Avian Influenza Detected in Wisconsin Dairy Herd, Holiday Farm Displays and a Veterinary Mentorship Program

Wisconsin's first H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) headlines today's episode, alongside holiday celebrations found on dairy farms and opportunities for veterinary students are heard in five conversations in today's episode, all found in the latest issue of the Dairy Star. First, we visit with Dr. Keith Poulsen, director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in Madison, who said that the confirmed case of H5N1 HPAI was detected through Wisconsin's compliance with the National Milk Testing Strategy. Poulsen said the absence of sick cows presenting clinical symptoms of the disease leads him to believe this case is a different strain, similar to one that presented about a year ago in the Southwest U.S.. Then, we hear three stories highlights how dairy farmers are celebrating the holidays on their farms. First, near West Bend, Wisconsin, Roden Echo Valley LLC purchased Percheron horses a few years ago to offer sleigh rides for visitors. More than 10,000 Christmas lights brighten the way for the nighttime ride through the woods. The second holiday story is at a farm where visitors can find 167 handmade, 8-foot wooden Christmas decorations and 27 miles of extension cords powering Christmas lights covering the dairy farm operated by Sara (Bremer) Hewitt's family near Hastings, Minnesota. The decorations include movie scene vignettes from classics such as "Frosty the Snowman" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". Hewitt also has a mini herd of cows dressed for Christmas. The final holiday story the lights found a Krebs Field, the baseball diamond located at Krebs Dairy Farm near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. The family places snowmen and Santa Claus around their baseball field, and Krebs Dairy Farm also has Santa overlooking the road from a silo, and a tree filled with lights on top of another Harvestore silo. Another conversation in today's episode focuses on opportunities for veterinary students and the value students bring to Waupun Veterinary Services in Wisconsin. The clinic offers opportunities for interested students to see a day in the life through ride-alongs, externships and internships, showing daily routine herd health work and some emergency situations. New episodes are released every Monday after the newspaper is published, sharing the many conversations from the dairy community! Send story ideas and your comments to [email protected]. Subscribe to the podcast for reminders of episodes - next episode is released January 12 - about the dairy community and leave a review! We look forward to bringing you this brand new way to consume Dairy Star. This is Dairy Delivery. All dairy, all the time. This episode is sponsored by Heartland Interpretation and Translation.