USDA Seeking to Advance Modernized Pork Slaughter

The Department of Agriculture wants to move forward with a modernization of pork slaughter. USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service last week announced the agency wants to move forward with a system that will focus inspection resources and improve food safety. The effort is supported by the National Pork Producers Council, which says the improvements would increase efficiency and effectiveness …

Order Rescinding the Prohibition of Poultry Exhibitions and the Assembling of Poultry to be Sold Issued

After weeks of extensive testing of both commercial and backyard flocks within the surveillance zones established in Alabama, there has been no new detection of avian influenza. Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries John McMillan, in consultation with state veterinarian Dr. Tony Frazier, officially rescinds the Order Prohibiting Poultry Exhibitions and the Assembly of Poultry to be Sold in Alabama*. This …

Biosecurity Important in Fighting Avian Influenza

Still good news in that no new cases of avian influenza have popped up for a while. USDA Chief Veterinarian Dr. Jack Shere says good biosecurity can keep it that way.   More information about good biosecurity measures can be found by clicking here. Sponsored ContentFlorida Cattle Enhancement Board Awarded Researcher Discusses New World Screwworm OverviewJune 19, 2026Verdant Robotics Offers …

Safely Eating Easter Eggs

Are those colored Easter eggs safe to eat after they’ve been hiding in the yard? Cathy Isom answers this question and more coming up on This Land of Ours.   As we’ve all learned by now, eggs shouldn’t be left out of the fridge for longer than two hours. Even though you’ve cooked the food it can still become contaminated. …

Preparing Safe Easter Eggs

Cathy Isom has some tips on what you need to know about those Easter eggs you’re planning on cooking then coloring this year . That’s coming up on This Land of Ours. This Easter many families will continue the longtime tradition of dying hard boiled eggs and hiding them for their kids to hunt in the yard. USDA Food Safety Expert …

Pork Producers Applaud White House Action on ‘GIPSA’ Rule

Call for Withdraw of Regulation The Trump administration gave notice that it will further delay the effective date of a regulation related to the buying and selling of livestock, a move applauded by the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), which opposes the Obama-era rule. It also will take public comments on what to do with the regulation. The so-called Farmer …

Hog Prices Expected to Increase in 2017, Despite Challenges

Hog prices are expected to increase this year, even as pork production is expected to increase by three percent, according to a Purdue University agricultural economist. Christ Hurt writes that stronger demand will support prices because of a growing U.S. economy, and by a robust eight percent growth in exports as projected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Hurt says …

USDA to Hold Public Meetings on Current Animal Disease Traceability

Could Improvements be made in USDA’s current system of livestock identification and tracking? According to this report from Gary Crawford, officials are going to be gathering ideas about that in meetings across the country. Dr. Sunny Geiser-Novotny, Animal Disease Traceability Liaison with USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in Ft. Collins, Colorado, talks about why USDA is having stakeholder …

Testing Continues Across Southeast for Avian Influenza

It’s been a couple of weeks since we last heard about any new cases of avian influenza, as the last was a confirmation at a commercial poultry breeding operation in Chattooga County in Georgia. But overall, there have been cases in four southeastern states with positive cases, which also include Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky. USDA Chief Veterinarian Dr. Jack Shere …