Agriculture

Foreign animal diseases can enter the United States via feed imports from high-risk countries, according to new research from the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC).  Until recently, the industry wasn’t sure whether pathogens moved through feed imports from high-risk regions, largely because little research had been conducted.  But the research, conducted by Scott Dee at the Pipestone Applied Research, Pipestone Veterinary Services, South Dakota State University (SDSU) and Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) confirms suspicions.  “Via simulation, we’ve shown for the first time that v [node:read-more:link]

Midland-based Dow Chemical confirmed that it does not expect a regulatory decision on its proposed merger with its chief rival until early next year. Dow, one of Michigan's largest publicly traded companies, confirmed the expected delay amid third-quarter earnings that had beaten Wall Street expectations. Company officials once hoped the European Commission would  weigh in on the merger by December. But the timing for the decision has been pushed back until February. [node:read-more:link]

The obsession with knowing how our food is raised, manufactured and processed  dates back to 1906 when Upton Sinclair penned The Jungle, a look at the dark side of the meat industry and caused the Pure Food & Drug Act to be passed. I don’t think the majority of consumers actually read the labels at the supermarkets as they make their choices based on taste, cost, quality, appearance and maybe what is on sale that day. [node:read-more:link]

About 30 southeastern Alberta ranches are being quarantined after bovine tuberculosis was reported in a single cow from the province that was slaughtered in the United States.  The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Friday its veterinarians and inspectors are making contact with cattle producers in five Alberta agricultural zones and are working with provincial authorities to investigate the report.  "The investigation is ongoing and it is not yet known how many animals will require testing," said agency spokesperson Denis Schryburt.  "The number of animals requiring testing will depend o [node:read-more:link]

Some farmers loaded up on easy credit when grain prices were high - and kept borrowing after they crashed. Now debt and delinquencies are rising fast, raising fears of broader turmoil in U.S. agriculture. Their distress could foreshadow broader economic turmoil in the grain sector, which includes corn, soybeans and wheat.  “We’re in for a very, very rough time,” said Jim Mintert, director of Purdue University's Center for Commercial Agriculture. [node:read-more:link]

Bovine tuberculosis was found in a 2-year-old steer in the state's thumb region. United States Department of Agriculture's food safety inspection service identified the Huron County steer as possibly diseased during inspection and removed the animal from the human food chain, according to a statement from Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development. [node:read-more:link]

On both sides of the Atlantic, many of the people who are most upset about the new free trade deal between Canada and the European Union are dairy farmers. But they have opposite worries.  The deal was nearly derailed by enraged farmers in the Wallonia region of Belgium because of how much they had been struggling. In Canada, by contrast, farmers are anxious because they have been doing so well.  The way the country’s “supply management” system works now, Canadian dairy farms are almost guaranteed to prosper. [node:read-more:link]

Over the last two decades, the big companies—that is, Monsanto, DuPont—have led the way with massive investments in biotechnology research and with seed and biotechnology company mergers and acquisitions. Historically, the seed-biotechnology companies have been dependent on numerous small and medium scale companies as major sources of innovation (Fuglie et al., 2012). The new small and medium-sized enterprises were specializing in developments of transgenic seed traits. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. [node:read-more:link]

Agriculture officials are working hard to stop the spread of screwworms that are threatening endangered key deer in Monroe County. Officials showed reporters boxes that each hold 76,000 sterile male flies. Once released, their job is to trick females into thinking they have mated. Because the male flies are sterile, the females stop breeding and do not lay new eggs."We do this rain or shine for as long as it takes to eradicate this," John Welch, from the U.S. [node:read-more:link]