Tag Archive: North Dakota


Farm-To-Consumer Legal Defense Fund

by Pete Kennedy, Esq. on June 7, 2013

litigation-milkHerdshares in ND now referred to as “Shared Animal Ownership”

A victory for grassroots efforts!
See Action Alert

NDDA prohibited from restricting herdshares

On April 29 herdshares become officially legal in North Dakota when Governor Jack Dalrymple signed Senate Bill 2072 into law. SB 2072 provides that “it is not a violation [of law] to transfer or obtain raw milk under a shared animal ownership agreement.”

Shared animal ownership is defined in the bill as “any contractual arrangement under which an individual:

      a. Acquires an ownership interest in a milk-producing animal;

b. Agrees to pay another for, reimburse another for, or otherwise accept financial responsibility for the care and boarding of the milk-producing animal at the dairy farm; and

c. Is entitled to receive a proportionate share of the animal’s raw milk production as a condition of the contractual arrangement.

The original version of SB 2072 did not contain a provision on herdshares; the bill only amended the state dairy code to adopt the latest revision of the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO), which governs the production and sale of pasteurized milk in the U.S.

 

Read Full Article Here

 

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Rapid City Journal

Raw milk backers say proposed rules too burdensome

June 07, 2013 6:00 am  •  Bob Mercer Legislative correspondent

PIERRE | A public hearing Thursday served as the latest battleground over regulation of raw milk in South Dakota.

The state Department of Agriculture has proposed nine pages of rules regarding bottled raw milk for human consumption.

More than a dozen residents who believe in what they call the natural benefits of drinking raw milk showed up to oppose the regulations, as did several farmers who produce it.

There are five licensed raw milk producers in South Dakota.

Gena Parkhurst of Rapid City, who described herself as a raw milk consumer, said the proposed rules would prohibit consumption of bottled or packaged raw milk produced by anyone without the necessary state permit, whether or not the milk was free or for sale.

“They cannot offer it to their neighbor; they cannot offer it to their family; they cannot give it away to an informed consumer,” said Parkhurst, a volunteer coordinator for Dakota Rural Action in the Black Hills.

She also claimed that testing for tuberculosis and brucellosis was “unnecessary.”

That’s different than the view of state veterinarian Dustin Oedekoven, who spoke in support of the rules. He said raw milk can spread diseases such as tuberculosis.

The state Department of Health tracks illnesses linked to raw milk, while the Legislature allows its sales.

Mellette County raw milk producer Leland Schoon said the proposed requirement of disease testing would be “burdensome and cost-prohibitive” for him since his cows are in a multi-purpose pasture.

 

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- Jacob Chamberlain, staff writer

(Boris Grdanoski / AP)

Monsanto claimed Wednesday that the Oregon field found last week to be contaminated with Monsanto’s unapproved GM wheat was an “isolated” incident, and that it was likely either the result of an accident or “sabotage.” However, scientists warned Thursday that the biotech giant’s denial has many holes.

Monsanto claims that it has since tested 31,200 seed samples in Oregon and Washington and found no evidence of contamination—insisting there is no cause for concern in the world market.

However, researchers this week said that Monsanto’s tests are misleading and that the genetically modified gene, not yet approved for use in the U.S., will likely continue to be found in wheat seeds.

“We don’t know where in the whole chain it is,” said Carol Mallory-Smith, the weed science professor at Oregon State University who tested the initial wheat plants and determined they were the unapproved Monsanto seed.

“I don’t know how Monsanto can declare anything. We obviously had these plants in the field.”

“You introduce something into the environment, and genes move around in the environment, whether transgenic or not,” she added.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is currently investigating how the wheat gene, which was taken out of test fields eight years ago, is now showing up.

Monsanto claims that all of the tested seeds had been either destroyed or recovered and sent to a USDA facility in Colorado for storage.

However, David Andow, a professor of entomology at the University of Minnesota, said in an interview with Bloomberg that these claims are misleading and that the tests cited by Monsanto this week, which displayed clean wheat in the state of Washington, are shortsighted.

“Sure they tested it, but that doesn’t mean it’s all clean,” Andow said. “It just means it’s not so widespread that it could be detected easily.”

And Doug Gurian-Sherman, senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, said that this is not the first time Monsanto has been less than forthcoming on the extent of its seed contamination: “In previous cases, such as during the outbreak of herbicide-resistant weeds in recent years, Monsanto has initially played down the risks.”

“The reality is that nobody knows what happened until extensive testing is done.”

Additionally, Bloomberg reported recently that even if Monsanto’s claims about this specific wheat strain were proven true, Monsanto has resumed trials of other and very similar GM wheat seeds, according to information posted in a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) database.

Monsanto planted 150 acres of GM wheat in Hawaii last year and 300 acres of GM wheat in North Dakota this year—meaning the risk of genetic pollution from unapproved Monsanto wheat is even greater than most people are aware.

Meanwhile, the discovery of the GM wheat in Oregon caused fast moving international backlash, with Japan suspending some imports of US wheat, South Korea testing all of its US wheat imports, and the EU urging its members to test some of its US wheat imports.

The extent of contamination from Monsanto’s GM wheat seeds in Oregon, let alone Hawaii and North Dakota, remain unknown.

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Earth Watch Report  -  Biological  Hazards

File:CD3622-0005 - Flickr - USDAgov.jpg

English: Hallaway Dairy Farm in Delhi, New York, USA, September 1999. USDA Photo.

***Photo is  simply  a  representation of  Cattle in the  US

….

06.06.2013 Biological Hazard USA State of North Dakota, [Adams County] Damage level Details

….

Biological Hazard in USA on Thursday, 06 June, 2013 at 05:41 (05:41 AM) UTC.

Description
North Dakota’s first case of anthrax this year has been confirmed in Hettinger County, and the state veterinarian said conditions are right for more cases. “A case of anthrax in an unvaccinated beef cow has been confirmed … near the Adams County line, the first confirmed case in the state this year,” said state veterinarian Susan Keller. “Producers should consult with their veterinarians to make sure the vaccination schedule for their animals is up to date,” she said. Beth Carlson, deputy state veterinarian, said anthrax – which is caused by a naturally-occurring bacteria – is spread when animals graze or consume forage or water contaminated with spores produced by the bacteria. With the amount of rain received in the state, Carlson said, the water will move those spores around, increasing the chances of more reports.

“Certainly, we will not be surprised if we see more cases,” she said. Carlson said if producers have had a history of anthrax in their area, they should consult with their veterinarian on vaccinations. She said the vaccine is relatively inexpensive and very effective, but needs about a week to take effect. Anthrax, however, moves rapidly and is fatal within a day of symptoms appearing. Those symptoms include labored breathing, weakness and staggering and bloody discharges from body openings after death. Carlson said each year there are some confirmed cases of anthrax in the state and it has been found in nearly every part of the state, although most frequently it occurs in the northeast, southeast and south central areas. Cattle are not the only animals susceptible, she said. Sheep, horses, bison, deer – all animals that graze – are at risk. The worst outbreak of anthrax happened in 2005 when more than 500 cattle were confirmed to have died from the disease. Carlson said the death toll was likely more than 1,000 animals, however, because in cases when single animals died, those animals were not tested for the disease.

Biohazard name: Anthrax
Biohazard level: 0/4 —
Biohazard desc.: This does not included biological hazard category.

….

The Global Dispatch

North Dakota top veterinarian reports first animal anthrax case of 2013

North Dakota agriculture officials is advising livestock owners to take the appropriate actions to protect their animals from the lethal bacterial disease, anthrax, after a cow turned up positive, according to a North Dakota Department of Agriculture news release June 5.

Image/Agricultural Research Service/USDA

Image/Agricultural Research Service/USDA

“A case of anthrax in an unvaccinated beef cow has been confirmed in Hettinger County near the Adams County line, the first confirmed case in the state this year,” said Dr. Susan Keller.

“Producers should consult with their veterinarians to make sure the vaccination schedule for their animals is up to date.”

Keller said effective anthrax vaccines are readily available, but that it takes about a week for immunity to be established, and it must administered annually.

Anthrax has been most frequently reported in northeast, southeast and south central North Dakota, but it has been found in almost every part of the state,” she said. “With the precipitation we have had, conditions are right for the disease to occur,” she said.

Anthrax is a pathogen in livestock and wild animals. Some of the more common herbivores are cattle, sheep, goats, horses, camels and deers.

It infects humans primarily through occupational or incidental exposure with infected animals of their skins.

Read Full Article Here

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Reuters

Steve Mortenson, the owner of the Trenton Water Depot in Trenton, N.D., reviews logs inside his depot on March 26.

WATFORD CITY, N.D. — In towns across North Dakota, the wellhead of the North American energy boom, the locals have taken to quoting the adage: “Whiskey is for drinking, and water is for fighting.”

It’s not that they lack water, like Texas and California. They are swimming in it, and it is free for the taking. Yet as the state’s Bakken shale fields have grown, so has the fight over who has the right to tap into the multimillion-dollar market to supply water to the energy sector.

North Dakota now accounts for over 10 percent of U.S. energy output, and production could double over the next decade. The state draws water from the Missouri River and aquifers for its hydraulic fracturing, the process also known as fracking and the key that has unlocked America’s abundant shale deposits. The process is water-intensive and requires more than 2 million gallons of water per well, equal to baths for some 40,000 people.

 

As in all booms, new players race in to meet the outsized demand. At the heart of this battle is a scrappy government-backed cooperative, conceived to ensure fresh water in an area where its drinkability is compromised.

The co-op has decided to sell 20 percent of its water to frackers to help keep prices low and pay back state loans. That has not gone down well with the Independent Water Providers, a loose confederation of ranchers, farmers and small businesses that for years has supplied fracking water.

Since opening in January, the co-op has tried to limit the power of the confederation with an aggressive legal and lobbying strategy. The Independent Water Providers have fought back, arguing that the co-op shouldn’t be selling fracking water at all. The state Legislature stepped in with a law last month designed to quell the tension and nurture competition, but industry observers expect the acrimony to continue.

“When all of us had nothing (before the oil boom), there was nothing to fight about,” said Dan Kalil, a longtime commissioner in Williams County, home to many oil and natural gas wells. “Now, so many friendships have been destroyed because of water and oil.”

Jeanie Oudin, an analyst with energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie, predicts the competition could push down North Dakota fracking water prices at least 10 percent in the next few years, or roughly $170,000 per well. That’s a sizeable savings in a state where fracking costs are the highest in the country (remoteness meant there was little infrastructure in place). The water accounts for 20 percent of the roughly $8.5 million it costs to drill a North Dakota oil well.

NBC News

Click on the image above for an interactive map showing where the United States produces various forms of energy.

“Regardless of where operators get their water from, the growth in active water depots should increase the availability of raw water for hydraulic fracturing and ultimately bring down costs,” Oudin said. The depots are where energy companies buy most of their fracking water.

The North Dakota Petroleum Council, a trade group for Statoil, Hess, Exxon Mobil, Marathon Oil and other large energy companies, declined to comment on the fight or to forecast how much water prices could fall. The council acknowledged that it would prefer multiple sources for the state’s 8,300 wells.

Energy companies get most of their water in the state by trucking it from depots to oil and natural gas wells. Some wells require more than 650 truckloads to frack. Companies such as EOG Resources Inc and Halliburton Co are experimenting with ways to reduce their dependence on water.

Fracking water depots, which cost roughly $200,000 to build and can gross more than $700,000 per year, are typically small metal buildings on concrete slabs filled with pumps and small tanks connected to the Missouri River or local aquifers. They can have two to six hookups and fill water trucks with as much as 7,800 gallons of water per visit.

 

Read Full Article Here

‘Aliens’ Messed with US, Soviet Nukes – US Airmen

UFO story on the front page of the Minot Daily News on December 6, 1966
22:14 01/05/2013

 

WASHINGTON, May 1 (RIA Novosti) – In the midst of the Cold War on several occasions, nuclear missiles at US Air Force bases were mysteriously shut down, according to US servicemen who said they witnessed the failure of the heavily guarded missile systems.

 

But they don’t blame America’s Cold War enemy, the Soviet Union; they say aliens from space did it.

 

“This was something Russia could have developed, but it turns out they didn’t develop this and we don’t have it either – to be able to shut down nuclear weapons with a beam of light,” David Scott, a former sergeant in the US Air Force, told RIA Novosti at a conference in Washington on encounters with extraterrestrials.

 

Scott and three retired Air Force officers told a panel of six former members of the US Congress at the conference about their experiences with extraterrestrial “visitors” who meddled with US nuclear weapons systems.

 

The five-day conference, called the Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, is sponsored by the UFO truth organization Paradigm Research Group and is being held in the style of Congressional hearings, with time limits for witness testimony, question and answer sessions with former members of Congress, and statements entered into the record.

 

About 40 international researchers, military and scientific witnesses are scheduled to testify during the conference, with some providing what they say is evidence of an alien presence on Earth. The former lawmakers listening to the testimony are each being paid $20,000 to attend the five days of hearings.

 

© Karin Zeitvogel

 

Speaking for the first time ever about his experiences some 50 years ago with extra-terrestrials, retired Air Force Capt. David Schindele told how, in the 1960s, what he is convinced were aliens knocked “all missiles” at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota “off-alert,” making them “unlaunchable.”

 

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More snow for Rockies and Dakotas as winter maintains its grip  April 15th, 2013 photo MoresnowforRockiesandDakotasaswintermaintainsitsgripApril15th2013b_zpsb22dd60d.jpg

More snow for Rockies and Dakotas as winter maintains its grip  April 15th, 2013b photo MoresnowforRockiesandDakotasaswintermaintainsitsgripApril15th2013_zpsf0d1324f.jpg

Many living in the Northern part of the country tonight are saying enough is enough as heavy snow and strong winds are producing blizzard like conditions and it’s not over yet. The Weather Channel’s Janel Klein reports.

Winter is still going strong in the West.

Schools were closed and the Legislature canceled its session Monday after a snowstorm broke records in North Dakota, and Wyoming and Colorado were bracing for another system that could dump as much as a foot and a half.

Almost all of Interstate 94 in North Dakota was under a no-travel advisory because of blizzard conditions, according to The Weather Channel. The IRS said it would waive late-filing fees for people in the state who could not submit their tax returns in time because of the storm.

Bismarck, the state capital, got more than 17 inches on Sunday, the largest snowfall there of any day on record.

 

Read Full Article  and  Watch Video Here

Published on Mar 4, 2013

Winter watches and warnings are in effect in 19 states.

Earth Watch Report  -  Extreme Weather

 

 

People arrive with their children and toboggans to a snowy Central Park in New York February 9, 2013. A blizzard packing hurricane-force winds pummeled the northeastern United States on Saturday, killing at least one person, leaving about 600,000 customers without power and disrupting thousands of flights. REUTERS-Carlo Allegri
People make their way through snow in New York , February 9, 2013. A blizzard slammed into the north-eastern United States on Friday, snarling traffic, disrupting thousands of flights and prompting five governors to declare states of emergency in the face of a fearsome snowstorm. REUTERS-Keith Bedford

By Tim McLaughlin and Edith Honan

BOSTON/NEW YORK | Sun Feb 10, 2013 10:23am EST

(Reuters) – The Northeast started digging itself out after a blizzard dumped up to 40 inches of snow with hurricane force winds, killing at least nine people and leaving hundreds of thousands without power.

By early Sunday, utility companies were reporting roughly 350,000 customers still without electricity across a nine-state region after the wet, heavy snow brought down tree branches and power lines. About half a million had been down as of late Saturday.

Air traffic began to return to normal Sunday after some 5,800 flights were canceled Friday and Saturday, according to Flightaware, a flight tracking service.

Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, and Long Island MacArthur Airport reopened on Sunday morning. Both were closed on Saturday.

Boston’s Logan International Airport reopened late on Saturday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Rare travel bans in Connecticut and Massachusetts were lifted but roads throughout the region remained treacherous, according to state transportation departments.

As the region recovered, another large winter storm building across the Northern Plains was expected to leave a foot of snow and bring high winds from Colorado to central Minnesota into Monday, the National Weather Service said.

South Dakota was expected to be hardest hit, with winds reaching 50 miles per hour, creating white-out conditions. The storm was expected to reach parts of Nebraska, North Dakota, Wyoming and Wisconsin.

 

Read Full Article Here

 

 

Northeast digs out from blizzard; new storm brews in Plains

By Tim McLaughlin and Edith Honan | Reuters – 3 hrs ago

BOSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Northeast started digging itself out after a blizzard dumped up to 40 inches of snow with hurricane force winds, killing at least nine people and leaving hundreds of thousands without power.

By early Sunday, utility companies were reporting roughly 350,000 customers still without electricity across a nine-state region after the wet, heavy snow brought down tree branches and power lines. About half a million had been down as of late Saturday.

Air traffic began to return to normal Sunday after some 5,800 flights were canceled Friday and Saturday, according to Flightaware, a flight tracking service.

Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, and Long Island MacArthur Airport reopened on Sunday morning. Both were closed on Saturday.

Boston’s Logan International Airport reopened late on Saturday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Rare travel bans in Connecticut and Massachusetts were lifted but roads throughout the region remained treacherous, according to state transportation departments.

As the region recovered, another large winter storm building across the Northern Plains was expected to leave a foot of snow and bring high winds from Colorado to central Minnesota into Monday, the National Weather Service said.

 

Read Full Article Here

Image Source

 

Posted by

Bills that would limit the use of domestic drones in Virginia and Montana took an important step forward this week.

On Tuesday, the Montana Senate overwhelmingly passed anti-drone legislation.

Sen. Robyn Driscoll (D-Billings) introduced SB 150 last month. The bill would prohibit any state or local agency in Montana from owning an “unmanned aerial vehicle containing an antipersonnel device.” It would also make any evidence gathered by a drone inadmissible in a criminal proceeding. The legislation contains some teeth, opening the door for any victim of a drone to seek punitive and compensatory damages.

SB 150 passed the Senate by a 32-17 margin.

The bill will now move on for consideration in the House. It has not been assign to a committee at this time.

“Americans are tired of having their privacy violated by government functionaries, and its good to see states stepping in to say no. Here we have bills in two states, one sponsored by a Democrat, the other by a Republican, both garnering broad bipartisan support,” Maharrey said. “This is not a partisan issue. This is an American issue. We value our liberties and our right to just be left alone. I don’t think anybody is comfortable with the idea of drones hovering over our homes, especially when we see the potential for remote controlled execution. We already have a president claiming the authority to off Americans on a whim with the click of a button. Now is the time to nip this drone thing in the bud.”

On Monday, the Virginia House overwhelmingly passed HB2012, it’s own anti-drone bill. It would place a two-year moratorium on the use of unmanned aircraft by any state or local law enforcement agency in the Old Dominion State. The bill, sponsored by Delegate Benjamin Cline (R-Amherst), passed 83-16.

As introduced, the legislation only limited the use of drones until 2014. The version passed would prohibit their use, with a few exceptions, until July 2015.

HB2012 incorporated a stronger anti-drone measure. HB1616 would have permanently banned any state or local law enforcement agency from procuring “a public unmanned aircraft system (drone aircraft) without the approval of the General Assembly or the local governing body, respectively,” and would have required a warrant for their use.

 

Read Full Article Here

 

Sen. Heidi HeitkampSen. Heidi Heitkamp (D.-N.D.) (AP Photo/Will Kincaid)

(CNSNews.com) – Newly elected Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota said on ABC News’ “This Week” today that the gun-control proposals under consideration in the Obama White House are “way in extreme” and are “not going to pass” in Congress.

The Washington Post reported on Sunday that a group of administration officials being led by Vice President Joe Biden is crafting a set of gun-control proposals to present to President Barack Obama this month. According to the Post, the proposals “would require universal background checks for firearm buyers, track the movement and sale of weapons through a national database, strengthen mental health checks, and stiffen penalties for carrying guns near schools or giving them to minors.”

Host George Stephanopoulos asked Sen. Heitkamp: “Are you willing to sign on to some of the reforms that Vice President Biden and President Obama are already talking about?”

“You know, it’s unclear,” Heitkamp said. “I mean, you read Washington Post stories and you listen to what the administration says, and so I think what we need to do is we need to take a look at what happened at Sandy Hook. When I was attorney general, I was tasked with a national task force on school violence. We made a number of recommendations which, in fact, were adopted at Sandy Hook to help keep schools safer. They weren’t adequate.

 

Read Full Article  and Watch Video Here

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