Cotton farmer credits team for sucessful crop

Ask Andy Wisdom what makes his West Texas cotton farm a success, and he will tell you the secret can't be found just in his soil or in any particular crop input.

It's teamwork that makes his Levelland, Texas, cotton farm run like clockwork.

"It's a team mentality with me," Wisdom said. "I'm very hands-on. I don't ask my people to do things that I wouldn't do myself. I can run any piece of equipment on this place, from the planter to the stripper. I have a great support system, from the people I work with to the people I farm for, and I can't do what I need to do out here without that support."

This team concept works for this fifth generation cotton farmer, who consistently brings in yields in the 2 to 4 bale range year after year.

Herd expansion leads to more Johne's

In just over 10 years, the contagious bacterial disease of the intestinal tract known as Johne's disease has become prevalent in as many as 70 percent of U.S. dairy herds.

National Animal Disease Center (NADC) microbiologist Judy Stable said this increase is due to the fast expansion of large dairy herds throughout the country.

"Studies showed that in 1996, Johne's disease was in about 22 percent of the U.S. herds, but because of rapid expansion of herds across the country, producers unknowingly purchased young heifers and older cows which were infected with the disease and thus has raised the prevalence of Johne's to be present in nearly 70 percent of the herds," she said.