Craig Daily Press / Agriculture

Gardner earns another Friend of Farm Bureau award

Congressman Cory Gardner, R-Colo., has once again been honored as a Friend of the Farm Bureau. Gardner first received the award in 2006 as a member of the Colorado General Assembly. He received the award in each of his subsequent years as a Colorado state legislator. This is the first time Gardner has been recognized by the Farm Bureau as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Gov. says order will help ranchers during drought

Gov. John Hickenlooper says drought conditions have prompted him to sign an executive order that suspends permits necessary for the transportation of large bales of hay or baled livestock feed.

Agriculture & Livestock: 2012 Livestock and Dog Results at the Colorado State Fair

Moffat County’s Darren McLaughlin has done it again. This year, as in previous years, he showed the Grand Champion Market Lamb at the Colorado State Fair. But that’s not all. He showed the Reserve Grand Champion Market Lamb as well It’s a remarkable achievement, indeed.

USDA plans regional meetings to address drought

The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans regional meetings with local officials to learn more about impacts from this year's drought and to discuss how to leverage existing resources to speed recovery efforts.

Viral disease confirmed in 3 Colorado yaks

Colorado agriculture officials say a viral disease that can cause fever, loss of appetite, and lesions of the mouth in animals has been diagnosed in at least three yaks. State agriculture officials said Tuesday that epizootic hemorraghic disease was diagnosed in yaks at two locations in Larimer County and one location in Alamosa County.

Crop insurance losses begin to mount amid drought

Thousands of farmers are filing insurance claims this year after drought and triple-digit temperatures burned up crops across the nation's Corn Belt, and some experts are predicting record insurance losses — exacerbated by changes that reduced some growers' premiums. G.A. "Art" Barnaby, a Kansas State University Extension specialist in risk management, estimates underwriting losses on taxpayer-subsidized crop insurance will hit nearly $15 billion this year. He expects a staggering $25 billion in crop insurance claims to be filed by growers across the nation, driven primarily by one of the worst droughts in the U.S. decades. His loss estimate is based on a loss ratio of $2.50 for every dollar paid in premium. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency made changes to the insurance program in the past year which are expected to increase the underwriting losses from the drought. The changes meant farmers in some states paid smaller premiums this year for corn and soybeans. Not only that, the agency adjusted yields for those crops upwards to reflect recent trends, Barnaby said.

A&L: State Fair General Projects results 2012

The results are in for judging of the General 4-H Projects exhibited at the 2012 Colorado State Fair, and exhibitors from Northwest Colorado have brought home lots of ribbons, including some Champion and Reserve Champion honors. All of the projects qualified for State Fair during local fair competitions. Following are the results for 4-H exhibits from Moffat, Routt, and Rio Blanco Counties.

Mango recall includes fruit sold in Colorado

Mangoes sold in Colorado are among those being recalled because they could be contaminated with salmonella. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment says that Colorado is one of the states affected by the recall of Daniella mangoes distributed by a Northern California fruit distributor.

Local man part of record-setting tractor parade

Being part of a world record is not something everyone can say they’ve done. That’s one reason why Craig resident Bill Spicer took his 1954 Model 70 John Deere tractor almost 12 hours to Grand Island, Neb. to participate in the World’s Largest Tractor Parade. Over 1,100 owners of classic tractors from across the country went to Grand Island Saturday to break the Guinness World Record for the most classic tractors in one place. Spicer, a member of the Yampa Valley Antique Power Association in Craig, and his brother restored their father’s John Deere tractor last year. Rural television channel RFD-TV sponsored the tractor parade in an effort to break the previous record of 745 classic tractors in Germany in 2008.

USDA eyes whether tainted beef entered food supply

Federal regulators who shut down a Central California slaughterhouse after receiving an animal welfare video were investigating Tuesday whether beef from sick cows reached the human food supply. The video appears to show workers bungling the slaughter of cows struggling to walk and even stand. Under federal regulations, sick animals cannot be slaughtered for human consumption. The investigation will determine whether sick cows were slaughtered and whether meat products from the company should be recalled, a spokesman for the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service said. The agency suspended operations Monday at Central Valley Meat Co. in Hanford after receiving the video Friday from the animal welfare group Compassion Over Killing. The footage shows animals bleeding and thrashing after being repeatedly shot in the head with a pneumatic gun in unsuccessful efforts to render them unconscious for slaughter.

Diane Prather: After the Fair

Northwest Colorado 4-H and FFA members look forward to competing in their county fairs. Adults look forward to the fairs, too. Now that the county fairs are over for the year, it’s time to: • Write thank-you notes to Junior Livestock Sale buyers and trophy donors. • Send qualifying General 4-H Projects to State Fair. • Get 4-H and FFA livestock ready to compete at State Fair.

Moffat County Fair winds down over final weekend

J.D. Sexton’s said his first Moffat County Fair as county extension and 4-H youth agent was a rousing success. “The fair was exceptional this year,” said Sexton, whose duties include coordinating area 4-H programs. “The biggest highlight for me was how hard the kids worked, the quality kids that we have, and all the volunteers and all the time they put in to make this happen.” Though pen requests and animal entries were due July 15, the fair kicked off in earnest late last month at the Moffat County Fairgrounds, with shooting competitions and general projects occupying the early part of the schedule, among other events. Horse and dog shows took center stage during the first week of August, and livestock showing and judging highlighted the later part of last week, which also included live entertainment and games on the fair’s midway.

Diane Prather: Fall cleaning on the ranch

School will be starting soon, and before long — this year much sooner than ranchers would like — livestock will be moved home from summer pasture. In the meantime, there’s fall cleaning to do, not only in houses but elsewhere around the ranch, too. Fall cleaning around the ranch may include: • Gathering up the empty grain sacks that were supposed to go back to the feed store but instead got left in piles in the building where the grain is stored.

CDC: 158 cases of new swine flu strain from pigs

Don't pet the pigs. That's the message state and county fair visitors got Thursday from health officials who reported a five-fold increase of cases of a new strain of swine flu that spreads from pigs to people. Most of the cases are linked to the fairs, where visitors are in close contact with infected pigs. This flu has mild symptoms and it's not really spreading from person to person. "This is not a pandemic situation," said Dr. Joseph Bresee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

2012 Moffat County Fair schedule

8 to 11 a.m. Entry of open class exhibits for all age groups and vocational agriculture entries (entry closes promptly at 11 a.m.) — Pavilion 8 to 11 a.m. Accept homemade beverage entries — Pavilion 10 a.m. to noon. Weigh-in of market sheep and market goats (junior division breeding sheep and breeding goats may also be checked in at this time) — Livestock barn 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Check-in of market swine — Swine barn