Headlines: Supply chain crisis meets climate chaos

August 5, 2021 admin Comments 0 Comment

This is about a week’s worth of headlines from Ice Farmer.

Even though he thinks everything points to an “Ice Age” he nevertheless points to stories that confirm a problem with human habitat, both as a result of abrupt climate change and the insane and nefarious designs of the global elite.

As wildfires worsen, more California farms are deemed too risky to insure

The skyrocketing cost of fire insurance foreshadows a larger confrontation over so-called managed retreat.

Smoke from a wildfire rising above a field of grape vines — *Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images*

Insurance companies in California have taken a staggering blow from wildfires — the industry’s losses in 2017 and 2018 eclipsed its total profits from the previous 25 years — and have started to drop customers by the thousands, leaving wineries and ranches unable to find insurance for properties worth millions of dollars. The state has stepped in to provide a short-term fire insurance solution of last resort, but the crisis foreshadows a larger confrontation over so-called managed retreat in one of the country’s all-important breadbaskets.

California plays a crucial role in the food economy, producing more than 80 percent of the country’s wine and more than 80 percent of fruits like strawberries and raspberries. If a lack of fire insurance helps usher these farmers out of business, the rest of the country might pay for it at the grocery store. The decline of a farming region like Napa would also create knock-on effects for the service-sector workers who support the agricultural economy, as well as the thousands of migrant workers who pick grapes during harvest season

Prudential in talks to buy out and shut coal-fired plants in Asia

Scheme with Asian Development Bank could help make big progress on climate goals, says insurer

Smoke billows from Belchatow power station in Poland. Photograph: Peter Andrews/Reuters

The British insurer Prudential is working with the Asian Development Bank on a scheme to buy out coal-fired power plants in Asia in order to shut them down within 15 years.

Its backers say the plan is designed to limit use of the polluting fossil fuel while allowing workers time to find new jobs and incentivising countries to invest in clean energy alternatives.

Grasshoppers Finish off North Dakota Crops, Pastures Already Plagued by Drought, Farmers Say

Heat and drought aren’t the only issues farmers in the drought-stricken North and West are dealing with. Grasshoppers are also destroying pasture grass and crops.

Jody Kerzman of AgDay affiliate KFYR in North Dakota spoke to Rhame, North Dakota producer Trevor Steeke, who has been chronicling the drought and now the grasshopper damage.

“In my 25 years of farming and ranching I’ve never seen anything like this,” says Steeke. “They’re eating it down to nothing. You can see my 300 acres of barley, all you can see is they’ve eaten it to the ground. There’s nothing left.”

US hospitals face staffing shortages amid latest COVID-19 wave: Snapshots from 5 states

As U.S. hospitals deal with more patients, both COVID-19 and non-COVID, some are facing staffing shortages.

Here are snapshots from five states where some facilities are facing staffing strains.

Florida

Hospitals in Florida are increasingly reporting critical staffing shortages, Bloomberg reported Aug. 2. Within the state, which reported record numbers of COVID-19 hospitalizations and cases over the weekend, 13 percent of facilities reported a shortage of medical personnel, according to HHS data cited by the publication. This compared to 4 percent a week earlier.

Leah Carpenter, RN, COO of Hollywood-based Memorial Healthcare System, told WLRN there is a staffing crisis as COVID-19 patient volume rises.

“We cannot continue to have this for an infinite amount of time and expect to have a good outcome,” she told the radio station.

Memorial, as well as other hospitals and health systems, is also trying to compete with nursing agencies for hires and offering bonuses and incentives to keep workers.

Oregon

Some hospitals and health systems have already postponed or limited nonemergency surgeries amid the latest COVID-19 wave. This includes St. Charles Health Care in Bend, which, like other organizations, is managing staff shortages and capacity limits, according to KATU.

“We are probably at the most challenging time of the pandemic with respect to staffing. We’re hearing reports from multiple hospitals that their staffing is severely constrained,” Becky Hultberg, president and CEO of the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, told the news station.

Portland-based Legacy Health reported 1,321 openings, including 258 for registered nurses. In a statement provided to KATU, Legacy said the primary issue affecting capacity for Legacy hospitals “is the inability to discharge patients to a lower level of care. Many patients are well enough to leave the hospital but need a lower level of care at a convalescent facility or a skilled nursing inpatient facility. Many of those facilities are not taking new patients, so Legacy beds that should be open can’t be used.”

Idaho

Officials at Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello are coordinating with area hospitals and considering using the Southeast Idaho Medical Reserve Corps to address workforce needs, CEO Jordan Herget told the Idaho State Journal Aug. 2.

“We are in the height of the trauma season which causes our overall census to be high,” Mr. Herget told the newspaper. “Staffing shortages are affecting hospitals throughout the region, state and nationwide.”

Mr. Herget said Portneuf Medical Center also opened a new special care unit, which it has not yet had to use for COVID-19 patients.

Additionally, Bingham Memorial Hospital in Blackfoot is short on experienced nurses, and is seeking to bring in additional staffing help, spokesperson Mark Baker told the Idaho State Journal.

“That is definitely a place where we have a shortage in our region, and I know it’s also statewide,” he told the newspaper. “I think the trend that’s most alarming now is the rate of [COVID-19] increase. We’ve been seeing a doubling week over week and that’s a rate that at some point becomes unsustainable.”

Texas

In South Texas, hospitals are short nurses as COVID-19 admissions rise, and Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales made a plea for available nurses to return to work, the Caller Times reported Aug. 2.

“Every staffed hospital bed is full. All area hospitals are on divert, which means they cannot accept patients. This includes Corpus Christi, Victoria, Kingsville, Beeville and San Antonio,” Ms. Canales said Aug. 1.

“There are beds available but no nursing staff for them,” she said.

Ms. Canales said she reached out to state officials at Texas Division of Emergency Management and the Department of State Health Services and would make an official request for help.

“This help may take time, or may not be available — there is a shortage of nurses across the state and the entire nation,” she said.

Tennessee

Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey, MD, said there are increasing hospital capacity concerns in the state, not necessarily because hospitals are inundated with coronavirus patients, but because of staffing shortages, WSMV reported Aug. 2.

Dr. Piercey said staffing is a need not only because of COVID-19, but also because of respiratory syncytial virus and parainfluenza, which are affecting children, according to the report.

Nursing shortage forces Texas hospital to scale back labor and delivery services

A nursing shortage has forced Big Bend Regional Medical Center in Alpine, Texas, to intermittently shut down its labor and delivery unit, according to Kaiser Health News.

Physicians who work at the facility said Big Bend Regional has shut down its labor and delivery unit for four- to five-day stretches. According to the physicians, Big Bend said the unit would be open Monday mornings to Thursday mornings until more nurses are hired.

If Big Bend Regional Medical Center’s labor and delivery unit is closed, physicians are directed to send patients to the next closest hospital, which is more than an hour away.

Staffing shortage closes Washington standalone ED

St. Michael Medical Center’s Bremerton, Wash., location, a standalone emergency and trauma center, is temporarily closing July 30 because of staffing shortages and has not provided a reopening date, according to the Kitsap Sun, citing an announcement from Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, which operates the ED.

Seattle-based Virginia Mason Franciscan Health said it is closing the ED “out of an abundance of caution for patient safety.” The facility will remain closed “until staffing levels improve to a level that support safe care for patients in need of emergency care,” the health system said.

The health system said patients in need of emergency care on the Kitsap Peninsula should go to the ED at St. Michael Medical Center in Silverdale, Wash., or at St. Anthony Hospital in Gig Harbor, Wash.

St. Michael Medical Center is one of many healthcare facilities across the nation facing staffing shortages.

More than 300 000 people stranded after severe floods hit Bangladesh-Myanmar border

Heavy rains falling over the Bangladesh-Myanmar border region since Monday, July 26, 2021, caused severe flooding in which at least 20 people have died and more than 300 000 were stranded. This is the region where nearly one million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar are living in the world’s largest refugee camp.

In 24 hours to July 28, the region received over 300 mm (11.8 inches) of rain — nearly half the monthly rainfall average for July.

According to Cox’s Bazar District administrator, Mamunur Rashid, the floods have claimed the lives of at least 20 people, including 6 Rohingya refugees.

Some 306 000 people in Cox’s Bazar district have been stranded after at least 70 villages have been flooded, Rashid added.

More than 2 500 shelters have been damaged or destroyed and some 36 000 people evacuated into schools and cyclone centers.

More heavy rains are expected in the days ahead.

Netherlands: Court imposes ‘wei certificate’: farmers must be checked for a permit to let cows into the meadow

A slap in the face for farmers in Overijssel! The provincial court has ruled in favor of environmental organization Mobilization for the Environment (MOB) in a MOB case against the province of Overijssel. Grazing and fertilizing are subject to a permit, and the province must take enforcement action, even if this puts disproportionate pressure on the entrepreneur.

According to MOB, farmers who are close to nitrogen-sensitive nature must be closely monitored on their permit to let cows out into pasture. This ‘whey certificate‘ was not maintained by the province, because it was in line with Remkes’ advice and the position of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Australia: Bumper crop under threat from harvest worker shortage

A header harvesting wheat half way between Moree and Goondiwindi with rain in the background, October 2020. — Farmers and contractors are calling for vaccinated harvest workers to be allowed into Australia to quarantine on farms.

After battling through years of drought farmers across the country are being rewarded with a second year of above-average rainfall, but a lack of harvest workers is threatening to derail the bumper crop.

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resources Economics and Sciences (ABARES) has predicted the winter crop to be “well above average nationally, but with regional variation.”

The ABARES June forecast has tipped the crop to be 46.8 million tonnes, not quite as big as last year, but still 13 per cent above the 10-year average.

ABARES was also expecting a record area planted to crops with wet weather and high commodity prices convincing most farmers to sow this winter.

UK to monitor supermarket spending, offer “free treats for lifestyle habits

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Families could get rewards for healthy living in new war on obesity

Lifestyle habits such as taking part in a regular run or walking to school daily could be linked to free treats in pilot scheme

Boris Johnson is to launch a government-backed rewards programme for families switching to healthier food and exercising under radical plans to tackle Britain’s obesity crisis.

The scheme will monitor family supermarket spending, rewarding those who reduce their calorie intake and buy more fruit and vegetables. People increasing their exercise by taking part in organised events or walking to school will also accumulate extra “points” in a new app.

On Friday night, Lord Stevens, the outgoing head of the NHS, warned that the health service would struggle struggle to cope in future if there were not radical moves to tackle obesity.

Under the new plan, “loyalty points” accumulated would be exchanged for discounts, free tickets or other incentives.

The scheme is to be launched in January and underlines Mr Johnson’s determination to tackle growing levels of obesity. The Prime Minister blamed his weight for his serious illness with Covid last year.

Dominican Republic to kill thousands of pigs over swine fever outbreak

The Dominican Republic will slaughter tens of thousands of pigs after detecting outbreaks of African swine fever in 11 of the country’s 32 provinces, authorities said on Monday.

Fernando Duran, administrator of the state-run Banco Agricola, told a news conference the government will pay pig farmers the market price of each animal slaughtered.

Announcement of the slaughter comes after authorities sent 389 samples from pig farms across the country to U.S. laboratories after registering the widespread death of animals in three provinces in the last month.

Authorities said the only way to stop the disease, which is lethal and for which there is no vaccine, is to kill the entire pig population in farms where it has been detected.

Officials are still investigating the origin of the outbreak and have not said how many pigs will be slaughtered.

The government on Friday confirmed the presence of the virus in the Montecristi provinces, in the northwest, and Santiago Rodriguez, in the center of the country, where it has imposed quarantines in farms and sanitary cordons.

Julio Cesar Estevez, director of the Ministry of Agriculture in the Northwest region, told Reuters that brigades equipped with biosecurity suits would handle the slaughter and bury the animals in pits to try to contain the spread of the illness.

China Is Putting Pigs In 13-Storey “Hog Hotels” To Keep Germs Out

China Is Putting Pigs In 13-Storey 'Hog Hotels' To Keep Germs Out

China is taking hog biosecurity to new levels — 13 stories in fact.

That’s the height of a building in southern China where more than 10,000 pigs are kept in a condominium-style complex, complete with restricted access, security cameras, in-house veterinary services and carefully prepared meals.

The seemingly luxurious conditions represent a state-of-the-art approach to biosecurity in which pigs — the main source of meat in China — are shielded from viruses, including the devastating African swine fever that wiped out half the nation’s hogs in the two years before the coronavirus pandemic emerged.

Nicknamed “hog hotels,” these gigantic vertical farms are being built by companies, including Muyuan Foods and New Hope Group, emulating the strict controls major suppliers in other countries have used to prevent outbreaks of the devastating disease.

China is copying best-practices from Europe and the U.S. to close its biosecurity gap, said Rupert Claxton, the U.K.-based meat director at consultant Gira, who has been providing advice to farmers and businesses for two decades. “In 20 years, it’s done what the Americans took probably 100 years to do,” he said.

Lethal African swine fever, which sickens pigs much like Ebola kills humans, caused a dramatic outbreak in China in 2018. Within a year, roughly half the nation’s herd of more than 400 million pigs had been wiped out — more than the entire annual output of the U.S. and Brazil combined — leading to rocketing prices and unprecedented imports.

Top Priority

Food security became a top priority, and as inflation surged to the highest in eight years, the government had to turn to emergency sources of frozen meat to cool prices. New agriculture policies were instituted to accelerate a shift to large-scale, industrial operations over backyard farms that have traditionally fattened pigs on raw kitchen scraps and swill — the main sources of African swine fever.

Now, domestic hog numbers recovered more swiftly than anticipated because mega farms have expanded capacity so aggressively. Wholesale pork prices have tumbled so much that it tripped the government’s new alert system, prompting authorities to begin buying pork for state reserves and to shore up the market.

Why is China putting pigs in 13-storey ‘hog hotels’

Bacon (all pork) may disappear in California as pig rules take effect

At the beginning of next year, California will begin enforcing an animal welfare proposition approved overwhelmingly by voters in 2018 that requires more space for breeding pigs, egg-laying chickens and veal calves. National veal and egg producers are optimistic they can meet the new standards, but only 4% of hog operations now comply with the new rules. Unless the courts intervene or the state temporarily allows non-compliant meat to be sold in the state, California will lose almost all of its pork supply, much of which comes from Iowa, and pork producers will face higher costs to regain a key market.

African Swine Fever has reached the Dominican Republic – threatening US hog industry

This is a timebomb. Recall that USDA has done drills about ASF reaching (and ending much of) US hog farming.

African Swine Fever has reached the American region through the Dominican Republic. So far, local authorities and USDA experts are investigating 389 suspicious samples, of which 273 have been confirmed and transmitted to OIE as ASF outbreaks. [IAF: 273 suddenly all at once??]

The outbreak has occurred in an area located between the Sánchez Ramírez and Montecristi provinces, and it is considered that it may affect, in the absence of appropriate analyzes, 842 animals, including farm animals and those raised by families in the backyard. In total, these provinces have 15,000 and 4,600 pigs, respectively. The country’s pig herd does not exceed two million pigs.

Despite the fact that the Dominican Republic is not an important player in the region’s pork market, this is a signal of alert for other countries such as Brazil, the US and Canada which are well-positioned in the international market.

African Swine Fever reaches Americas – Threatens #1 Pork Exporter, USA

African Swine Fever, which destroyed 70% of China’s pork, has been confirmed in the Americas. Though the USDA assures us all is well due to new biosecurity measures, failures to contain ASF in China, Germany, and elsewhere suggest otherwise. Could this lead to the shutdown of the #1 pork exporter in the world – and do unimaginable damage to farmers in the USA? Is traditional farming and ranching really too dirty and dangerous to continue, or is this part of the war on meat? Christian breaks it down in this Ice Age Farmer broadcast.

Repeated uncharacteristically cold temperatures in Brazil’s growing regions

SAO PAULO, BRAZIL — Freezing temperatures this week in Brazil could hurt corn and wheat in the nation’s southern and southeastern states, Reuters reported, citing Conab, the government’s food supply and statistics agency.

There is risk of moderate and severe frosts in Sao Paulo and Parana states, which could affect second corn that is in the grain-filling stage as well as wheat that is in the flowering stage.

Corn and wheat in Mato Grosso do Sul could also be hit by frosts, though in fewer areas, Conab said.

Conab predicts crop failure due to water stress followed by frosts in three states in relation to second corn, Reuters said.

A production drop is also expected for wheat due to drought in Goiás and frosts in Mato Grosso do Sul, São Paulo and western fields in Paraná.

China Floods, Brazil Freezes, US Dry – Top Exporters Lose Crops as Grains Crisis Accelerates

As Brazil gets hit repeatedly by unusually low temperatures, destroying crops, the flooding in China, including Henan province — which accounts for 10% of their grains production — has damaged wheat, infrastructure, and thousands of large hog farms. All hopes are on US, which is also having its own issues. This signals a huge red flag for worldwide production as these are the #1/2/3 producers/exporters of many grains. In fact, Brazil has started importing! Christian explores what this means in this episode of the Ice Age Farmer broadcast.

Vegans exempt from compulsory Covid vaccinations, legal experts warn

Vegans would be exempt from compulsory workplace Covid vaccinations and employers risk legal action if they insist workers are double-jabbed, “experts” say.

The Covid vaccine does not contain animal products, but all medications currently go through animal testing.

Ethical veganism was ruled to be a protected characteristic at a tribunal last year.

It means any employers would risk legal action if they order staff to be vaccinated.

A spokesman for Lewis Silkin, a law firm, told the Telegraph: “Some ethical vegans may disagree with vaccinations on the basis that they will inevitably have been tested on animals.

“Ethical veganism has previously been found to amount to a belief, capable of being protected.”

The protections mean that vegans and people in other categories, including some religious groups as well as those with certain disabilities or medical conditions, could mount a claim of constructive dismissal if forced to get the jab.

“The definition of veganism recognises that it is not always possible or practicable for vegans to avoid participating in animal use, which is particularly relevant to medical situations.

“In the case of Covid-19, vaccination will play a fundamental role in tackling the pandemic and saving lives. As there is currently a legal requirement that all vaccines are tested on animals, at this point in time it is impossible to have a vaccine that has been created without animal use.”

‘Where is it?’: Supermarket shelves will be empty ‘in weeks’ unless ‘pingdemic’ resolved

SUPERMARKETS have seen food shortages over the last few weeks due to disruptions caused by the pandemic. Customers are being urged not to panic buy although the crisis is of growing concern.

More than 600,000 Britons were said to be self-isolating after being “pinged” by the NHS Covid-19 app in a week leading up to customers noticing empty supermarket shelves. Customers at food stores including Morrisons, Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s have started to notice empty shelves.

Canada border officers vote to strike, warn of supply chain disruption

Labor action could begin Aug. 6

Thousands of Canada Border Services Agency personnel have overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike – something that could throw a wrench into port, cross-border trucking, airfreight and international parcel operations.

The strike could happen as early as Aug. 6, the Public Service Alliance of Canada and its Customs and Immigration Union said on Tuesday. The union represents some 8,500 CBSA employees, including officers serving at ports of entry across the country.

The threat of a strike comes as Canada prepares to reopen its land border to nonessential travel for the first time since March 2020. The timing wasn’t lost on the union, which warned that a strike could lead to “significant disruption to the flow of goods.”

The impacts could bring delays to commercial vehicle traffic and impact parcel deliveries and duties collection, the union said.

Pet food shortages leave owners on the hunt for kibble and cat treats

CHICAGO, July 29 (Reuters) – Black short-haired kitty Astra, one of millions of pets acquired during the COVID-19 pandemic last year, had to go without salmon-flavored Whiskas treats that were sold out at stores in New Orleans this month.

Loki, an Alaskan malamute dog in Ontario, Canada, did not have his usual Royal Canin kibble in the food bowl.

North American pet owners are struggling to track down certain foods from major retailers like Amazon.com (AMZN.O), Target Corp (TGT.N) and PetSmart as the sector grapples with increased demand and strains on the supply chain. read more

Costs for pet food ingredients have climbed 8% to 20% since the pandemic began, according to U.S. industry group the Pet Food Institute, outpacing a 5.4% jump in consumer prices in the 12 months through June. read more

Higher prices of basic foodstuffs such as corn, soy and meat, on top of rising transportation and labor costs, are affecting all food supplies – both for animals and people – as the U.S. economy picks up steam. read more