The Rural Voice, 1997-04, Page 12QUICK -FIT
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8 THE RURAL VOICE
Scrap Book
Digger the dog protects Canadian
agriculture from possible diseases
When it comes to the possibility
of consumers importing
potentially dangerous diseases for
Canadian agriculture, never fear,
Digger the dog is on the job.
Digger is a legal beagle who
patrols the baggage area of
Pearson Airport in Toronto.
Recently he sniffed out 12
pounds of contraband U.K.
beef meat pies hidden in
luggage. It was the 10,000th
bust Digger has been
responsible for. Undeclared
beef, coils of German
sausage, Hungarian salami
and Vietnamese dried meat
are sniffed out by Digger to
be seized by Agriculture and
Agri -Food Canada inspectors, and
later destroyed.
Digger's job is serious business
for Canada's $83 -billion agri-food
industry. In 1985, the "Detector
Dog" program started in
Vancouver to stop bacteria,
viruses and pests from coming
into Canada and possibly costing
agriculture billions in damage.
The highest risks are from
imported, diseased agricultural
goods which could potentially
devastate Canada's domestic
production. To date, Canadian
livestock and crops have stayed
relatively free of many of the
world's threats to agriculture and
food. Digger and two other
beagles, one in Montreal and one
in Vancouver, help keep up that
tradition.
One of the reasons beagles are
chosen for the job is that they
aren't intimidating to airport
visitors, but the goodwill isn't
always reciprocated. Digger has
survived five attempts on his life
and been attacked by careening
luggage carts and an umbrella -
wielding passenger.
Still, with a sense of smell that
is 1,000 times keener than a
humans, be is trained to sniff out
75 plant and animal scents.
Digger, aided by human officers,
seizes 200-225 kg of dangerous
foods and goods each month.°
Source: Agriculture and Agri -
Food Canada
Scientists study earthworms' effect
Scientists at the Agriculture Canada Research Centre in Lethbridge are
launching a study into what many no -till and organic farmers have believed for
years: that the number of earthworms in the soil indicated the health of the soil.
The scientists want to see if there's a connection between the numbers and
kinds of earthworms in the soil and what farmers are doing with the fields.
"The idea is farmers can use earthworms to monitor the biological activity of
the soil," said Jill Clapperton of the Rhizosphere Ecology Research Group. "Too
often we ignore our soils. Farmers can turn over a few shovels -full and assess
what they're doing themselves."
Clapperton says earthworms are an ideal gauge of farming practices because
they are sensitive to change. Scientific information on earthworms is limited, but
scientists know when a farmer switches from conventional tillage to no -till, the
earthworm population of a field goes from "almost nothing to outstanding in two
years", she says. "They respond very quickly."
Come spring, researchers will go into fields, forests and grasslands with child-
ren and farmers to collect data on earthworms and how they react to change.°
— Source: Western Producer
1