FEATURE – USDA WORKING TO PREVENT BIRD-PLANE COLLISIONS
INTRO: Birds can cause a lot of damage to airplanes and, in some cases, endanger pilots’ and passengers’ lives. The USDA’s Bob Ellison has more on what’s being done to address this problem. (1:32)
BIRDS MAY HIT AIRPLANES ACROSS THE UNITED STATES BETWEEN EIGHT TO TEN THOUSAND TIMES THIS YEAR. THE U-S DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE IS WORKING WITH AIRPORTS TO REDUCE THESE ACCIDENTS, WHICH CAN ENDANGER PEOPLE’S LIVES.
Michael Begier, USDA APHIS : A lot of people don’t realize that even a very small bird that weighs just a few ounces, can impact an aircraft and when an aircraft is traveling at a high rate of speed the bird can damage the aircraft.
BEGIER SAYS WHILE KILLING THE BIRDS IS AN OPTION IN THE INTEREST OF PUBLIC SAFETY, U-S-D-A PREFERS TO WORK WITH AIRPORTS AND AIRBASES TO MAKE AREAS LESS BIRD FRIENDLY.
Begier: Maybe there is a different type of grass that is growing at the airport that’s providing food for wildlife and the biologists from USDA may recommend to change that grass.
SCARING BIRDS IS ALSO AN OPTION.
Begier: These are firework type devices that create loud, explosion-type noises that can scare wildlife. There’s whistling type sounds. And that frightens the wildlife to get off of the runway.
BEGIER SAYS U-S-D-A’S EFFORTS SEEM TO BE HELPING TO REDUCE BIRDSTRIKES.
Begier: The number of damaging strikes has actually gone down over the last decade. It was much higher in the early nineties and it seems to be going down now.
Bob Ellison USDA: USDA assisted close to nine hundred airports across the U-S last year in dealing with wildlife threats to aviation. In Washington D-C for the U-S Department of Agriculture, I’m Bob Ellison
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FEATURE – ORGANIC FARMING TAKING OFF ACROSS THE U.S.
INTRO: Organic farming is becoming a big business in America, according to new U-S Department of Agriculture survey data. The USDA’s Bob Ellison has more. (1:18)
ORGANIC FARMING IS MORE POPULAR THAN EVER IN THE U-S. THAT’S ACCORDING TO A SURVEY BY THE U-S DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE’S NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE THAT COUNTED OVER FOURTEEN THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED U-S-D-A CERTIFIED AND EXEMPT ORGANIC FARMS IN THE U-S.
Joseph Prusacki, USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service: We counted organic operations in every state of the union. And some people might be amazed at that. Even a place like Iowa, which you think is a corn and bean area, but we had organic operations in Iowa as well.
CALIFORNIA HAS THE MOST ORGANIC FARMS WITH OVER TWENTY SEVEN HUNDRED.
Prusacki: California is hands down the largest state. They have almost a billion dollars more than the next largest state in this study.
COMING IN A SURPRISING SECOND WAS WISCONSIN WITH OVER TWELVE HUNDRED ORGANIC OPERATIONS.
Prusacki: Wisconsin comes into play where you have organic milk, organic dairy operations and then you have organic cheese coming from there.
THE SURVEY FOUND THAT ORGANIC PRODUCERS’ BUSINESS PRACTICES WERE FAIRLY CONVENTIONAL.
Prusacki: Farmers, organic operators, they market their product to wholesalers and brokers rather than selling to the local farmers market.
SEVENTY EIGHT PERCENT OF ORGANIC PRODUCERS SAID THEY PLANNED TO MAINTAIN OR INCREASE THEIR OPERATIONS OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS. COMPLETE SURVEY RESULTS ARE AVAILABLE AT AG-CENSUS DOT U-S-D-A DOT GOV. IN WASHINGTON, FOR THE U-S DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, I’M BOB ELLISON.
