April 2022
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza! A Commercial and Backyard Danger
On February 25, Dr. Nathaniel Tablante, DVM, UME, started ‘Avian Influenza Warning Discussion’ (click this title to watch the whole video).
More recently, on March 23, we held an “HPAI Q & A” Zoom, with over 200 people, including Maryland’s Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, Joe Bartenfelder and Steve Connelly, members of USDA, and Delaware officials, discussed the most recent information on where HPAI has hit, rules on manure movement, what is being done, and what the biosecurity measures we should all be doing to keep everyone’s flocks safe. Georgie Cartanza of University of Delaware’s Cooperative Extension, gave a brief talk at the end of the Zoom on the importance of footwear designated for each poultry house. Read more>>
Taking Biosecurity Measures to Limit Your Legal Liability for Spread of Avian Influenza
The possibility of an avian influenza (AI) outbreak on the Delmarva is scary. The recent HPAI outbreaks in Delaware and Maryland resulted in more than two million birds at commercial poultry flocks being affected. Infected birds are euthanized to help contain the disease, resulting in large economic loss to both the grower and integrator.
With this in mind, poultry growers and companies often have questions about potential liability if AI breaks out on one farm (Grower A) and then on a neighboring farm (Grower B). Could Grower A be liable to Grower B for damages caused by the disease? Under the traditional view, Grower A would not be liable for the spread of the disease unless it was shown that Grower A was negligent. Growers, poultry companies, and contractors practicing biosecurity measures can demonstrate he/she was not negligent and is working to prevent the spread of AI. Read more>> Download PDF Here
Avian Flu Could Threaten Eastern Shore Poultry Flocks
ShoreDailyNews.com
According to an article in the Delmarva Farmer, prior to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza being confirmed in a commercial poultry flock in Delaware on Feb. 23, multiple cases of of Eurasian H5 HPAI were detected in wild birds in Delaware on Feb. 16, as the bird flu continues to spread in the United States.
These findings were not unexpected, as wild birds can be infected with HPAI but show no signs of illness.
Eight other states in the Atlantic Flyway have found HPAI this year in wild birds, with it believed to be widespread in migratory waterfowl on Feb. 19. Read more>>
Understanding What an Easement by Necessity is and When One Is Created
A court may grant an easement by necessity as a remedy when an owner splits a parcel into two properties, and one of those new properties becomes inaccessible. The idea is that the parties did not intend to create a property unfit for occupancy. A recent decision by the Court of Special Appeals affirming a Garrett County circuit court decision highlights how a court may handle this issue. The decision is in Gunfeld Coal Co. v. Carey.
What Is an Easement by Necessity?
An easement by necessity is defined as an “easement created by operation of law because the easement is indispensable to the reasonable use of nearby property, such as an easement connecting a parcel of land to a road” (Black’s Law Dictionary). As the definition highlights, an easement by necessity is created when splitting a parcel of land, and one of the created parcels will no longer have a road to access the property. Read more>>
Chicken Growers Make Good Neighbors by Raising Chickens, Planting Buffers, and Saving Bees
By James Fisher, Communications Manager. Delmarva Chicken Association
On every chicken farm, there’s open ground between the chicken houses and the property line. Stand there, and you can look toward the chicken house, or turn around, and look to a road, a neighboring farm, or other people’s homes. Family farmers raising chickens have a decision to make: Should that space be covered by grass that needs to be mowed? Or is there a better option?
The Delmarva Chicken Association, a trade association for the chicken industry on Delmarva, has spent more than a decade exploring better options. What they’ve found is that planting vegetative environmental buffers - rows of warm-season grasses, shrubs and tall evergreen trees - on that ground pays real dividends for growers, their neighbors, and the environment. DCA has been working on a tweak to these buffers to add a benefit for pollinating insects, like bees. Read more>>