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Food & Nutrition
Bird Flu Basics: What You Need to Know About Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza
A change in egg prices and availability is a common scenario in grocery stores. These market shifts have primarily occurred because of an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), commonly referred to as bird flu. This factsheet is for anyone interested in learning more about HPAI and how they can keep themselves and their families safe.
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Livestock, Dairy, Equine, & Poultry Handling
Preventing Back Pain in Horses
When horses are experiencing back pain, it can often lead to poor performance; many different types of horses suffer from back problems. Early recognition of back pain is important, since damage may be cumulative. This fact sheet provides information to help horse owners and riders prevent, recognize, and pursue treatment for back pain in their horses.
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Livestock, Dairy, Equine, & Poultry Handling
Heat Stress: Too Hot to Trot?
The hot summer heat should be a concern for horse owners. Horse owners need to provide extra care during hot weather to decrease stress and maintain the health and well-being of their horses. This fact sheet will describe overheating, heat exhaustion, and heatstroke in horses, and ways to protect them in times of high heat.
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Livestock, Dairy, Equine, & Poultry Handling
Lyme Disease in Horses – Reducing the Risk
First recorded in 1975, near Lyme, Connecticut, Lyme disease can be troublesome. Knowing the signs, treatment, and prevention, can lead to better protection for horses from this disease.
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Livestock, Dairy, Equine, & Poultry Handling
Caveat Emptor – Let the buyer beware: How to Avoid Mistakes When Buying a Horse
Whether you’re buying your first horse or your twenty-first, it is both an exciting and scary process. Dreaming of the day when you could own this horse, you want everything to be perfect. There are several things you can do to improve your chances of selecting a suitable horse for you.
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Livestock, Dairy, Equine, & Poultry Handling
Toxic Plants and Horses – Concerns and Prevention
Concerns about plants found in pastures include whether they may be poisonous to horses. In general, a horse usually would need to consume a large quantity of a specific toxic species for it to be an issue. However, a few ornamental plants are toxic in small quantities, even only a couple of mouthfuls. Prevention is the best approach to dealing with plant toxicity to horses. There are some things you can do to prevent your horse from having issues.
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Livestock, Dairy, Equine, & Poultry Handling
Conditioning to Prevent Fatigue, Injury and/or Lameness in the Horse: Second of A Two Part Series on Conditioning
Warmer weather often leads to thoughts of being out on the trail with your hourse, considering goals for riding, driving, showing, or trail riding this year. In a previous fact sheet, we discussed aerobic conditioning and the effects of age, genetics and nutrition on conditioning. This fact sheet provides additional tips and best practices for the health of your horse.
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Livestock, Dairy, Equine, & Poultry Handling
Pasture: Planning, Seeding, and Sacrifice Areas
It is important to prepare prior to designing a pasture by considering the use of the pasture, land resources available, seeding (including what to seed), design, and location of sacrifice areas. A sacrifice lot will help prevent over-conditioned horses by reducing pasture intake as well as protecting land resources. The expression ‘Failing to prepare, we prepare to fail’ is never more true than when it comes to pasture management.
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Livestock, Dairy, Equine, & Poultry Handling
Conditioning to Prevent Fatigue, Injury and/or Lameness in the Horse
It might be observed at the end of a horse show, event or trail ride. A horse is lathered, huffing and looks exhausted. Is the horse exercise-intolerant? No, most likely it just has not been properly conditioned. Conditioning is defined as getting one’s muscles into better shape through graded exercise. Age, genetics, and nutrition play major roles in conditioning.
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Food & Nutrition
The Amazing Power of Microgreens: Easy to Grow and a Superfood
Microgreens are becoming more popular because they are easy to grow, provide flavor to dishes, and are packed with nutrients. Experiment with different types of microgreens to find a flavor that’s appealing. Microgreens are a budget-friendly and fun way to increase vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to improve health.
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Livestock, Dairy, Equine, & Poultry Handling
How to Properly Manage Horse Manure
Properly managing horse manure will reduce flies and dust, and prevent pollution to nearby water bodies. The best time to consider manure management is before adding horses to a property. However, there’s no time like the present to reevaluate what you are doing and determine if you can manage your manure more effectively.
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Extension Program and Community Engagement
Culturally Responsive Extension Program Evaluation
Evaluating programs that engage stakeholders from distinct cultural backgrounds and realities requires intentional skill development. This factsheet, intended for professionals working in extension or nonformal education, describes practical strategies for enhancing the cultural responsiveness of evaluations in community-based, educational programs.
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Livestock, Dairy, Equine, & Poultry Handling
Camping With Your Horse
Being outdoors and camping is a fun pastime for a lot of people. Many people feel there is nothing like spending time camping with your horse. This factsheet contains a few guidelines for camping with your horse.
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Climate Adaptation & Resiliency
Building Resiliency: Climate Smart Adaptations for Fruit Growers
Extreme weather events can give fruit growers a preview of what producing food in a rapidly changing climate might entail. The general trend of increasing temperatures was solidified and reflected in the recent adjustment to the USDA plant hardiness zones. Coupled with extreme weather events, thoughtful climate adaptation strategies are essential. Included in this factsheet are some climate-smart considerations aimed at increasing the resiliency of a fruit-producing operation.
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Agriculture & Farming
Unique Fruit Crops for Farm Diversification
As climate-related production challenges continue to become more prominent, the need to develop and maintain whole farm resiliency grows. Highly diversified farms enjoy a great deal of innate resiliency, simply due to their mix of commodities. Diversification can take many forms: utilizing new varieties, expanding into a new commodity group, or employing a new production system. One unique opportunity for diversification is to explore alternative, novel, or niche fruit crops. Below is a deeper look at two of the most appealing contenders for diversification.
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Agriculture & Farming
Blueberry Weed Control and Pre-emergent Herbicides
Thoughtful weed management is essential to maintaining high yields and fruit quality in a blueberry operation. It also serves to reduce other pest issues. Growers continue to face challenges associated with weed management, including the development of herbicide resistance and challenges associated with climate change. In this factsheet is a brief overview of managing weeds in blueberries, with a special emphasis on pre-emergent materials.
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Agriculture & Farming
What do Labels Really Mean? Organic, Natural, Cage-Free, Grass-Fed, Pasture-Raised and Local
Organic, Natural, Cage Free, Grass Fed, Pasture-Raised and Local are terms on food labels and used in the news, but what do they really mean? And how important is it to buy organic and natural foods when it comes to healthy eating? Some terms are helpful, and others are misleading. This fact sheet reviews some of these terms and the meaning behind them.
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Agriculture & Farming
10 Consejos Para los Nuevos Criadores de Aves de Corral: Cómo Promover Parvadas y Familias Saludables
La cría de aves de corral domésticas puede ser una experiencia divertida y gratificante. Hay varios pasos que puede tomar para establecer y mantener la salud de su parvada, su familia y el medio ambiente.
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Agriculture & Farming
10 Tips for New Poultry Owners: Promoting Healthy Flocks and Families
Raising domestic poultry can be a fun and rewarding experience. There are several steps to establishing and maintaining the health of your flock, family, and environment.
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Livestock, Dairy, Equine, & Poultry Handling
SPRING is in the Air: Ideas of How to Prepare
After a long season with little color, when Spring arrives it’s great to see the greening of the grass and blooming flowers. Horses shedding definitely is another reminder. As a horse owner, when you think of the word SPRING, it can help bring to mind some tasks to focus on.
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Livestock, Dairy, Equine, & Poultry Handling
Equine Herpesvirus
Equine herpesvirus infections are very common in horse populations. Familiarity with the types of equine herpesviruses, clinical signs, transmission, diagnosis, treatment and especially, ways to protect your horses from infection are the best practices in managing the disease. In this fact sheet, we will focus on EHV-1 and EHV4, which are the two that result in serious clinical disease in the horse.
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Livestock, Dairy, Equine, & Poultry Handling
Coronavirus in Horses
In 2010 some coronavirus outbreaks occurred throughout the world in adult horses (and causing diarrhea in foals), but luckily, horses never transmitted to humans. It is also extremely unlikely that the disease would jump into humans from horses. In late summer 2018, several horses were affected by equine coronavirus at a horse show in the Northeast United States.
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One Health
¿Qué es One Health?
One Health es un enfoque colaborativo e integrador que reconoce la interconexión entre los seres humanos, los animales, las plantas y el medio ambiente. Los seres vivos están estrechamente conectados con su entorno natural. Reconocer la interconexión de los sistemas humanos, animales y ambientales puede ayudarnos a promover comunidades y ecosistemas más saludables, el uso sostenible de los recursos y un mundo más resiliente. Por lo tanto, aquellos que utilizan One Health buscan aplicar una perspectiva sistémica para fomentar un cambio positivo. Esta hoja informativa es para residentes, dueños de negocios, municipios, productores agrícolas y otros miembros de la comunidad interesados en aprender cómo el enfoque de One Health puede optimizar nuestra salud colectiva.
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One Health
What is One Health?
One Health is a collaborative, integrative approach that recognizes the interconnectedness between humans, animals, plants, and the environment. Living beings are closely connected to their natural surroundings. Recognizing the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental systems can help us promote healthier communities and ecosystems, sustainable use of resources, and a more resilient world. Therefore, those who utilize One Health seek to apply a systems perspective to encourage positive change. This fact sheet is for residents, business owners, municipalities, agricultural producers, and other community members interested in learning how the One Health approach can optimize collective health.
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Agriculture & Farming
Backyard Poultry: A Quick Look at Raising Healthy Birds
Raising backyard poultry is an increasingly popular endeavor, providing fresh eggs, meat, and companionship, while contributing to a sustainable food system. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced poultry owner, it is essential to understand the fundamental aspects of poultry selection, housing, health management, and biosecurity to ensure a healthy, and productive, flock.
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Livestock, Dairy, Equine, & Poultry Handling
Colic: Its Risk Factors and Prevention
Colic refers to any type of abdominal pain. There are many things that can be done to help prevent horse colic issues. By being aware of the risk factors and implementing these preventative measures, the horse can avoid this painful and costly disorder.
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Livestock, Dairy, Equine, & Poultry Handling
Basic Equine Dental Care and How to Detect Trouble
All horses should receive a complete dental exam, at least yearly, starting from their first year of life. By the time most horse owners recognize that a horse is having trouble eating or is losing weight, that horse’s teeth may be severely abnormal. Proper dental care from the beginning of the horse’s life can help eliminate problems before they start. Seek an experienced equine dentist or equine veterinarian to undertake these necessary horse care issues.
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Agriculture & Farming
Crisis Communications Planning for Agritourism Operations
Agritourism is a viable option for farms looking to diversify their revenue streams, educate their neighbors and customers about agriculture, and share the joy that their farm offers. While optimism is preferred, preparing a crisis communications plan before it’s needed can aid in the farm’s resilience. Ideally, it becomes a practice that helps the agritourism operation prevent and mitigate threats. Good communication practices are part of any successful business, including communicating during a crisis.
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Agriculture & Farming
Developing a Biosecurity Plan for Your Livestock or Poultry Operation
A biosecurity plan is a proactive protocol for maintaining the health of animals and people that interact with production or hobby enterprises. The goal of biosecurity is to prevent the introduction and spread of disease-causing pathogens within and between groups of animals and humans. The factsheet integrates a ‘One Health’ approach and is intended for use by livestock operation managers, hobbyists, and others that work closely with poultry and livestock species. The best practices included in this resource may apply to any of the following: chickens, ducks, cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, and other domestic livestock.
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Commercial Landscaping & Turfgrass
Invasive Plant Triage for Habitat Managers in Connecticut
Invasive plants are non-native species that reduce native biodiversity, alter habitats, impact the economy, and pose significant threats to ecosystems. The task of managing invasive plants can quickly become overwhelming due to their aggressive establishment and the time, money, and persistence required to achieve positive outcomes. One practical approach is to use triage, an assessment practice that prioritizes invasive species management strategies by the degree of ecological damage to the site and the economic resources required for management. This paper explores the fundamentals of a triage approach to invasive plant management, including its components, challenges, and implementation strategies for effective invasive species management.
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Livestock, Dairy, Equine, & Poultry Handling
Insulin Resistance in Horses – Does It Matter?
Insulin resistance is defined as a reduced sensitivity of the body’s cells to insulin’s facilitation of glucose uptake. This article discusses equine insulin resistance including its causes, effects, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.
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Food & Nutrition
Yogurt, Kefir and Other Choices at the Supermarket
Yogurt is one of the most popular dairy products among Americans. The yogurt section in the supermarket continues to expand, and the many choices can be confusing. Nutritionally, yogurt is a good source of protein, calcium, and potassium. Most yogurts contain added sweeteners; however, it is usually sucrose, artificial flavors, and colors. Kefir is another fermented dairy product made by adding bacterial and yeast cultures to milk. Let’s look at some yogurt and kefir options in the dairy aisle.
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Livestock, Dairy, Equine, & Poultry Handling
Strategic Deworming and Preventing Reinfestation
As spring and warm weather approaches, horse owners typically consider deworming. Recent discussion has centered around how horse owners should switch from rotational deworming–or time-based deworming with the same drug–to strategic deworming also known as targeted or selective deworming. Following that will be consideration of ways to prevent reinfestation of horses that were dewormed.
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Livestock, Dairy, Equine, & Poultry Handling
Vaccination For Optimizing Equine Health and Performance
For horse owners, vaccination is a part of the routine maintenance of the animal’s health. Vaccination can prevent disease, reduce the severity of disease, and minimize the spread of disease. With one horse, the focus is on disease prevention. With more than one horse, the focus is on reducing the impact of an outbreak.
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Commercial Landscaping & Turfgrass
Invasive Plant Factsheet Common mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris)
Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) is an invasive perennial frequently found in high elevation areas, disturbed habitats, meadows, valleys, and roadsides. Laboratory studies have found the presence of chemicals that could potentially suppress the growth of nearby plants.
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Crop Production
FSMA Final Agricultural Rule on Pre-harvest and Post-harvest
This factsheet outlines the update on Subpart E pre-harvest agricultural water releases in 2024 and requirements for post-harvest activities, according to the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule, published in 2015. Pre-harvest agricultural water refers to water used during growing activities, such as for irrigation, and crop protection sprays.
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Crop Production
Some Regulations and Codes Related to Commercial Greenhouse Construction in Connecticut
Under Section 1-1(q) of Connecticut General Statutes, greenhouses and other structures, used primarily for the production of horticultural commodities, are considered agriculture and farming. This fact sheet explores some Regulations and Codes related to commerical greenhouses in Connecticut.
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Food & Nutrition
Pasta Alternatives
Pasta is one food that many Americans use as a daily, weeknight and weekend, staple. It is easy to prepare and well-liked by everyone, including kids. A decade ago, the only options were regular and whole wheat. Now options abound and the choices can be confusing to consumers. Which pastas are the most nutritious? Pasta has often been maligned because of its carbohydrate content. Many fad and Keto diets recommend avoiding traditional white pasta, due to the refined grains and carbohydrate content. However, pasta remains a key component of many healthy eating patterns.
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Food & Nutrition
The Health Benefits of Chickpeas
Americans have dramatically increased the use of chickpeas in their diets, over the past few years, particularly in the form of hummus. Chickpeas have so many nutritional and health benefits – adding them to the diet is a big nutritional boost. They are inexpensive and versatile to add to many dishes. This article looks at chickpeas and their health benefits.
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Crop Production
Rainfall and Root Rots in Commercial Fruit Operations
In orchards, excessive rainfall can lead to oversaturated soils, flooding, and standing water. As a result, observations of plant disease caused by soilborne pathogens often coincide. The excessive free moisture in water-logged soils is problematic for many reasons, the first being stress brought on by the plant roots not having access to oxygen.