3,000 Indiana Pigs Confirmed with H1N1 Cases
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said last week that pigs in a commercial herd in Indiana have tested positive for swine flu, making it the first time the virus has been found in such hogs.  The OIE has confirmed that there were 3000 susceptible cases of H1N1 in pigs in an Indiana swine herd.  The USDA, Animal and Plant Inspection Service (APHIS), and the Indiana State Board of Animal Health (BOAH) are conducting a comprehensive epidemiological investigation of the event.  On Oct. 22, samples from sows experiencing influenza-like illness at the facility were submitted to the University of Minnesota Laboratory for evaluation by the farm's attending veterinarians.

3,000 Pigs Confirmed H1N1 

Livestock Forage and Grain Forum Brings all Indiana Ag Groups Together
In this week's Hoosier Horsepower Leah Beyer explains the upcoming Indiana Livestock, Forage and Grain Forum. She is the Livestock Director for the Indiana Soybean Alliance. The event will be Friday, January 15, 2010 at the Indiana Convention Center and will combine two forums into one. "Last year if you came to the Indiana Livestock forum that was held at Lucas Oil Stadium in December, this is that event this year. If you came to the Dairy Beef and Forage Symposium in February, that's now this event. We've brought those different venues together so people don't have to pick and choose which activity. We want to make sure they can get all that information in one forum."  The combined forum brings together all of the state's ag groups, including corn, soybean, pork, beef, dairy, sheep, goat, horse, and forage, along with the Indiana Farm Bureau.
Livestock Forage and Grain Forum 

 

17 State Parks to Close for Deer Reductions
Select Indiana state parks will be closed temporarily for controlled deer reductions in the coming weeks. Two reduction efforts will take place. The first are Nov. 16 and 17. The second round is Nov. 30 and Dec.1. The participating parks will close to the general public the evening before each of the two efforts and will re-open the morning after each two-day reduction ends.  Indiana DNR biologists evaluate which parks require a reduction each year based on vegetative recovery and previous hunter success at each park.

Deer Reductions 

Beck Says Don't Wait to Harvest Corn
High moisture in corn continues to slow progress this fall, but one of Indiana's most experienced seedsmen urges growers to not put off harvest. Sonny Beck, of Beck's Hybrids, admits harvesting high moisture corn is hard, but he urges producers to not let the crop stand any longer in the field, "We have been encouraging farmers to get out there and get the corn harvested." He told HAT some growers want to wait for the crops to dry down, but Beck says very little drying will over the next few weeks. He recommends, "Bite the bullet, and get it done."   This year has been a challenging season for soybeans as well as corn, but Beck admits the bean yields are surprising everyone, "The first field we harvested averaged 73 bpa and that was a new variety." He said they had some fields yield as much as 77.8 bpa.  
Don't Wait to Harvest Corn