California Bill to Help Farmers Who Keep Farmland and New Approach to Bird Flu
From the Ag Information Network, this is your Agribusiness Update.
**A bill before the California state legislature would help pay landowners who promise to keep their land in farming.
Amid a push by local leaders to conserve farmland and open spaces in the Bay Area from future development, a bill was introduced that would shore up funding to preserve agricultural land throughout the state.
SB 462 would bolster an existing program called the California Farmland Conservancy Program.
**The Trump administration is preparing to move away from depopulating entire flocks infected by bird flu.
The focus will instead be on biosecurity and medication to contain the outbreaks.
Reuters reports the USDA has given conditional approval to Zoetis (zoh-EH-tis) to use its bird flu vaccine in poultry.
Zoetis says the conditional license was granted based on safety and a reasonable expectation of efficacy, for a specific period of time.
**Hatcheries last week increased the number of eggs set in incubators and more chicks were placed into meat production year over year, according to the USDA.
About 249.3 million eggs were set in incubators for the week ending Feb. 15, the highest in more than a month.
Alabama had the largest number of eggs set at 35.3 million, followed by Georgia at 34.9 million and North Carolina at just under 26 million.
www.agriculture.com/3-big-things-today-february-20-2025-11683225
