Farm & Ranch

Ag Elsewhere: Ghana, Africa

Published

5 years ago

January 4, 2019

NTFR

Photos and description by Tiffany Thompson

My four months in Ghana were filled with so much. It’s been four months of excitement, joy and laughter. Four months of frustration, nervousness and challenges.

Four months of blood, sweat (so much sweat) and tears. Four months of failures and successes. When I accepted my fellowship with AgriCorps and decided to move to West Africa, I knew that it would be an opportunity to learn about different agricultural systems, experience a new culture and meet a lot of people. I had no idea; however, how much I would learn about myself and how much personal growth I would experience.

Here are the top three life lessons I realized over the course of my fellowship:

Be patient and persistent. One of the major challenges I faced in Ghana was adjusting to cultural differences with scheduling. I’ve lost count of the times I made plans with someone and had the plans fall through. Meetings were rescheduled time and time again, people didn’t always show up when they said they would, and at one point, I
even had a fellow teacher tell me to give up on an event I was planning. These moments tested my patience, and without being
persistent and staying committed to my role, I would not have made it through my fellowship successfully.
Celebrate the small victories. There were days when it felt like nothing went right. I would go home feeling defeated, exhausted and hopeless. On these days, it was so easy to get swept up in how badly things were going and how it seemed like nothing I did mattered.

To read more pick up a copy of the January 2019 NTFR issue. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.

Farm & Ranch

Hazards of Backyard Poultry

Published

4 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.