Farm & Ranch

Private Pesticide Applicator Class Set For July 13 In Tarrant County

Published

8 years ago

June 23, 2016

NTFR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Contact: Fred M. Hall, Tarrant County CEA,

Ph: 817.884.1945;

email: [email protected]

Training for Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) private pesticide applicator licenses will be held in the Fort Worth Room at the Tarrant County Extension Office on Wednesday, July 13, 2016. Training begins promptly at 8 a.m. and will be completed by 12 noon. Pre-registration is required by calling the Tarrant County Extension Office at 817.884.1946 or on-line at: http://agrilife.org/urbantarrantag/program-registration. The four-hour training at the Tarrant County Extension Office will give participants the necessary information to take the private applicator license test. Any agricultural producer or land owner who applies restricted use pesticides to their own property needs a private pesticide applicators license and may participate. Persons seeking to acquire a private pesticide applicator’s license must attend a private applicator training class prior to their test date. Cost for the training and study materials in Tarrant County is $50. Contact the Tarrant County Extension Office to register and receive your training manuals in advance. The Tarrant County Extension Office is located at 200 Taylor St., Suite 500 in Fort Worth. Since the Texas Department of Agriculture has contracted with a third-party testing service to administer the exams for agricultural pesticide applicator licensing, we no longer have testing available immediately after the training. The closest locations for testing will be in Fort Worth and Arlington. For more information contact your local Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Office. In Tarrant County that number is 817.884.1946.

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Farm & Ranch

Hazards of Backyard Poultry

Published

5 days ago

April 21, 2024

NTFR

By Barry Whitworth, DVM

Having backyard poultry is a popular agriculture enterprise. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, 0.8 percent of all households in the United States have chickens. People keep chickens for a variety of reasons with table eggs being one of the more common reasons.

Unfortunately, some of these poultry producers are not aware of the hazards that come with keeping poultry because many times they carry pathogens but appear healthy.
Chickens are carriers of several zoonotic diseases. These are diseases that can be passed from animals to humans. According to a recent survey in Pennsylvania, a majority of backyard poultry producers were aware of the dangers of avian influenza. However, this study also revealed that far fewer producers were aware of the risk of possible exposure to Salmonella and Campylobacter.

The lack of knowledge about the hazards of raising poultry likely contributes to the continued issues of Salmonella outbreaks associated with backyard poultry. In 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 1,072 illnesses of Salmonella linked to backyard poultry, and 272 of those patients required hospitalization. Oklahoma reported 43 individuals with the disease.

To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.