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. …
Veterinarians Take to Capitol Hill
Nearly 100 veterinarians took to the nation’s capital earlier this week to discuss farm bill priorities. While lawmakers are on break this week, the American Veterinary Medical Association held its annual fly-in to meet with congressional offices. In the next farm bill, fly-in attendees are asking Congress to help prevent animal disease outbreaks by establishing and funding a three-pronged measure, …
Easter Eggs for Your Basket Will be a Bit Higher This Year
Higher retail prices for several foods including eggs, orange juice, meat products, bagged salad, shredded cheddar and vegetable oil resulted in a slight increase in the American Farm Bureau Federation’s (AFBF) Spring Picnic Marketbasket Survey. The informal survey showed the total cost of 16 food items that can be used to prepare one or more meals was $51.05, up $1.02 …
Meat Exports on the Rise for U.S.
Last week, President Trump requested a three-year extension of trade promotion authority, but the request comes amid growing concerns over the direction of the administration’s trade policy. And despite what we are hearing about trade issues, USDA is projecting that U.S. meat exports will rise this year just as production rises. Gary Crawford has the story. U.S. Meat Exports on …
Major Victories for Cattle Producers in Signed Omnibus Bill
This afternoon, President Trump signed the omnibus spending bill, which includes several provisions that will directly benefit livestock producers. National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Executive Director of Government Affairs Allison Cooke said the association has a lot of solid wins in this bill. Major Victories for Cattle Producers in Signed Omnibus Bill From NCBA Cattlemen Applaud Final Approval of Omnibus …