3NAGA NewsMay/June 2015

P eg and I flew our Piper Archer to Las Vegas so after the convention and a couple days

at the SHOT Show we flew out to visit board member John Metzer of Metzer Farms in Gonzales, near Monterey, California. John picked us up at the Salinas airport and gave us a tour around the beautiful Salinas Valley. With the vineyards on the slopes and the crops being irrigated

in the valleys, along with 70 degree temperatures, it was hard to go back to cold Ohio. John showed us around his unique duck and goose farm and

hatchery. John and his wife Sharon were great hosts and we enjoyed visiting over a great dinner. In the morning Sharon took us to the air-port and we flew out over the Pacific Ocean before heading for home. We had flown over the Atlantic before so now we have been coast to coast. Why? I guess it’s just a pilot thing!

On our way home the weather was beautiful, what pilots call severe clear. Peg got lots of pictures and in New Mexico we did a fly over of Fuzzy and Bonnie Stock’s Pheasant Farm and took a few aerial photos. We could see Bonnie and Fuzzy by their truck where they had just got-ten home from the convention.

Then it was on to Kansas where we landed at Keith Houghton’s Ringneck Ranch grass strip. Keith gave us a tour of his great facility, and then while Keith was tending to business we jumped in his truck and ran down the road a few miles to tour Dave Wacker’s Farm where he and his son Ryan raise around 85,000 pheasants and 14,000 chukars. Dave says they are going to discontinue the chukars and expand to over 100,000 peasant next year. Dave and

Ryan have a great operation.Back to Ringneck where we went

up to the hilltop behind the ranch to watch a fantastic Kansas sunset and catch Keith’s history lesson on the area. We had dinner that night with Keith and his wife Debra and the Wackers. Ringneck kitchen staff cooked up a great meal of roast beef, mashed potatoes, green beans and pan fried apple pie!

In the morning, Don Montgomery gave us a walk through his Blue Hill Game Farm and Hatchery. His hired help was sorting pheasant breeders in his flight pens for the upcoming season. As so often happens in our industry, Don is one of those guys that started with raising just a few birds for himself and it just exploded from there. You can always pick up something new visiting other member farms. Don had designed a loading crate for his fork lift that will handled 500 birds at a time to trans-port to his flight pens. Yes, I will have one by summer! Thanks, Don.

It was a privilege to visit such great operations. Thanks to all of you that took the time to share your time and facilities with us. Stay tuned to future NAGA News as Peg fills you in on these and other member op-erations. Good tail winds home and we’re back in cold Ohio. Brrrrr.

In February we had the privi-lege to attend the PA Gamebird Association conference in State College, PA. I presented two semi-nars, one as your President on the advances we have made as an asso-ciation this year and another on the workings of Elkhorn Lake Hunt Club’s European-style hunts. Peg & I will be attending the Southeast Gamebird Association conference in April while enjoying a bit of southern warmth and Sun n Fun in Lakeland.

All of our members should be concerned with

Advertising Rates and Newsletter Policy

The NAGA News is published January/February, March/April, May/June, July/August, September/October, and November/December by the North American Gamebird Association.

Content Editor, Peg Ballou

Graphic Designer, Arthur Donley

Printed by The Herald, Inc. New Washington, Ohio

Copyright 2015, North American Gamebird Association. All rights reserved.

Submissions

The NAGA News invites contributions of articles, editorials, comments, photos and any other information of interest to the game bird production and hunt club industry.

Articles written by members of the North American Gamebird Association (NAGA) or by other contributors for NAGA News are solely the opinions of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the positions, opinions and/or views of the North American Gamebird Association.

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For an advertising packet containing ad sizes, rates, contract and print speci-fications, please contact the editor, Peg Ballou at editor@mynaga.org or 419.563.6899. All ads are due five weeks prior to the edition publication date.

10% discount applies to ads placed for 6 issues and invoice paid within 30 days.

Policy Notes

It is the policy of NAGA that no advertis-ing containing pricing for eggs, chicks, or birds will be accepted in the News.

NAGA has not verified the informa-tion or facts contained in the articles and advertising in this publication and, therefore, does not endorse the materi-als presented.

For article submission guidelines, ad-vertising sales or for more information on how to prepare ads for print, contact the editor, Peg Ballou at editor@mynaga.org or call 419.563.6899.

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Sam BallouNAGA President

President, continued on page 5

President’s Letter

From Sea to Shining Sea

5NAGA NewsMay/June 2015

tion and as individual businesses.This also allows non-members

of NAGA to see the full value of our association. Much like the Weather Channel during a hurri-cane, the North American Gamebird Association will provide vital infor-mation, education and assistance to gamebird producers and hunting preserves. We will be work with key government agencies to ensure that our needs are heard and met.

This is the perfect time to join NAGA. Our community is much stronger than unaffiliated farmers and operators facing this issue alone.

If you know of such a nonmember gamebird business close to your place, encourage them to join. They need to know that there is much more safety in the herd. H

Rob Sexton NAGA Executive Director rob@mynaga.org1.800.624.2967

NAGA is swinging into action to provide critical

information to the gamebird community.

AmsterdAmPartridge FarmSpecializing in Chukar Partridge

Hatching Eggs

Available Year-RoundCall for pricing:

Darvin Weaver, New Holland, PA 717.575.4134

c

the outbreak of Avian Influenza in the country. From the discovery of AI in ducks and geese in the northwest, to the actual positive tests found on turkey farms in MN, MO, AL and a backyard flock in KS, it is not an overstatement to say this is a huge threat, maybe the greatest threat, to our industry. We cannot panic, but must take immediate action to protect our future. To that end we have tailored this edition to, and will continue to research, monitor and inform our membership about, this great concern. It is imperative now as never before that you update your email information with NAGA so that you can receive email blasts regard-ing this and other important issues. The Facebook page will not be used for sensitive information to prevent unfavorable distribution.

What can you do? Get registered with NPIP and get your flocks tested. Only buy birds from NPIP tested AI clean flocks. Finally, your fellow growers and hunt clubs need to be informed and involved. Another gamebird operation’s actions within your state or region can readily af-fect you. Now more than ever it is important to bring nonmembers into the NAGA for information and accountability. I am pleased that our Executive Director Rob Sexton and Health Committee headed by Bill MacFarlane have taken the lead in information gathering and writing articles to help us all be more proac-tive in dealing with this situation. H

President, continued from page 3

Our condolences to Houston Johnson of Texas on the passing of his father on March 28th.

And our thoughts and prayers are with Jamie Gardner’s wife Sarah who was in a serious car accident in February. Jamie operates WR Farms in Clyde, Ohio.

Sam and Peg Ballou announce the marriage of their daugher Rebekah to Matthew Brown of Indianapolis. Rebekah donated artwork to the NAGA Auction as a way to give back to the cause. Rebekah was a previous scholarship winner and her artwork was featured on the cover of the NAGA News.

6 Do’s and Don’ts to Help Prevent the Spread of Avian Influenza1. Don’t track it in on your shoes. AI is transmitted through feces and can be tracked into your barns on shoes or boots you wore outside. Have dedicated footwear that is only worn where birds are kept. Booties may be an option. Invest in a footbath to properly sanitize footwear.

2. Don’t bring it into your farm on delivery trucks. After mak-ing deliveries or picking up birds, stop at a local car wash and pressure wash tires and vehicles.

3. Don’t wear your work clothes around town. Change into other clothes before running to town for gas or supplies. AI can be picked up or spread in the com-mon places we go.

4. Don’t wear your hunting, fishing, biking, hiking, or camp-ing shoes and clothes to work. These places are frequented by wild waterfowl, which can carry the AI virus. That goose poop at the park could be the start of an outbreak.

5. Do be informed about who you are buying from. Find out if the producers you buy birds from are NPIP tested, AI clean, and have proper bio security procedures in place to protect themselves and you.

6. Do inform your neighboring gamebird farms and hunt clubs about the AI threat, and how best to prevent it. Use informa-tion supplied by NAGA or other reputable sources. Remember: their outbreak could result in a quarantine on your place too.