Today in 30 seconds
Bird flu in dairy cows reached 40 Washington herds by November 2 to 3, up from 2 on October 8, and Indiana reported its first herd on November 2.
CDC declared the broccoli sprouts Salmonella outbreak over on November 4: 34 sick, 3 hospitalized, 6 states, so check any home sprouting seed lots.
D'Anjou pears cost the shipper $30.95 to $32.95 a 40-pound carton, about 77 to 82 cents a pound, but the ad price is $1.94 a pound, about 2.4 times as much.
In season now: spinach and collards, with the spinach bag in ads at $2.24, cheaper than last week and last year.
Pawpaw trees can bear in 3 to 4 years, and this month is soil test and ordering time for spring planting.
The Northeast SARE Farmer Grant pays up to $50,000, and proposals are due December 8 at 4 p.m. Eastern.
Why is bird flu back in dairy herds?
What happened. On November 2, 2026, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced that the H5N1 bird flu virus, genotype B3.13, was found in an Indiana dairy herd, the state's first. It turned up through routine National Milk Testing Strategy testing, in which states sample milk on a schedule, and the National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirmed it. APHIS says there is no consumer health risk. The agency's release describes one herd and names no county. Global Biodefense reports two connected herds in Newton County, with a control area set and a negative influenza A test now required for lactating cows leaving Indiana. That second herd comes from one outlet only. In Washington, the first cattle detections came on October 8 at two Yakima County farms, after a Washington State University lab found the virus on October 5. Capital Press counts Washington as the 20th state and Indiana as the 21st.
The numbers. Washington went from 2 infected herds on October 8 to 34 on October 29, a count quoted from the state agriculture department as 33 in Yakima County and 1 in Benton County. By November 2 to 3 it was 40, according to Capital Press and the BEACON tracker as reported by Global Biodefense (39 Yakima plus 1 Benton). Capital Press also reports 1,222 herds in 21 states since March 2024, a total we could not check against APHIS because its herd table did not load. Counting Washington, Texas, Kansas and Indiana, we get about 45 herds in the last 30 days; that is our own arithmetic, not an APHIS figure. For people, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) situation page, updated October 15, lists 72 human A(H5) cases since February 2024 and predates the news that followed. On November 1 the Yakima Health District announced that a county resident hospitalized after exposure at a dairy died of bird flu complications. The person had underlying health conditions, and age, sex and job were withheld. Media count it as the first U.S. bird flu death of 2026 and the third since 2024. We could not confirm the death with the CDC or Washington's health department. The health district says risk to the general public remains low.
Is the milk safe, and what does a sick cow cost? Is milk safe with bird flu in herds? APHIS says pasteurization, the heat treatment that kills germs in milk, is effective, and milk from sick cows is diverted or destroyed. The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) said on October 26 that pasteurized dairy products are safe and no shortages are expected, while raw milk may carry the virus. For the farm, the best numbers come from a Cornell study in Nature Communications (July 15, 2025) of one 3,876-cow Ohio herd. There, 777 cows got sick, about 20 percent, and 298 cows died or left the herd within two months. The study put the loss at about $950 per sick cow, about $367 per cow that recovered, and about $737,500 for the herd. Each sick cow lost about 900 kilograms, about 1,984 pounds, of milk over 60 days. Spread across every cow in that herd, the bill works out to about $190 a cow. On a 1,000-cow farm with 20 percent sick, 200 cows at $950 is about $190,000. Both figures are our arithmetic. WSDA says most cows recover and herd recovery takes 4 to 6 weeks.
Why it is spreading. The virus in Indiana is B3.13, a strain adapted to cattle that has circulated since spring 2024. In the Ohio herd it moved through the herd in 23 days, and 76 percent of infected cows showed no symptoms, so spread can go unnoticed. Ohio State work from May 2026 found that contaminated milking equipment did not readily spread it, and Capital Press reports the route is undetermined. Moving cattle is a better-documented path: the Ohio herd's first illness came about two weeks after lactating cows arrived from Texas, according to CIDRAP. Washington's source has not been identified. State wildlife officials told Fox13 they expect bird flu in wild birds to spread statewide with fall migration, though whether birds seeded the dairies is unproven.
How testing works. States test bulk tank or processing plant milk on a schedule, and that is how Indiana's herd was caught. A federal order in place since April 2024 requires lactating dairy cattle from affected states to test negative for influenza A before crossing state lines, bars sick animals from moving, and exempts dry cows, heifers and bull calves. Feedstuffs reports that APHIS on April 27, 2026 exempted states classed Unaffected from pre-movement testing. That is one source, but it would mean cows from a newly infected state can move untested until the state is reclassified. State veterinarians quarantine herds, and producers report sick cows to the state vet; in Washington that line is 360-902-1878. We could not confirm any New Jersey herd detections or New Jersey's testing status.
Reaction and what is not known yet. Rick Naerebout of the Washington State Dairy Federation, a critic of the USDA response, told Capital Press the measures are not really getting the job done and that nearly every Yakima Valley dairy has the virus. Dr. Dave Atteberry of the Yakima Health District called the death serious and heartbreaking. Gov. Bob Ferguson said he was being briefed and advised precautions for workers at affected farms. We could not find a statement from the national milk producers' group yet. Unknown so far: how the virus entered Washington, how many cows are affected, how much milk was dumped, and 2026 indemnity dollars, none of which are published. The second Indiana herd and the exposure details of the death are also unconfirmed. USDA has licensed no cattle vaccine; a Penn and USDA study dated October 28 of 4 vaccinated and 4 unvaccinated cows found about 1,000 times less viral RNA in milk, a result far too small to settle anything.
The other relief. Most people missed a federal program that pays for exactly this loss. The Farm Service Agency's Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish (ELAP) covers H5N1 milk loss when APHIS or the National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirm a positive test, for cows removed from 14 days before to 120 days after sampling. Payment assumes 21 days of zero production and then 7 days at 50 percent, and equals a per-head rate times eligible cows times your ownership share times 90 percent, with a $900,000 average income cap. The notice of loss and application are due March 1 after the loss year, so March 1, 2027 for 2026 losses. The local FSA office gives the per-head rate; none is published. Do not confuse it with the older Milk Loss Program, which closed January 23, 2026 and excludes H5N1 milk, or with the separate purchase program in our post on USDA's $472.5 million Section 32 food purchase, which listed $165.5 million for dairy.
What to do
Dairy farmers: at the first sign (milk drop, thick or discolored milk, low rumination), call your vet and your state vet, and keep that milk out of the tank.
Quarantine new cattle about 30 days, share no equipment or workers, and check your state's testing status and the movement rule before buying or shipping lactating cows.
Start the paper trail now: production records, vet notes, and a call to your local FSA office about ELAP before March 1, 2027. Ask FSA whether any cost share for worker protective gear or biosecurity is open.
Shoppers: pasteurized milk and cheese are safe per APHIS and WSDA; skip raw milk and keep it away from pets.
Sources: USDA APHIS, Nov 2, 2026; Capital Press, Nov 2, 2026; Capital Press, Nov 3, 2026; Global Biodefense, Nov 3, 2026; WSDA bulletin, Oct 26, 2026; CDC situation summary, Oct 15, 2026; CIDRAP on the Cornell study, Nature Communications, Jul 15, 2025; Feedstuffs, Apr 27, 2026; USDA FSA ELAP fact sheet, 2026.
Is the broccoli sprouts Salmonella outbreak really over?
Yes, as of November 4. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) closed its investigation into Salmonella Bovismorbificans: 34 people sick, 3 hospitalized, no deaths, in 6 states. The FDA's case count by state is Washington 26, Montana 4, and Idaho, Minnesota, Oregon and Utah 1 each, with illness starting July 7 to September 11. In September, Evergreen Fresh Sprouts LLC of Moyie Springs, Idaho, recalled 4 oz bags of broccoli sprouts (215 cases) sold in Idaho, Montana and Washington through three Washington distributors; retailers were not named. FDA says the seed came from New Zealand through an unnamed U.S. supplier, and seed recalls followed. Those sprouts are long past their use-by dates, so the live point is home sprouting seed.
Product ; Identifier ; Notes
Evergreen Fresh Sprouts broccoli sprouts, 4 oz bag ; UPC 8 38796 00105 1, no lot codes ; Use By Sept 7 to 16, 2026
Eden Brothers calabrese seeds ; Lots 1022067 and 1022068 ; Recalled Oct 7
Home Grown seeds, 8 oz ; Lot AUG172026 ; Recalled Oct 2
Gardeners Basics seeds, 1 lb ; UPC 848137042889 ; Packed for 2027
What to do
If you sprout at home, check your seed against the list and throw out any match.
Follow CDC's four steps: clean, separate, cook, chill. CDC lists children under 5, adults 65 and older, and people with weakened immune systems as higher risk; our advice is to cook sprouts for them.
Sources: CDC outbreak notice, Nov 4, 2026; FDA outbreak investigation, Nov 4, 2026; FDA Evergreen recall notice, Sep 10, 2026.
Why does a pound of D'Anjou pears cost more than twice what the shipper gets?
USDA's National FOB Review of November 4 puts Washington D'Anjou pears from the Yakima Valley and Wenatchee at $30.95 to $32.95 for a 40-pound carton of US No. 1, sizes 70s to 90s. That is about 77 to 82 cents a pound by our math. USDA's retail report dated October 30 shows ads at $1.94 a pound, against $1.78 last week and $1.65 last year, up 18 percent on the year by our math. The same pound costs about 2.4 times the shipper price ($1.94 against $0.80), and a whole 40-pound carton at the ad price would ring up about $78. Those are our estimates, from different dates and pack formats, and ads only. Pears are picked hard and held in cold storage so one fall crop sells for months. Storage, packing, freight, ripening and shrink are all costs in that chain; we have no source for how the gap divides.
What to do
Buy firm pears and ripen them on the counter. Press gently near the neck; if it yields, it is ready.
Landowners: this is a retail premium on tree fruit, which takes years to bear, so plan early. No promise on returns.
Sources: USDA AMS National FOB Review, Nov 4, 2026; USDA AMS National Weekly Retail Report, Oct 30, 2026; Purdue Extension FoodLink, viewed Nov 5, 2026.
What should I buy and plant this week: spinach or collards?
Spinach from California's Central Coast is mostly $15.75 to $18.90 for a 24-bunch carton in the November 4 FOB review. In ads, the 8 to 10 oz bag is $2.24, against $2.62 last week and $2.58 last year, and a bunch is $1.58 against $1.94. Collards in ads are $1.57 a pound, against $1.23 last week and $0.97 last year, but that is a thin ad base, so treat it as noisy. For the garden, University of Maryland Extension says spinach tolerates frost and can be harvested into December with protection. University of Minnesota Extension says collards tolerate cold and keep producing after fall frosts; pick the larger outer leaves. Ads reflect store promotions, not necessarily what shippers get, so use them as a guide only.
What to do
Buy the spinach bag: it is cheaper than last week and last year.
In mild areas, sow spinach or set collard transplants this week; in cold areas, use a cover.
Sources: USDA AMS National FOB Review, Nov 4, 2026; USDA AMS National Weekly Retail Report, Oct 30, 2026; University of Maryland Extension, spinach, viewed Nov 5, 2026; University of Minnesota Extension, collards, viewed Nov 5, 2026.
Could you grow pawpaw trees in your yard?
Pawpaw is a native North American tree fruit. Missouri's guide (March 2022) lists zones 5b to 8; Ohio State (July 16, 2025) says 5A to 9. Yield per mature tree is where sources disagree: Ohio State says small orchards average 9.5 pounds with skilled producers reaching 23, while Missouri uses 30 pounds as a budget assumption. Grafted trees bear first fruit in 3 to 4 years, with a full crop in years 5 to 7 (Missouri). Space trees 6 to 10 feet apart in rows 15 to 20 feet apart, in soil pH 5.5 to 6.5 (Missouri) with good drainage. You need two genetically different varieties, because one will not pollinate itself (Kentucky State, Purdue). Plant in spring. The fruit keeps only about 2 to 5 days at room temperature. Own land? Stop mowing grass and start growing fruit.
What to do
Call your county extension office for a soil test this month.
Choose a well-drained site, then order two grafted varieties now for spring delivery.
Sources: University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry AF1021, Mar 2022; Ohio State Extension ANR-0187, Jul 16, 2025; Kentucky State University pawpaw planting guide, viewed Nov 5, 2026; Purdue Extension HO-220, May 20, 2026.
Who can apply for the Northeast SARE Farmer Grant by December 8?
Northeast SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education) awards up to $50,000 per Farmer Grant, with about $1 million this cycle. Last year's success rate was 16 percent. By our arithmetic, $1 million at $50,000 is about 20 full-size grants. Proposals are due Tuesday, December 8, 2026, at 4 p.m. Eastern. Q&A sessions run November 10, 17 and 24, noon to 1 p.m. Eastern, and a request for technical help is due November 16. You need at least $1,000 in farm sales in the census year and an outside technical advisor. Grants are reimbursement-based, contracts start March 1, 2027 and projects end by November 30, 2030. The region includes New Jersey, and the money funds farmer-run experiments where you try something and report results. Contact Jillian Eller at northeast-fr@sare.org; apply at projects.sare.org.
What to do
Register for a Q&A session, line up an advisor such as an extension agent, and start a one-page idea now.
Sources: Rutgers Plant and Pest Advisory, Nov 2, 2026; Northeast SARE Farmer Grant call for proposals, viewed Nov 5, 2026.
Own land? Stop mowing grass and start growing fruit
Curated Nature designs, installs and, if you want, maintains backyard orchards, vineyards, berry plantings and gardens. Quotes are custom, and berries typically produce in year two, grapes in year three, and tree fruit in years three to five. Installs are local to Southern New Jersey; remote consulting and design-only plans are offered nationwide. See the service page: backyard vineyard and orchard installation in New Jersey.
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