a Colorado farm. He recovered from the illness after a few days.

Bird flu costs pile up as outbreak enters second year

WASHINGTON — State agriculture 
officials from across the country sought this month to remind a new crop
 of lawmakers in Congress of their states’ needs for a robust farm bill 
to address a host of food issues.

Members of the National Association 
of State Departments of Agriculture gathered in Washington for their 
annual winter meeting in mid-February. They urged Congress to provide a 
timely, fully funded farm bill to address a wide range of issues 
affecting agriculture, including technology, conservation and foreign 
trade.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Throughout the two-day conference, 
members of the coalition stressed the bipartisan history of the bill and
 the importance of educating a new Congress on titles that support 
American food systems amid changing economic and environmental landscapes.&nbsp;

The state officials urged Congress to
 include nutrition programs in the farm bill, as past versions have 
done. They also advocated for bolstering crop insurance and allocating 
more money to research, animal safety, and conservation programs.&nbsp;

“It’s just a responsibility we have 
to make sure that all of our producers, our economies, our communities 
of every size have a forward-looking and fully funded farm bill,” NASDA 
president Doug Miyamoto, the director of the Wyoming Department of 
Agriculture, said in an interview.&nbsp;

Miyamoto was appointed to his state post by Republican former Gov. Matt Mead in 2015.

“We’ve got to make sure that we do 
this correctly,” he added. “We can’t start splintering off programs and 
splintering off ideas in the farm bill, and then hoping that we’re going
 to be able to get a comprehensive farm bill that’s on time.”

Mike Naig, secretary of the Iowa 
Department of Agriculture and an elected Republican, said it’s important
 for lawmakers — especially those who weren’t in office when the 2018 
bill was written — to remember that the measure is not just a farm bill,
 but a farm-and-food bill.

“There’s a lot of new members of 
Congress that have never had a chance to vote on a farm bill,” Naig 
said. “A lot of work has to be done to educate folks on that.”

Kate Greenberg, the commissioner of 
the Colorado Department of Agriculture who was appointed by Democratic 
Gov. Jared Polis, also advocated for considering nutrition and 
agricultural policy in the same bill to keep the “critical nexus point 
of production and consumers.”&nbsp;

She added members of Congress must put aside their differences to strengthen the “bread and butter of the American economy.”

“Let’s keep our heads down and focus 
on the impact of the policy and the appropriations on the American 
landscape in agriculture,” she said.

The five-year farm bill does not appropriate funding, which Congress does annually in&nbsp; separate bills. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/farm-economy/farm-commodity-policy/farm-bill-spending/#:~:text=Mandatory%20funding.,not%20constrained%20by%20annual%20limits.">But it does authorize dollar amounts for discretionary programs</a>
 that set expectations for actual spending bills. Other programs 
authorize mandatory funding not subject to annual decisions by 
lawmakers.

Lloyd Knight, deputy director of the 
Idaho State Department of Agriculture, encouraged Congress to provide 
certainty to farmers across the country by finishing the farm bill 
before the current authorizations expire Sept. 30.

Mike Strain, the Republican 
commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, 
advocated for increasing funding for research and development of 
technology, especially as demand continues to outpace supply for U.S. 
agricultural goods.&nbsp;

Louisiana sugar production, for example, needs to be twice as efficient as it is today, he said.

Jeff Witte, director of the New 
Mexico Department of Agriculture, said research provisions would also be
 key for Western specialty crop farmers who <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/farm-economy/farm-labor/">need to address worker shortages.&nbsp;</a>

Farmers in the state have converted 
from vegetable crops to tree nuts because the labor was cheaper, he 
said. But that trend could lead to an unwanted imbalance in what food 
crops are available to consumers, he added.

“If we don’t start investing in 
technology that can do the harvesting of other produce crops, we’re 
going to get way too far behind,” he said.&nbsp;

Alabama Department of Agriculture and
 Industry Commissioner Rick Pate, a Republican, said developing foreign 
markets through the Foreign Agricultural Service should be a priority in
 the bill.&nbsp;

U.S. Under Secretary of Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Alexis Taylor said<a target="_blank" href="https://www.fas.usda.gov/newsroom/testimony-usda-under-secretary-trade-and-foreign-agricultural-affairs-alexis-taylor-senate"> in a Feb. 1 Senate hearing</a>
 that for every dollar the U.S. invests in developing foreign markets, 
U.S. farmers see a $24 return in the value of their products.&nbsp;

“They think there’s a huge return on 
what travel we can do and the marketing program that they find through 
our organization,” Pate said. “So we just need to continue to take the 
farmer story to people.”

Naig added the new farm bill needs to modernize and reinforce the federal crop safety net.

“I just don’t want to see anything undermine the importance of the crop insurance program,” he said.&nbsp;

Naig said farmers had broad interest 
in market-based environmental incentives in the coming farm bill. 
Concepts like soil health and carbon sequestration have entered the 
mainstream of agribusiness, but farmers are still wary about their 
costs.&nbsp;

“What has to be acknowledged is that 
there’s costs associated with implementing some of these practices,” 
Naig said. “So if you want to see significant adoption, how do you help 
them achieve a return on that investment? If you do that well and do 
that correctly, you will get implementation at a scale that you couldn’t
 otherwise.”&nbsp;

Jordan Seger, deputy director of the 
Indiana State Department of Agriculture, said he hopes to see federal 
encouragement of public-private conservation partnerships. He touted 
Indiana’s work with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/enterprise-rent-a-car-foundation-pledges-30-million-to-the-nature-conservancy-to-improve-the-health-of-rivers-and-freshwater-ecosystems-301622428.html">the Nature Conservancy and Enterprise Rent-a-Car</a> to regrow wetlands and forests in the state.&nbsp;

“With about one dollar, we can get 
about seven or more dollars from the federal government, put that all 
toward private lands, and leverage each other’s resources and expertise 
to get things done quickly,” Seger said.&nbsp;

Randy Romanski, who was appointed 
secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and 
Consumer Protection by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, said Congress should 
use the farm bill to get a better handle on animal health, noting <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/bird-flu-alarm-drives-world-towards-once-shunned-vaccines-2023-02-17/">outbreaks of avian influenza</a> that have <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/past-outbreaks.htm">plagued the country since 2015.&nbsp;</a>

Congress could create a national warning network for emerging animal diseases, like avian flu and African swine fever, he said.

“Clearly, this is something that 
crosses state boundaries,” Romanski said. “We need to have systems in 
place to track, respond to and eradicate diseases when they show up.”

The coalition members said Congress 
should offer clear guidance and resources so states can make choices 
that suit their constituents.&nbsp;

The federal government should avoid 
placing mandates on conservation practices, Seger said. Increased 
collaboration between USDA agencies would also reduce paperwork for 
states, he added.&nbsp;

Knight, of Idaho, added that Congress
 must ensure federal programs are fully staffed. Clear guidelines on 
implementation that are flexible enough to accommodate the diverse needs
 of farmers throughout the country would also be key, he said.

“It’s a big country with a lot of issues and a lot of resources,” Knight said.

Colorado’s Greenberg said the bill also presents an opportunity to reinforce climate-related policies.&nbsp;

“The thing about climate change is 
that we’re all impacted, and our farmers and ranchers are on the 
frontlines,” Greenberg said. They’re the ones who are feeling and 
experiencing the changes in the environment, and they know it. So how do
 we address that, not just state-by-state, but as a nation?”

Members of the group predicted Congress would finish either by its fall 2023 deadline or next year.

Strain said he believed negotiations would likely bleed into 2024.

Regardless of the timeline, the bill 
must be funded appropriately, without an overemphasis on the nonpartisan
 Congressional Budget Office’s score, Strain said.

“You know, it always runs over, or we
 get to the threat of having to revert to the previous farm bill,” he 
said. “But the other thing is that when we pass it, we can’t pass it in 
such a manner as to just try to get a low CBO score.”

Others in the state agriculture 
delegation expressed cautious optimism over the prospects of a farm bill
 in 2023, noting that there would be consequences for U.S. farmers if a 
new bill is not passed on time.&nbsp;

“I’m really encouraged by what (U.S. House Speaker) <a target="_blank" href="https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/news/article/2023/02/15/speaker-mccarthy-vows-pass-farm-bill">Kevin McCarthy said this week</a>,
 that they’re going to get it done,” Pate said. “People need to 
understand the impact of that kind of stuff. Just like a government 
shutdown, these things have consequences when they don’t get them done.”

By ADAM GOLDSTEIN <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/02/17/state-ag-officials-push-for-on-time-farm-bill-to-fund-slew-of-programs/">States Newsroom</a>WASHINGTON — State agriculture 
officials from across the country sought this month to remind a new crop
 of lawmakers in Congress of their states’ needs for a robust farm bill 
to address a host of food issues.Members of the National Association 
of State Departments of Agriculture gathered in Washington for their 
annual winter meeting in mid-February. They urged Congress to provide a 
timely, fully funded farm bill to address a wide range of issues 
affecting agriculture, including technology, conservation and foreign 
trade.&nbsp;&nbsp;Throughout the two-day conference, 
members of the coalition stressed the bipartisan history of the bill and
 the importance of educating a new Congress on titles that support 
American food systems amid changing economic and environmental landscapes.&nbsp;The state officials urged Congress to
 include nutrition programs in the farm bill, as past versions have 
done. They also advocated for bolstering crop insurance and allocating 
more money to research, animal safety, and conservation programs.&nbsp;“It’s just a responsibility we have 
to make sure that all of our producers, our economies, our communities 
of every size have a forward-looking and fully funded farm bill,” NASDA 
president Doug Miyamoto, the director of the Wyoming Department of 
Agriculture, said in an interview.&nbsp;Miyamoto was appointed to his state post by Republican former Gov. Matt Mead in 2015.“We’ve got to make sure that we do 
this correctly,” he added. “We can’t start splintering off programs and 
splintering off ideas in the farm bill, and then hoping that we’re going
 to be able to get a comprehensive farm bill that’s on time.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1676754102896.jpeg" alt=" Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig (Courtesy of the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship)" />
 <figcaption> Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig (Courtesy of the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship)</figcaption>
 </figure>Mike Naig, secretary of the Iowa 
Department of Agriculture and an elected Republican, said it’s important
 for lawmakers — especially those who weren’t in office when the 2018 
bill was written — to remember that the measure is not just a farm bill,
 but a farm-and-food bill.“There’s a lot of new members of 
Congress that have never had a chance to vote on a farm bill,” Naig 
said. “A lot of work has to be done to educate folks on that.”Kate Greenberg, the commissioner of 
the Colorado Department of Agriculture who was appointed by Democratic 
Gov. Jared Polis, also advocated for considering nutrition and 
agricultural policy in the same bill to keep the “critical nexus point 
of production and consumers.”&nbsp;She added members of Congress must put aside their differences to strengthen the “bread and butter of the American economy.”“Let’s keep our heads down and focus 
on the impact of the policy and the appropriations on the American 
landscape in agriculture,” she said.The five-year farm bill does not appropriate funding, which Congress does annually in&nbsp; separate bills. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/farm-economy/farm-commodity-policy/farm-bill-spending/#:~:text=Mandatory%20funding.,not%20constrained%20by%20annual%20limits.">But it does authorize dollar amounts for discretionary programs</a>
 that set expectations for actual spending bills. Other programs 
authorize mandatory funding not subject to annual decisions by 
lawmakers.Lloyd Knight, deputy director of the 
Idaho State Department of Agriculture, encouraged Congress to provide 
certainty to farmers across the country by finishing the farm bill 
before the current authorizations expire Sept. 30.<h2>Technology, foreign markets, safety net</h2>Mike Strain, the Republican 
commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, 
advocated for increasing funding for research and development of 
technology, especially as demand continues to outpace supply for U.S. 
agricultural goods.&nbsp;Louisiana sugar production, for example, needs to be twice as efficient as it is today, he said.Jeff Witte, director of the New 
Mexico Department of Agriculture, said research provisions would also be
 key for Western specialty crop farmers who <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/farm-economy/farm-labor/">need to address worker shortages.&nbsp;</a>Farmers in the state have converted 
from vegetable crops to tree nuts because the labor was cheaper, he 
said. But that trend could lead to an unwanted imbalance in what food 
crops are available to consumers, he added.“If we don’t start investing in 
technology that can do the harvesting of other produce crops, we’re 
going to get way too far behind,” he said.&nbsp;Alabama Department of Agriculture and
 Industry Commissioner Rick Pate, a Republican, said developing foreign 
markets through the Foreign Agricultural Service should be a priority in
 the bill.&nbsp;U.S. Under Secretary of Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Alexis Taylor said<a target="_blank" href="https://www.fas.usda.gov/newsroom/testimony-usda-under-secretary-trade-and-foreign-agricultural-affairs-alexis-taylor-senate"> in a Feb. 1 Senate hearing</a>
 that for every dollar the U.S. invests in developing foreign markets, 
U.S. farmers see a $24 return in the value of their products.&nbsp;“They think there’s a huge return on 
what travel we can do and the marketing program that they find through 
our organization,” Pate said. “So we just need to continue to take the 
farmer story to people.”Naig added the new farm bill needs to modernize and reinforce the federal crop safety net.“I just don’t want to see anything undermine the importance of the crop insurance program,” he said.&nbsp;<h2>Conservation, food safety programs</h2>Naig said farmers had broad interest 
in market-based environmental incentives in the coming farm bill. 
Concepts like soil health and carbon sequestration have entered the 
mainstream of agribusiness, but farmers are still wary about their 
costs.&nbsp;“What has to be acknowledged is that 
there’s costs associated with implementing some of these practices,” 
Naig said. “So if you want to see significant adoption, how do you help 
them achieve a return on that investment? If you do that well and do 
that correctly, you will get implementation at a scale that you couldn’t
 otherwise.”&nbsp;Jordan Seger, deputy director of the 
Indiana State Department of Agriculture, said he hopes to see federal 
encouragement of public-private conservation partnerships. He touted 
Indiana’s work with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/enterprise-rent-a-car-foundation-pledges-30-million-to-the-nature-conservancy-to-improve-the-health-of-rivers-and-freshwater-ecosystems-301622428.html">the Nature Conservancy and Enterprise Rent-a-Car</a> to regrow wetlands and forests in the state.&nbsp;“With about one dollar, we can get 
about seven or more dollars from the federal government, put that all 
toward private lands, and leverage each other’s resources and expertise 
to get things done quickly,” Seger said.&nbsp;Randy Romanski, who was appointed 
secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and 
Consumer Protection by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, said Congress should 
use the farm bill to get a better handle on animal health, noting <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/bird-flu-alarm-drives-world-towards-once-shunned-vaccines-2023-02-17/">outbreaks of avian influenza</a> that have <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/past-outbreaks.htm">plagued the country since 2015.&nbsp;</a>Congress could create a national warning network for emerging animal diseases, like avian flu and African swine fever, he said.“Clearly, this is something that 
crosses state boundaries,” Romanski said. “We need to have systems in 
place to track, respond to and eradicate diseases when they show up.”<h2>State and federal collaboration</h2>The coalition members said Congress 
should offer clear guidance and resources so states can make choices 
that suit their constituents.&nbsp;The federal government should avoid 
placing mandates on conservation practices, Seger said. Increased 
collaboration between USDA agencies would also reduce paperwork for 
states, he added.&nbsp;Knight, of Idaho, added that Congress
 must ensure federal programs are fully staffed. Clear guidelines on 
implementation that are flexible enough to accommodate the diverse needs
 of farmers throughout the country would also be key, he said.“It’s a big country with a lot of issues and a lot of resources,” Knight said.Colorado’s Greenberg said the bill also presents an opportunity to reinforce climate-related policies.&nbsp;“The thing about climate change is 
that we’re all impacted, and our farmers and ranchers are on the 
frontlines,” Greenberg said. They’re the ones who are feeling and 
experiencing the changes in the environment, and they know it. So how do
 we address that, not just state-by-state, but as a nation?”<h2>Timeline in question</h2>Members of the group predicted Congress would finish either by its fall 2023 deadline or next year.Strain said he believed negotiations would likely bleed into 2024.Regardless of the timeline, the bill 
must be funded appropriately, without an overemphasis on the nonpartisan
 Congressional Budget Office’s score, Strain said.“You know, it always runs over, or we
 get to the threat of having to revert to the previous farm bill,” he 
said. “But the other thing is that when we pass it, we can’t pass it in 
such a manner as to just try to get a low CBO score.”Others in the state agriculture 
delegation expressed cautious optimism over the prospects of a farm bill
 in 2023, noting that there would be consequences for U.S. farmers if a 
new bill is not passed on time.&nbsp;“I’m really encouraged by what (U.S. House Speaker) <a target="_blank" href="https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/news/article/2023/02/15/speaker-mccarthy-vows-pass-farm-bill">Kevin McCarthy said this week</a>,
 that they’re going to get it done,” Pate said. “People need to 
understand the impact of that kind of stuff. Just like a government 
shutdown, these things have consequences when they don’t get them done.”Cover image courtesy Pixabay

State ag officials push for on-time farm bill to fund slew of programs

DENVER (AP) — On Colorado’s northeastern plains, where the pencil-straight horizon divides golden fields and blue sky, a farmer named Danny Wood scrambles to plant and harvest proso millet, dryland corn and winter wheat in short, seasonal windows. That is until his high-tech Steiger 370 tractor conks out.

The tractor's manufacturer doesn't allow Wood to make certain fixes himself, and last spring his fertilizing operations were stalled for three days before the servicer arrived to add a few lines of missing computer code for $950.

“That’s where they have us over the barrel, it’s more like we are renting it than buying it,” said Wood, who spent $300,000 on the used tractor.

Wood's plight, echoed by farmers across the country, has pushed lawmakers in Colorado and 10 other states to introduce bills that would force manufacturers to provide the tools, software, parts and manuals needed for farmers to do their own repairs — thereby avoiding steep labor costs and delays that imperil profits.

"The manufacturers and the dealers have a monopoly on that repair market because it’s lucrative," said Rep. Brianna Titone, a Democrat and one of the bill's sponsors. “(Farmers) just want to get their machine going again.”

In Colorado, the legislation is largely being pushed by Democrats while their Republican colleagues find themselves stuck in a tough spot: torn between right-leaning farming constituents asking to be able to repair their own machines and the manufacturing businesses that oppose the idea.

The manufacturers argue that changing the current practice with this type of legislation would would force companies to expose trade secrets. They also say it would make it easier for farmers to tinker with the software and illegally crank up the horsepower and bypass the emissions controller — risking operators' safety and the environment.

Similar arguments around intellectual property have been leveled against the broader campaign called ‘right to repair,’ which has picked up steam across the country — crusading for the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-technology-business-apple-inc-smartphones-afb6e6603bdb5c0bb510de5b4c685f69">right to fix everything from iPhones</a>&nbsp;to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/legislature-nevada-coronavirus-pandemic-laws-5ade405a7befdf16e9f0107b7e142be3">hospital ventilators</a>&nbsp;during the pandemic.

In 2011, Congress passed a law ensuring that car owners and independent mechanics — not just authorized dealerships — had access to the necessary tools and information to fix problems.

Ten years later, the Federal Trade Commission&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-joe-biden-business-government-and-politics-7e5d6c82ee4f1b66fd4c3b78d1ddd18e">pledged to beef up its right to repair enforcement</a>&nbsp;at the direction of President Joe Biden. And just last year, Titone sponsored and passed Colorado's first right to repair law, empowering people who use wheelchairs with the tools and information to fix them.

For the right to repair farm equipment — from thin tractors used between grape vines to behemoth combines for harvesting grain that can cost over half a million dollars — Colorado is joined by 10 states including Florida, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Texas and Vermont.

Many of the bills are finding bipartisan support, said Nathan Proctor, who leads Public Interest Research Group's national right to repair campaign. But in Colorado's House committee on agriculture, Democrats pushed the bill forward in a 9-4 vote along party lines, with Republicans in opposition even though the bill's second sponsor is Republican Rep. Ron Weinberg.

“That’s really surprising, and that upset me,” said the Republican Wood.

Wood's tractor, which flies an American flag reading “Farmers First,” isn't his only machine to break down. His grain harvesting combine was dropping into idle, but the servicer took five days to arrive on Wood's farm — a setback that could mean a hail storm decimates a wheat field or the soil temperature moves beyond the Goldilocks zone for planting.

“Our crop is ready to harvest and we can’t wait five days, but there was nothing else to do,” said Wood. “When it’s broke down you just sit there and wait and that’s not acceptable. You can be losing $85,000 a day.”

Rep. Richard Holtorf, the Republican who represents Wood's district and is a farmer himself, said he's being pulled between his constituents and the dealerships in his district covering the largely rural northeast corner of the state. He voted against the measure because he believes it will financially impact local dealerships in rural areas and could jeopardize trade secrets.

“I do sympathize with my farmers," said Holtorf, but added, “I don’t think it’s the role of government to be forcing the sale of their intellectual property.”

At the packed hearing last week that spilled into a second room in Colorado's Capitol, the core concerns raised in testimony were farmers illegally slipping around the emissions control and cranking up the horsepower.

“I know growers, if they can change horsepower and they can change emissions they are going to do it,” said Russ Ball, sales manager at 21st Century Equipment, a John Deere dealership in Western states.

The bill's proponents acknowledged that the legislation could make it easier for operators to modify horsepower and emissions controls, but argued that farmers are already able to tinker with their machines and doing so would remain illegal.

This January, the Farm Bureau and the farm equipment manufacturer John Deere did&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-san-juan-moline-831b374a4f820dcde5ee2d647093e207">sign a memorandum of understanding</a>&nbsp;— a right to repair agreement made in the free market and without government intervention. The agreement stipulates that John Deere will share some parts, diagnostic and repair codes, and manuals to allow farmers to do their own fixes.

The Colorado bill's detractors laud that agreement as a strong middle ground while Titone said it wasn't enough, evidenced by six of Colorado's biggest farmworker associations that support the bill.

Proctor, who is tracking 20 right to repair proposals in a number of industries across the country, said the memorandum of understanding has fallen far short.

“Farmers are saying no," Proctor said. “We want the real thing.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/7/1625596705829.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>DENVER (AP) — On Colorado’s northeastern plains, where the pencil-straight horizon divides golden fields and blue sky, a farmer named Danny Wood scrambles to plant and harvest proso millet, dryland corn and winter wheat in short, seasonal windows. That is until his high-tech Steiger 370 tractor conks out.The tractor's manufacturer doesn't allow Wood to make certain fixes himself, and last spring his fertilizing operations were stalled for three days before the servicer arrived to add a few lines of missing computer code for $950.“That’s where they have us over the barrel, it’s more like we are renting it than buying it,” said Wood, who spent $300,000 on the used tractor.Wood's plight, echoed by farmers across the country, has pushed lawmakers in Colorado and 10 other states to introduce bills that would force manufacturers to provide the tools, software, parts and manuals needed for farmers to do their own repairs — thereby avoiding steep labor costs and delays that imperil profits."The manufacturers and the dealers have a monopoly on that repair market because it’s lucrative," said Rep. Brianna Titone, a Democrat and one of the bill's sponsors. “(Farmers) just want to get their machine going again.”In Colorado, the legislation is largely being pushed by Democrats while their Republican colleagues find themselves stuck in a tough spot: torn between right-leaning farming constituents asking to be able to repair their own machines and the manufacturing businesses that oppose the idea.The manufacturers argue that changing the current practice with this type of legislation would would force companies to expose trade secrets. They also say it would make it easier for farmers to tinker with the software and illegally crank up the horsepower and bypass the emissions controller — risking operators' safety and the environment.Similar arguments around intellectual property have been leveled against the broader campaign called ‘right to repair,’ which has picked up steam across the country — crusading for the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-technology-business-apple-inc-smartphones-afb6e6603bdb5c0bb510de5b4c685f69">right to fix everything from iPhones</a>&nbsp;to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/legislature-nevada-coronavirus-pandemic-laws-5ade405a7befdf16e9f0107b7e142be3">hospital ventilators</a>&nbsp;during the pandemic.In 2011, Congress passed a law ensuring that car owners and independent mechanics — not just authorized dealerships — had access to the necessary tools and information to fix problems.Ten years later, the Federal Trade Commission&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-joe-biden-business-government-and-politics-7e5d6c82ee4f1b66fd4c3b78d1ddd18e">pledged to beef up its right to repair enforcement</a>&nbsp;at the direction of President Joe Biden. And just last year, Titone sponsored and passed Colorado's first right to repair law, empowering people who use wheelchairs with the tools and information to fix them.For the right to repair farm equipment — from thin tractors used between grape vines to behemoth combines for harvesting grain that can cost over half a million dollars — Colorado is joined by 10 states including Florida, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Texas and Vermont.Many of the bills are finding bipartisan support, said Nathan Proctor, who leads Public Interest Research Group's national right to repair campaign. But in Colorado's House committee on agriculture, Democrats pushed the bill forward in a 9-4 vote along party lines, with Republicans in opposition even though the bill's second sponsor is Republican Rep. Ron Weinberg.“That’s really surprising, and that upset me,” said the Republican Wood.Wood's tractor, which flies an American flag reading “Farmers First,” isn't his only machine to break down. His grain harvesting combine was dropping into idle, but the servicer took five days to arrive on Wood's farm — a setback that could mean a hail storm decimates a wheat field or the soil temperature moves beyond the Goldilocks zone for planting.“Our crop is ready to harvest and we can’t wait five days, but there was nothing else to do,” said Wood. “When it’s broke down you just sit there and wait and that’s not acceptable. You can be losing $85,000 a day.”Rep. Richard Holtorf, the Republican who represents Wood's district and is a farmer himself, said he's being pulled between his constituents and the dealerships in his district covering the largely rural northeast corner of the state. He voted against the measure because he believes it will financially impact local dealerships in rural areas and could jeopardize trade secrets.“I do sympathize with my farmers," said Holtorf, but added, “I don’t think it’s the role of government to be forcing the sale of their intellectual property.”At the packed hearing last week that spilled into a second room in Colorado's Capitol, the core concerns raised in testimony were farmers illegally slipping around the emissions control and cranking up the horsepower.“I know growers, if they can change horsepower and they can change emissions they are going to do it,” said Russ Ball, sales manager at 21st Century Equipment, a John Deere dealership in Western states.The bill's proponents acknowledged that the legislation could make it easier for operators to modify horsepower and emissions controls, but argued that farmers are already able to tinker with their machines and doing so would remain illegal.This January, the Farm Bureau and the farm equipment manufacturer John Deere did&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-san-juan-moline-831b374a4f820dcde5ee2d647093e207">sign a memorandum of understanding</a>&nbsp;— a right to repair agreement made in the free market and without government intervention. The agreement stipulates that John Deere will share some parts, diagnostic and repair codes, and manuals to allow farmers to do their own fixes.The Colorado bill's detractors laud that agreement as a strong middle ground while Titone said it wasn't enough, evidenced by six of Colorado's biggest farmworker associations that support the bill.Proctor, who is tracking 20 right to repair proposals in a number of industries across the country, said the memorandum of understanding has fallen far short.“Farmers are saying no," Proctor said. “We want the real thing.”

States consider 'right to repair' for farming equipment

LINCOLN — The Nebraska Ag Expo will return to Lincoln, NE on Dec. 6 to 8 for its 16th annual appearance at the Lancaster Event Center.

Spanning 9.2 acres, the Nebraska Ag Expo is the second largest indoor ag show in the United States, second only to the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, KY. More than 775 exhibitors will travel from 25 states and 6 Canadian provinces to display their latest products and services in front of Nebraskan producers.

For the first time, attendees can purchase their tickets to the Nebraska Ag Expo online in advance this year. Attendees can skip the line, pay for tickets in advance, and save $5 admission by registering online. Registration information like number of acres farmed, type(s) of livestock raised, and type(s) of crops grown is used for demographic, sponsor, and marketing purposes.

For more information, click <a href="https://nebraskaagexpo.com/">HERE</a>.

What else is new and noteworthy this year?

• Innovation Hub: Attendees will have a new centralized location called the Innovation Hub to discover the most innovative ag technology on the market today. From autonomous equipment to electric vehicles to robotics to artificial intelligence solutions and more, the Innovation Hub will be in Pavilion 3 of the Lancaster Event Center.

• ExpoEDU: Attendees will also be able to dive deeper into specific topics of interest with the new series of educational sessions called ExpoEDU. The speaker sessions will take place at the new ExpoEDU stage in Pavilion 3 of the Lancaster Event Center. ExpoEDU sessions are included with admission to the Nebraska Ag Expo.

• Career Exploration Event: The Nebraska Ag Expo will host a Career Exploration Event for middle and high school students during the show. Approximately 540 students will attend the event to learn about career opportunities available to them in the agriculture industry.

• Organic/Regenerative Ag Categories: Producers who are interested in organic farming and regenerative agriculture will now be able to find all companies in these categories in one place in Pavilion 3 in the Innovation Hub.

Regular admission is $10 at the door or $5 with advance registration. Each ticket is valid for all three days of the Nebraska Ag Expo. Children under 14 years old as well as students with a valid student ID receive free admission. Tickets purchased in advance are non-refundable.

The Nebraska Ag Expo will kick off at 8:30am on Tuesday, December 6. Hours are 8:30am-4:00pm
Tuesday and Wednesday and 8:30am-3:00pm Thursday. The Lancaster Event Center is located at 4100 N
85th Street in Lincoln, NE. Parking is free. ADA accessible parking is available close to the entrances of the
Lincoln Room, Pavilion 1, and Pavilion 3. Overnight visitors are recommended to book their stay with our
supporting hotels (visit nebraskaagexpo.com/lodging).


<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1668451536512.jpeg" alt="" />
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 </figure>LINCOLN — The Nebraska Ag Expo will return to Lincoln, NE on Dec. 6 to 8 for its 16th annual appearance at the Lancaster Event Center.Spanning 9.2 acres, the Nebraska Ag Expo is the second largest indoor ag show in the United States, second only to the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, KY. More than 775 exhibitors will travel from 25 states and 6 Canadian provinces to display their latest products and services in front of Nebraskan producers.For the first time, attendees can purchase their tickets to the Nebraska Ag Expo online in advance this year. Attendees can skip the line, pay for tickets in advance, and save $5 admission by registering online. Registration information like number of acres farmed, type(s) of livestock raised, and type(s) of crops grown is used for demographic, sponsor, and marketing purposes.For more information, click <a href="https://nebraskaagexpo.com/">HERE</a>.What else is new and noteworthy this year?• Innovation Hub: Attendees will have a new centralized location called the Innovation Hub to discover the most innovative ag technology on the market today. From autonomous equipment to electric vehicles to robotics to artificial intelligence solutions and more, the Innovation Hub will be in Pavilion 3 of the Lancaster Event Center.• ExpoEDU: Attendees will also be able to dive deeper into specific topics of interest with the new series of educational sessions called ExpoEDU. The speaker sessions will take place at the new ExpoEDU stage in Pavilion 3 of the Lancaster Event Center. ExpoEDU sessions are included with admission to the Nebraska Ag Expo.• Career Exploration Event: The Nebraska Ag Expo will host a Career Exploration Event for middle and high school students during the show. Approximately 540 students will attend the event to learn about career opportunities available to them in the agriculture industry.• Organic/Regenerative Ag Categories: Producers who are interested in organic farming and regenerative agriculture will now be able to find all companies in these categories in one place in Pavilion 3 in the Innovation Hub.Regular admission is $10 at the door or $5 with advance registration. Each ticket is valid for all three days of the Nebraska Ag Expo. Children under 14 years old as well as students with a valid student ID receive free admission. Tickets purchased in advance are non-refundable.The Nebraska Ag Expo will kick off at 8:30am on Tuesday, December 6. Hours are 8:30am-4:00pm
Tuesday and Wednesday and 8:30am-3:00pm Thursday. The Lancaster Event Center is located at 4100 N
85th Street in Lincoln, NE. Parking is free. ADA accessible parking is available close to the entrances of the
Lincoln Room, Pavilion 1, and Pavilion 3. Overnight visitors are recommended to book their stay with our
supporting hotels (visit nebraskaagexpo.com/lodging).
The Nebraska Ag Expo began in 2007 when it was known as the Nebraska Power Farming Show.
Produced by the Iowa-Nebraska Equipment Dealers Association (INEDA), the show was modeled after
INEDA’s successful Iowa Ag Expo, now in its 98th year.
The timing and location of the show is ideal. Held in December, it appeals to producers and exhibitors
alike, with growers and ranchers taking advantage of year-end buying specials and exhibitors looking to
sell. Conveniently located on the eastern edge of Lincoln, the show also offers easy access without the
traffic and parking hassles typically found at urban shows.
In April 2020, the show was renamed the Nebraska Ag Expo to better reflect the evolution of agriculture
and the ag show. Growers are hungry for knowledge and eager to adopt innovation and new
technology, and that is what they will find at the Nebraska Ag Expo.
Stay up to date with the latest Nebraska Ag Expo news and events on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and
our website, NebraskaAgExpo.com.