Take Down The Signs Limiting Milk Purchases!

April 6, 2020 | Volume 105

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WLIC Trivia

What bird did Benjamin Franklin praise for being "a much more respectable bird" than the bald eagle?

See answer below!

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Dairy Farmers of WI CEO – Take Down The Signs Limiting Milk Purchases!

In the wake of the recent dairy news, Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin has this message for dairy farmers: “Our hearts are with you, we’re working as hard as we can to help keep this thing moving forward…and we’re doing what your checkoff dollars are here for, driving markets and promoting trust.”

Vincent has been on the phone nonstop this week with industry leaders and dairy farmers alike. Vincent says some producers have called saying they are frustrated and confused as they go to grocery stores and see that dairy products are sold out but at the same time their “milk checks have fallen off the face of the earth.”

In the News

Farmers, Allies Appeal to USDA for COVID-19 Relief

Advice continues to flow into USDA for how it should divvy up the $9.5 billion that was included in the $2 trillion stimulus bill for livestock, specialty crops and local agriculture.

A bipartisan group of senators and House members sent a letter Wednesday to USDA, urging the department to “deliver targeted, temporary equitable relief” to cattle producers.

The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and other groups promoting local food systems urged USDA to provide aid to that sector that “is commensurate with their expected losses of over $1 billion.”

NPPC Cancels 2020 World Pork Expo Due to COVID-19

The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) board of directors has decided to cancel the 2020 World Pork Expo in June due to COVID-19 human health concerns.

In 2019, the World Pork Expo was canceled "out of an abundance of caution" due to African swine fever's spread throughout China and other parts of Asia.

"While deeply disappointed to cancel this year's Expo, NPPC's board of directors unanimously agreed it was prudent to make this decision now," NPPC President Howard "A.V." Roth, a pork producer from Wauzeka, Wisc, said in a release. "By eliminating COVID 19-related uncertainty surrounding the event, we allow producers and others across the industry to focus on the essential role we play in the nation's food supply system at this critical time."

Foot and Mouth Disease Preparedness is High Priority

The world knows how quickly a virus can spread, as COVID-19 extends its tendrils throughout the globe. The coronavirus epidemic reminds U.S. livestock producers how critical it is to have a vaccine bank in advance of a foreign animal disease (FAD) threat like foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). While FMD is not zoonotic (it impacts cloven-hooved animals only), its economic impact would be significant if it were to hit the U.S. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of The United Nations, “the global annual cost of FMD in terms of production losses and the need for prevention by vaccination has been estimated to be approximately $5 billion. In a severe event in 2001 in the United Kingdom, the direct and indirect impacts are estimated to have cost as much as $30 billion.”

Trivia Answer

Benjamin Franklin never proposed the turkey as a symbol for America, but he did once praise it as being “a much more respectable bird” than the bald eagle.