livestock industry
U.S. beef gets a boost as Saudi Arabia ends ban
Saudi Arabia lifted its four-year-old ban on U.S. beef, reopening a promising export market that was closed to the American livestock industry following discovery of the fourth U.S. case of mad cow disease. “Re-opening Saudi Arabia’s market will create additional export opportunities for American ranchers,” said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a statement.
Deadline looms for phase-out of over-the-counter livestock drugs
As the deadline for an FDA plan to shift sales of medically-important antibiotics in the livestock industry from over-the-counter to prescription draws near, there are concerns among retailers and feed-industry officials that the transition may not go smoothly, says FeedNavigator.
Saddling up to ride herd, a robot from Australia
A common job for cowboys — for some, it's an all-day duty — is riding through herds to check on cattle health. With labor getting harder to find, Salah Sukkarieh, an Australian professor of robots, is developing a solar- and electric-powered four-wheel robot to handle the work, reports the Washington Post.
Dairy farmers keep the milk flowing as prices fall
Good times or bad, milk production seems to go only one direction in the United States — up, which it is doing for the third year in a row despite a tumble in market prices. Economist Scott Brown says if the industry is unable to cut output, the only solution to excess milk supplies will be larger domestic and export demand.
G-7 ag ministers to share information on livestock diseases
In their first meeting since 2009, agriculture ministers from the Group of Seven industrialized nations said they would "set up an international framework to smoothly share information on livestock epidemics, such as bird flu or foot-and-mouth disease, reports the Kyodo news service.
Statewide vote on corporate farming in North Dakota
North Dakotans will vote in a June 14 referendum on a law that allows corporate hog and dairy farming in the state, says the Fargo Forum. The North Dakota Farmers Union led a petition drive that collected more than 19,000 signatures to refer the law to the voters.
U.S. won’t mention soda taxes in Dietary Guidelines
The new edition of Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the government's tips for a healthy diet, will not advocate soda taxes as a way to fight obesity, two Obama cabinet members told lawmakers, despite a suggestion that it should from the panel of experts that is helping to update the guidelines. Health Secretary Sylvia Burwell and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said soda taxes fall outside the province of the guidelines so they will not be considered. They cited the same reason on Tuesday in excluding sustainability of food supplies as an element in recommendations for the American diet.
Antibiotic use in livestock to rise by 67 percent by 2030
Livestock farmers around the world will use nearly 106,000 tonnes of antibiotics by 2030, an increase of 67 percent in two decades, a team of scientists estimated.
Hog prices forecast to fall by 26 percent this year
Producers will see sharply lower hog prices this year - down 26 percent from 2014 - due to larger livestock production, says the USDA's Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook.
Brown vetoes antibiotics bill, says “more needs to be done”
California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a proposed first-in-the-nation state law to reduce antibiotic use in livestock and told legislators, "More needs to be done to understand and reduce our reliance on antibiotics." In his veto message, he said state agricultural officials would work with lawmakers to find "new and effective ways to reduce the unnecessary antibiotics used for livestock and poultry."
Feeder livestock borrowing up 50 percent in Fed survey
Agricultural banks say loan volume for feeder livestock rose by 50 percent in the second quarter of this year after rising by 13 percent year-over-year in the first quarter, according to the Federal Reserve in its Agricultural Finance Databook.