Sanderson Farms says flooding from hurricane Florence has resulted in the loss of about 1.7 million broiler chickens. In a statement, the company says about 30 farms housing more than 200,000 chickens each are isolated by floodwaters and cannot be reached by feed trucks. The company says 60 of the 880 broiler houses in the region have been flooded. Tyson …
ASF Found in Belgium and Spreading in China
Belgian authorities confirmed that the African Swine Fever (ASF) Virus has been found in their country. That’s adding to increasing worries about the virus moving into western Europe. The trade association website Meating Place Dot Com says the country’s food safety agency has found the virus in two wild boars in the southern part of the country. Belgian authorities are …
USDA Says Meat and Animal Product Exports up in 2018
All major U.S. animal protein sources experienced growth in exports in the first half of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017. The Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service said this week that trade data for the first half of the year indicate year-over-year growth for U.S. exports of all major meats as well as dairy and eggs. Dairy …
Hurricane Changes Fly-in Schedule for Ag Groups
Hurricane Florence is adding another wrinkle to the farm bill process as farmers are being asked to return home Wednesday (09.12.18) as part of the National Pork Producers Council legislative fly-in. Pork producers this week were there to talk trade, the farm bill and labor issues with lawmakers, according to the Hagstrom Report. NPPC also seeks “proper regulatory authority for …
UGA Extension Hosting Advanced Grazing School
University of Georgia (UGA) Extension will host a two-day Advanced Grazing School September 18-19, designed to provide attendees with a deeper understanding of two key aspects of their grazing systems. The focus areas include choosing the right pasture species, designing a grazing system that works best for your operation, and how to profitably fertilize pastures for optimal performance. The two …
USDA, FDA Announce Joint Public Meeting on Use of Animal Cell Culture Technology
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced a joint public meeting to be held on Oct. 23-24 to discuss the use of cell culture technology to develop products derived from livestock and poultry. The joint public meeting, hosted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service …
Swine Fever Spreads; FAO Calls Emergency Meeting
China reported another four cases of African Swine Fever. The trade website Meating Place Dot Com says that brings the total number of cases to 13 since the virus was first found in the country last month. The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization called a three-day emergency meeting of experts to propose responses to halt the spread of the …
Agri View: Overhauling Livestock Hauling
Everett Griner talks about laws changing for the over-the-road livestock hauler in today’s Agri View. Overhauling Livestock Hauling It will be very difficult to produce livestock without trucks to haul it. Not many people, besides the truckers themselves and the farmers, realize the tough laws that truckers have to live with. They cannot move a load more than 11 hours …
African Swine Fever Accelerating in China
China reported a new case of African swine fever this week, raising risks of a further spread of the disease. The new outbreak is the seventh reported since early August. A Rabobank analyst told Reuters that “it looks like it’s accelerating,” and creating the expectation that farmers will start selling off pigs before they are forced to cull animals if …
USDA Launches Trade Mitigation Programs
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue launched the trade mitigation package aimed at assisting farmers suffering from damage due to unjustified trade retaliation by foreign nations.  Producers of certain commodities can now sign up for the Market Facilitation Program (MFP), while USDA will also begin to purchase identified commodities under a food purchase and distribution program. Additionally, USDA has begun …