This week: Harvest Public Media speaks with a University of Nebraska Educator who just returned from Afghanistan where he helped teach Afghanis farming techniques, and the FDA is looking to change the way Cephalosporins are used for animals.
The Food and Drug Administration published an order earlier this month that limits the way farmers can use certain antibiotics to treat animals, and eggs. Cephalosporins are handy drugs for animals and people, but meat producers have been using them in ways that are not approved by the FDA. The order signals a change that concerns some farmers who grow animals for food. But change might not be easy. Certain farmers are under contract to give their livestock antibiotics, so they won’t be able to change anything until their contract is up, which could be years.
The Missouri National Guard pioneered an Agricultural Development Team Model in Afghanistan in 2007. Now, other national guards are following the model. Vaughn Hammond is an extension educator at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He recently returned from Gardez City, Afghanistan with the Nebraska National Guard to help improve farming techniques for the Afghan people.