News Stories - Page 41

As Georgia’s fair season cranks into high gear, people will be in closer proximity to livestock — increasing their chances of contracting the zoonotic swine flu H3N2v.

In its August meeting, the University System of Georgia Board of Regents approved the sale of the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ Plant Sciences Farm in Watkinsville, Ga. The 522-acre farm will be sold to the Townley Family Partnership for $11.4 million.

University of Georgia animal and dairy scientist Ignacy Misztal develops software programs to help cattlemen select more productive cow couplings. His unique bovine matchmaking skills have earned him an international fan base of animal breeders and researchers.

While the California dairy cow that tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, made national headlines this week, University of Georgia livestock and food safety experts say the real story is how well the nation’s food safety system worked.

Goats and sheep have a reputation for eating vegetation that most other grazing animals would not touch. This trait makes them invaluable to people who need to raise livestock in tough climates, but it’s also made them popular for landowners who need to clear brush or invasive plants from overgrown parcels.

Fulton County Cooperative Extension will be all about horses at their 2nd Annual Equine Education Day on Saturday, April 28. Young people interested in horses and their parents should make plans to join the Fulton County Extension staff, the Atlanta Black Rodeo Association and the Horse Industry Committee of Georgia from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on April 28 as they present the Wonderful World of Horses.