Earlier this week the Chinese government announced the imposition of additional import duties on a range of U.S. products, including a 25 percent duty increase, on top of the existing 12 percent duty, on imports of U.S. pork and pork variety meat. U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) Joe Schuele has more. USMEF on China’s Additional Import Duties on US Pork …
New Trap Better at Snaring Stable Flies
A new stable fly trap, now on the market, catches more flies than the standard trap, according to a recent Agricultural Research Service (ARS) study. The Knight Stick trap is highly attractive to stable flies, fits in tight places and is very portable, said entomologist Jerry Hogsette, with the Mosquito and Fly Research Unit at the ARS Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology in …
Loss Of Foreign Workers Would Hurt Agriculture
Given a tight labor market, particularly in rural areas, the loss of foreign-born workers would lead to a drop in agricultural jobs, according to a study commissioned by the National Pork Producers Council. Economists with Iowa State University (ISU), using a study from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, determined that a reduction in the foreign-born workforce – …
GAO Gives USDA Approval to Ditch Organic Livestock Rule
The Government Accountability Office says the Department of Agriculture complied with rulemaking procedures during its withdrawal of The Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices final rule. The office reviewed the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service’s process to withdraw the rule after many groups, including the Humane Society of the United States, filed lawsuits claiming USDA did not follow proper rulemaking procedures. The …
USDA Highlights Feedback from Stakeholders in Review of Livestock Mandatory Reporting Program
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) submitted a Report to Congress that reviews the Livestock Mandatory Reporting (LMR) Program and includes feedback from a broad range of stakeholders. The program gets its authority through the LMR Act of 1999, which must be reauthorized by Congress every five years, and the most recent reauthorization was in 2015. …
China Enacts Tariffs Targeting U.S. Pork
China is moving forward with retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products, including the 25 percent tariff on U.S. pork. China’s Ministry of Finance announced Sunday it will suspend duty reductions on select imported goods from the United States. In the announcement, China says the Trump administration’s steel and aluminum imports to the U.S. violate World Trade Organization rules, and “did not …
McMillan on Being Prepared to Fight Avian Influenza
While it is an issue we don’t want to think about, the time of year has arrived again when those in the poultry industry have Avian Influenza (AI) on their minds. Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries (ADAI) John McMillan, urges industry folks to concentrate on bio-security. McMillan on Being Prepared to Fight Avian Influenza Sponsored ContentFlorida …
Cargill Installs Controlled Atmosphere “Stunning” System in Canada Operation
Cargill announced that it’s installing a $22 million Controlled Atmospheric Stunning system at its poultry facility in London, Ontario. Cargill credits the investment to increasing customer and consumer demand for better animal welfare standards in food production. There are also electric stunning systems available to processing plants. Both electric and atmospheric systems are acceptable, approved, and proven as more humane …
MLB Fans Predicted to Eat More than 19 Million Hot Dogs in 2018
It’s a marriage of two American icons — baseball and hot dogs — and the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (NHDSC) estimates that baseball fans will consume more than 19 million hot dogs and 4.6 million sausages during the 2018 Major League Baseball (MLB) season. The combined hot dog and sausage total could stretch the entire continental U.S. from …
Livestock Producers Pleased with Legislative Fix
Many in the livestock industry were pleased to see the omnibus appropriations spending bill passed by Congress and signed by the President, as one of agriculture’s wins in that bill ended the court-ordered reporting of manure air emissions as Superfund events. The measure overrides the courts and exempts farmers from having to report manure air emissions as a Superfund emergency. …