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Newsletter Southeastern Game Bird Breeders & Hunting Preserve Association No. 11 Feed Mills Nourish Animals, State Economies Feed mills reports $7.39 billion in sales PUBLISHED ON October 22, 2020 RALEIGH, N.C. — Did you know? Here in North Carolina, livestock, dairy and poultry make up 68.5% of the agricultural receipts. That’s a lot of animals and they all need to eat. According to the U.S. Animal Feed and Pet Food Manufacturing Industry Economic Contribution Study, prepared for The Institute for Feed Education & Research (iFEEDER) in 2017, animal feed and pet food manufacturing in our state supports 23,685 jobs, contributes $541 million in taxes and reports $7.39 billion in sales. Those are impressive numbers! Have you ever wondered how much one facility adds to a state’s economy? A team of Alabama Cooperative Extension System extension specialists from Auburn University (including NC State PDPS alum Wilmer Pacheco) recently shared their analysis (Economic Impact of a New Poultry Feed Mill in Alabama) of how much one poultry feed mill will contribute to Alabama’s economy. The analysis shows that in the first year of operation alone, the mill will support 499 jobs, contribute $5.4 million in taxes and report $207 million in sales. It’s a big mill, expected to produce 10,000 tons of feed each week. And it will do a lot for its state. Download the analysis (two pages). Back home here in North Carolina, we have a lot of feed mills. At least 130! We have all kinds of facilities and every one adds economic value. Read more at: https://feedmilling.ces.ncsu.edu/2020/10/feed-mills-nourish-animals-state-economies/ –Marissa Herchler, N.C. State University Midwest Poultry Federation Convention Postpones 2021 Dates Will be planned as a “hybrid event”: in-person convention with virtual options to be available PUBLISHED ON October 27, 2020 BUFFALO, Minn. — The Midwest Poultry Federation (MPF) Board of Directors has made the decision to reschedule its 2021 convention from March to May 19-21, 2021. The MPF Convention – celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2021 – will be planned as a “hybrid event”, meaning it will have both an in-person show at the Minneapolis Convention Center and a virtual companion event online. “As a board, we know how important it is to be able to get the poultry industry together in person – and how our attendees and exhibitors miss the face-to-face connections we haven’t been able to have because of the pandemic. That’s why we all agreed that rescheduling the show to May dates will give us the best chance of doing that in a safe manner,” said MPF President Scott Waldner, who represents the Chicken and Egg Association of Minnesota (CEAM) on the Board. The in-person MPF Convention will start with pre-show education events and a Welcome Reception on Wednesday, May 19. The Exhibit Hall and education program will run on Thursday and Friday, May 20-21. (Note the slight pattern change to Wednesday-Friday for these 2021 dates only.) MPF is planning for every measure for a safe, in-person show experience. This will include following all guidelines for social distancing and mask wearing that are in place in May. “The safety and well-being of our attendees and exhibitors is paramount. We are communicating closely with our partners at the Minneapolis Convention Center, Meet Minneapolis, and our contracted hotels, and continue to follow the most-up-to-date COVID-19 guidance at all governmental levels,” said Waldner. “This includes moving into Exhibit Halls B/C on the street level of the convention center so that we can take advantage of more space to spread out.” MPF’s virtual companion event will be held during the same show days – May 19-21 – and offer content directly from the Minneapolis Convention Center as well as education available only online and increased engagement opportunities between exhibitors and attendees. The virtual event will be housed in the same 3-D graphical environment as the 2020 virtual convention in August – with a number of upgrades and improvements to make the online event even better for everyone. “A hybrid event really provides the best of both worlds, given the uncertainty of COVID-19,” said Waldner. “It’s twice the engagement and twice the networking between exhibitor and attendees – and allows people to participate in MPF in whichever ways work best for them.” Attendee registration fees will not increase and will cover attending either or both show options – including access to all virtual content through May 31, 2021. The 3rd annual MPF Unhatched entertainment event has been postponed until 2022. The MPF Welcome Reception will be held May 19 at the Minneapolis Convention Center and offer time and space to make those important connections with colleagues in a safe and fun manner. Said Waldner: “If we need to make a decision to cancel the in-person show in May because of health and safety concerns, we will continue to move forward with a 100% virtual event that same week.” Booth sales and sponsorships for the hybrid event are expected to open November 16. Booth rates will not increase and include a presence in both the in-person and virtual trade shows. For more information, please contact Teresa Sorenson at tsorenson@midwestpoultry.com. Registration and hotel reservations for the 2021 convention are expected to open in early January. Further updates will be provided on www.MidwestPoultry.com, posted on our social media platforms (LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter), and sent via email. For general information and questions, please email info@midwestpoultry.com or call 763-284-6763. About MPF The MPF Convention will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2021. In 2019, more than 3,100 attendees and exhibitors attended the MPF Convention, which is owned by MPF’s state poultry association members. As a nonprofit organization, MPF’s primary purpose is to host an annual regional convention emphasizing on-farm poultry production. The convention’s goal is to offer innovative and compelling information to attendees through a balanced offering of exhibits and educational workshops. Revenue generated by the convention goes back to MPF’s state poultry association members and to support various poultry programs. For more information, visit www.midwestpoultry.com. –Midwest Poultry Federation (MPF) Georgia Foundation for Agriculture Offers $65,000 in Scholarships Applications must be submitted online only by March 1, 2021 PUBLISHED ON October 29, 2020 MACON, Ga. — The Georgia Foundation for Agriculture is committed to investing in students pursuing careers in agriculture or a related field. For 2021, the foundation is offering scholarships for graduating high school seniors, rising college juniors and seniors, technical college students and UGA College of Veterinary Medicine students specializing in large/food animals. Visit www.GaFoundationAg.org/scholarships.html for a list of eligible majors/schools, application instructions and to apply. Applications must be submitted online only by March 1, 2021. Transcripts and letters of recommendation must be submitted online with the application. The four scholarship categories the Georgia Foundation for Agriculture is offering are: • Scholarship for Agriculture – Ten scholarships of $3,000 are available for graduating high school seniors. The top three ranking applicants will be eligible for an additional $1,000 bonus. Applicants must: Be a Georgia resident; Be enrolled in a unit of The University System of Georgia, Berry College, Emmanuel College or any Georgia accredited college/university with an ag program for the 2021-22 academic year; Be pursuing an undergraduate degree in agricultural & environmental sciences, family & consumer sciences or a related ag field; Have a minimum 3.0 GPA; Be engaged in high school leadership activities • Technical College Scholarship for Agriculture – Four scholarships of $1,500 are available. Applicants must: Be a Georgia resident; Be enrolled in a Georgia accredited technical college during the 2021-22 academic year; Have a minimum 2.8 GPA; Major in an area of study related to agriculture. Examples of eligible majors at www.GaFoundationAg.org/techschoolmajors.pdf . • Rising College Jr./Sr. Scholarship for Agriculture – Eight scholarships of $2,000 are available. Applicants must: Be a Georgia resident majoring in agricultural & environmental sciences, family & consumer sciences or a related ag field; Be a sophomore or junior with at least two semesters remaining to receive undergraduate degree at a unit of The University System of Georgia, Berry College, Emmanuel College or any Georgia accredited college/university with an ag program; Be engaged in college leadership activities; Have a minimum 3.0 GPA. • UGA College of Veterinary Medicine Scholarship – This scholarship is for students currently enrolled in the UGA Veterinary Medicine program specializing in large animal/food animal practice. The GFA will award two $5,000 scholarships. Applicants must be a Georgia resident; be a current University of Georgia veterinary medicine student specializing in large animal/food animal practice and have a minimum 3.0 GPA. The GFA is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to preparing the next generation of leaders for success in Georgia agriculture. The GFA works with Georgia Farm Bureau and other Georgia agricultural and educational organizations to achieve its mission. The foundation offers scholarships to students pursuing agricultural careers, funds leadership development programs and projects that increase the public’s understanding of agriculture. It will soon launch the Georgia Ag Experience, a mobile classroom that introduces third through fifth graders to Georgia’s top crops. To make a tax-deductible donation, learn more about the foundation or the scholarships, visit www.gafoundationag.org or contact Lily Baucom at info@gafoundation.org or 478-405-3461. –Georgia Farm Bureau Do You Practice Prescribed Burning on Your Hunting Preserve Study: Microbes Escape Wildland Fires on Smoke Particle ‘Life Rafts’ Researchers analyzed smoke sampled during eight prescribed fires PUBLISHED ON November 1, 2020 GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Where there’s smoke, there’s fire — and also lots of microorganisms, according to a new study from the University of Florida. For the first time, researchers have measured the number of microbes in smoke from fires in wilderness areas, also known as wildland fires. The researchers also found that a surprisingly high percentage of microbes survive the blazes and are lofted into the air. Smoke analyzed for the study contained five times more microbes than smoke-free air, said Rachel Moore, a UF/IFAS College of Agricultural and Life Sciences graduate who led the study as part of her doctoral work. The researchers also found that the percentage of microbes still alive in the smoke was the same as that found in ambient air. “When you look at the smoke particles under a microscope, it’s as if the particles are life rafts for the microbes,” said Moore, who is now a postdoctoral researcher at Georgia Tech University. “Just how many microbes there were and how many were viable was a big surprise.” Brent Christner, Moore’s dissertation advisor and one of the authors of the study, said he was also surprised, but for an additional reason. “Common sense would tell you that fire would just kill and incinerate microbes when it burns through vegetation, but our findings show that’s not the case,” said Christner, an associate professor in the UF/IFAS department of microbiology and cell science. While smoke poses a health risk to people, the microbes identified in the study aren’t harmful to humans on their own. “The microbes released in these fires are similar to the kinds that live on plants. The results of this study indicate that fires may be an important way for these organisms to distribute in the environment, which is of ecological interest,” Christner said. How microbes survive wildland fires is still unclear. “The processes that aerosolize microbes during combustion of vegetation are clearly not as destructive as they’ve been presumed to be,” Christner said. For the study, researchers analyzed smoke sampled during eight prescribed fires at the UF/IFAS Ordway-Swisher Biological Station, located about 20 miles east of the university’s main campus in Gainesville. With thousands of acres of wilderness, the station is a living outdoor laboratory where scientists can do experiments in the natural environment. During each fire, Moore set up instruments called volumetric samplers downwind from the blaze. These machines sucked air and smoke from the fire through special filters that trapped the particles. “Think of the filter on your vacuum cleaner that traps dust. These machines are essentially powerful vacuums with very fine filters that catch particles as small as 1 micrometer,” Christner said. For context, the width of a human hair is about 75 micrometers. After sampling, Moore took the filters back to the lab, where she used various lab techniques to remove the particles from the filters and calculate the total number of microbes in the sample. She also used a special staining technique that makes living microbes appear green under the microscope, allowing her to estimate the percentage of viable organisms. Moore and Christner also wanted to know if burning dead vegetation emitted more microbes than living vegetation. To find out, they teamed up with scientists at the Idaho Fire Initiative for Research and Education at the University of Idaho, who burned samples sent from Florida on a specially designed laboratory burn table. The researchers found that smoke from dead vegetation contained more microbes than smoke from living vegetation. The study’s authors note that the prescribed fire used in the experiment was far smaller and less intense than the massive wildfires that have burned millions of acres in the Western United States. over the last few months. “We think the huge fires out West are emitting even more microbes than what we found in our experiments,” Moore said. The study is published in “The International Society for Microbial Ecology Journal.” –Samantha Murray, UF/IFAS How You Can Help Veterans Every Day We can all help to prevent death by suicide PUBLISHED ON November 10, 2020 WASHINGTON (THE CONVERSATION) — As the nation celebrates our 17 million living veterans, it is also important to know that the number of these heroes who are ending their own lives prematurely is rising. In the general population, suicide is the 10th most common cause of death, but among veterans with PTSD, it’s fourth. Among veterans younger than 35, it’s second. Suicide rates are also rising among members of the military. Since 2017, rates for active-duty service members have been above those of civilians. The same is true for National Guard service members since 2015 and and nonactive veterans for the past decade. I’m a researcher who studies risk and resilience in military and veteran families. I can tell you that the single most common stressor for those who attempt or complete suicide is a serious relationship difficulty with an intimate partner or someone else within the previous 90 days. And more than half of service members who attempt or complete suicide had been seen within those 90 days by a medical, mental health or social service professional. Almost one-third communicated a potential for self-harm. It’s not only medical professionals who can help a veteran who is dealing with despair and contemplating death by suicide. You can also help. A ‘good catch’ Some recent studies have suggested that a complex array of factors combine to lead a person to contemplate death by suicide. And many things contribute to the feelings of despair that veterans experience. In addition to post-traumatic stress disorder, other mental health problems and medical challenges, veterans also face unemployment, bereavement and parenting issues. It is easy to understand how veterans might feel overwhelmed and desperate. Through my work, I’ve heard firsthand the stories of service members and veterans who had decided to take their own lives but did not. Often I’ve observed that it was a “good catch” that did it: a friend or family member answered a call at an odd hour; noticed the person seemed “off” and asked careful questions; stayed with them while summoning professional help; or checked in with them so they wouldn’t feel isolated. Families, friends, neighbors and colleagues all may have opportunities to make these catches. Peer support programs may also help. Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous are effective alone or in combination with clinical treatment for substance use disorders. Results regarding mental health problems such as depression are more mixed, but a consistent finding is that peer support can help promote compliance with treatment, communication with clinicians, improved coping and self-care, and increased feelings of hope and self-efficacy. Studies suggest that peer support can also help people during transition times, particularly when they are leaving military service to return to civilian life. Veterans themselves are taking action. In the Department of Veterans Affairs, peer facilitators are key to a new “whole health” approach. American Legion members also offer support aimed at preventing suicide. Across the country, veterans treatment courts routinely include mentors to boost the success of clients. Peer support is out there Not all peers have to be veterans. Sometimes the strongest connections are with those who have had different challenges and who also can therefore relate – like a family member’s addiction, or one’s own disability or mental health problem. Many peer networks can help, including the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the American Cancer Society and the Alzheimers Association. Even though they may not focus specifically on suicide, they help reduce isolation, increase social connections, and support coping and self-care. We can all help to prevent death by suicide. And joining a peer support program or training to make ourselves ready aren’t the only ways. Simply being more attentive as a friend, family member, neighbor or colleague can help. It is normal for a person to feel awkward when talking to someone contemplating death by suicide. Learning is a great way to prepare. For example, “Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR)” is evidence-based training that can help anyone recognize early warning signs of suicide, learn ways to offer hope and encouragement, and connect with help. On this Veterans Day, by all means, let’s thank veterans for their service. But perhaps we could challenge ourselves to go further and and do service on behalf of others. Who knows what opportunities might arise to make a good catch? If you or anyone of your loved ones are in need of help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or text 838255. You can also get help at the Veterans Crisis Line and the Military Crisis Line. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/how-you-can-help-veterans-every-day-148597. –Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth Purdue University The Conversation Secretary’s Corner Happy Thanksgiving Holidays to all. Continue to be safe and healthy. I guess many folks are asking themselves in these weird times, ‘what’s going to happen to me’? Well, what IS going to happen to us? This Covid-19 pandemic will not be the last. As humans encroach upon the habitat of wild animals, more unknown viruses will pass from animals to humans. Remember the AID’s virus? It passed from moneys to humans. We survived the flu epidemics, the polio, smallpox, and measles epidemics, but there will be more of these ugly events humans will have to face. I worry about our planet’s future existence. Modern mankind has been on earth only about 40,000 years of the earth’s 5.5 billion years of existence. The discovery and use of fossil fuels have sped up the evolution process by polluting our atmosphere and waters. In our lifetime, over 500 species of living organisms have become extinct. Our environment is very finely tuned to ALL living organisms. Plants created the earth’s atmosphere, the oxygen we breathe. Scientists think there are only about 53 years of oil left in the earth. That’s hard to believe. The world is energy crazy. Some of the largest controllers of our politics and money are the oil and fossil fuel industries. You and I don’t have to worry about what’s going to happen 53 years from now, but humankind, our children and grand children should. How can we live without energy sources? Just imagine if we had to live without electricity. Our ancestors did. Where are our energy sources going to come from in the future: Solar, Wind, Hydrogen, who knows? Happy Hunting Dr. Gary S. Davis, Exec. Sec. SEGB&HPA SEGB&HPA:|www.segamebirds.us

Southeastern Gamebird Breeders & Hunting Preserve Assoc. | 2627 Hitchcock Dr., Durham, NC 27705