It's really farming at its finest when you're helping your fellow man and neighbors, hopefully, fight an overwhelming disease.

The bigger issue here is, to me, that when we can't access our neighbors with food, then farming just dries up. The fact is that all these hurdles that prohibit local food commerce keep what would be millions of dollars circulating in the rural local economy are therefore denied to the local economy. So farmers go out of business and sell to developers.

We know that, in times of need, everyone comes out to help their neighbors; it's been seen time and time again. We can't cut any of our programs or provide less help to those who need it, so we really need the help of the public to continue the work we are doing.

The underreporting of this disease is monumental. Physicians don't even consider it when they treat adults for persistent cough.

We are unwilling to accept any unnecessary risk and we will protect our industry from any invasive disease. At the risk of being offensive to our friends in Florida, this plan, this science, is all new to us. Didn't the scientists just come out against the 1,900-foot rule? Didn't they say that would eradicate canker?

The purpose of medicine is to prevent significant disease, to decrease pain and to postpone death... Technology has to support these goals-if not, it may even be counterproductive.