Mooving On

YouthBuild and AmeriCorps came to help with pasture management. Prickly pear cactus is growing in parts of our pasture. This is a common problem here in Florida. One way to eradicate them is to dig them up manually. Thank you, AmeriCorps and YouthBuild, for digging up a whole lot of cactus!

AmeriCorps is an independent agency of the United States government that engages more than five million Americans in service through a variety of stipended volunteer work programs in many sectors.

What is the Virus H5N1

Several ISCOWP e-newsletters sent last year reported the spread of bird flu to cows and then to humans. Since those reports, the virus has spread throughout all 50 states. According to Global Virus Network (GVN), the new virus outbreak has affected nearly 1000 dairy cow herds, resulting in more than 70 human cases and one confirmed death in the U.S., and has caused the loss or culling of more than 168 million poultry since 2022.

In a CBS news interview with Veterinarian Dr. Kay Russo, she said while it’s not clear how the virus was spreading from cow to cow, ‘milking equipment is a prime suspect’ and workers in milking parlors have also fallen sick with flu-like symptoms. To learn more, click here.

Drought in Florida

In the past few years, there has been less green grass year-round due to climate change. For instance, according to the National Integrated Drought System, our county is currently abnormally dry, and parts have moderate drought. As reported by the U.S. Drought Monitor, other parts of Florida are in severe or extreme drought.

To adapt to the drier conditions, we have opened our one-acre front yard to select, well-behaved cows from our herd. It is a pleasure to see the cows all around us!  And guess what? It rained last night!

Adopters Visit.

Damodar Priya Devi Dasi, her mother, and her husband, Gopala Dasa, came to visit their adopted cow, Bhismadev. Bhismadev is the second one from the right in the first photo of the slideshow. They also met some other cows, such as Dhruva Laddu, Vaishnavi, and Priyavrata!