Friday, May 29, 2015

Project to study turning waste into feed, fertilizer

Canada backs study on Manitoba soybean crush facility

Vietnam ag minister wants speed up feed inspections

  • freeimages.com
    Vietnam’s minister of agriculture and rural development wants to cut the time and cost of animal feed inspections by half.
    From WATTAgNet:
    Vietnam’s minister of agriculture and rural development wants to cut the time and cost of animal feed inspections by half.
    Storage fees at ports during quarantine are one of the biggest issues facing businesses. Raw materials imported for animal feed production must be quarantined and undergo quality inspection.
    The director general of Aprocimex, an animal feed processing joint stock company, said the high price of raw materials for animal feed are due to the quality inspections and storage fees.
    Plant quarantine procedures and quality inspection can take up to 10 days, said Director General of Quang Minh Corporation Tran Thanh Quang.
    Some in the industry suggested changes in the rules that require that every order be inspected.
    "Why must importers wait for weeks, or spend billions of dong on storage fees, if they haven't made any violations for a long time, like 10 years? " said Pham Van Tiep, director of ABC joint stock company.
    Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat ordered the Animal Husbandry and Plant Protection Departments to hold talks with businesses this month to find ways to minimize the time and monetary costs. He requested the Plant Protection Department to study the frequency of inspections in other countries, especially exporting countries that demand inspections before they provide quality certificates for their product.
    He also requested more resources and equipment to speed up the inspection process.

Cargill facility tops 2.6 million work hours without lost time injury

US House ag committee introduces bill to repeal COOL

  • Freeimages.com/morderska
    Legislation has been introduced in the U.S. that would repeal country of origin labeling laws on meat products.
    From WATTAgNet:
    The U.S. House Agriculture Committee on May 20 approved H.R. 2393, a bill to amend the Agriculture Marketing Act of 1946, by a recorded vote of 38-6. If the bill becomes law, it will repeal country of origin labeling (COOL) requirements for beef pork and chicken, while leaving the requirements for all other covered commodities intact.
    The legislation follows a decision made May 18 by the World Trade Orgainzation (WTO), calling the U.S. COOL rules unfair in the United States’ ongoing COOL dispute with Canada and Mexico.  It was the fourth time that WTO ruled against the U.S. on the matter. Both countries have threatened to retaliate if the COOL laws were not repealed.
    “This bill is a targeted response that will remove uncertainty and restore stability for the United States by bringing us back into compliance,” said House Agriculture Committee Chairman K. Michael Conaway. “We must do all we can to avoid retaliation by Canada and Mexico, and this bill accomplishes that through full repeal of labeling requirements for beef, pork, and chicken. I appreciate all the support from my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. We will continue working to get this to the House floor as quickly as possible to ensure our economy and a vast range of U.S. industries and the men and women who work for them do not suffer any economic implications of retaliation.” 
    A number of industry groups, including the National Pork Producers Council and the North American Meat Institute, have encouraged Congress to repeal the COOL laws.

Hormel has record Q2 despite avian influenza woes

Egg industry leaders tour Hy-Line International

Gen. Colin Powell receives Alltech Medal of Excellance Award

Hawa Chicken is latest to join Ross 400 Club MEA

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Avian flu confirmed in Iowa turkeys, Nebraska layers

Wisconsin releases avian influenza quarantine zone

Cobb holds first poultry forum for west Balkan countries

China Animal Husbandry Expo draws record attendance

FAO global poultry forecast: Modest growth in 2015

Antibiotic-free broiler production is sustainable

Google invests in computerized farming network

  • freeimages.com/yron db
    Google is investing in a computerized farming network that uses data to help farmers increase their productivity and save money.
    From WATTAgNet:
    Google is investing in a computerized farming network that uses data to help farmers increase their productivity and save money.
    The network is called Farmers Business Network Inc., and it recently closed a $15 million investing round led by Google’s venture capital division. The company intends to spend the money to expand its field analysis service to collect data on seeds and soil in more states and crops.
    Currently, the network covers 7 million acres of cropland in 17 states, mostly in the Midwest. It analyzes 16 crops including corn, soybeans and wheat.
    The company uses computer systems to evaluate public and private data on crop yields, weather patterns and planting practices and then sells advice to farmers on how to increase their yields and cut wasteful spending.
    Farmers can join Farmers Business Network for $500 per year. They then can submit their farms’ data on past crop yields, which seeds were planted, fertilizer use and other information. The company standardizes its data and analyzes it based on data from other farmers and the company’s own database. The farmer then receives an analysis that shows how that farm’s crops performed compared with other farms working with similar soils and seeds, along with suggestions on changes to planting and crop rotation.
    The company also is developing tools to evaluate pesticide and fertilizer use.

Latest crop progress report by the numbers

AFIA designs broadened biosecurity document

Sanderson: More knowledge of avian flu vaccines needed

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

KSU developing vaccines for H5N1, H7N9 avian influenza

Walmart adopts positions on antibiotics, animal welfare

13 lessons in leadership offered at Alltech REBELation

Aldi sells product falsely labeled halal, apologizes

  • Roy Graber
    Aldi has apologized after selling a product containing pork blood and skin that was falsely labeled as halal.
    From WATTAgNet:
    Grocery chain Aldi has apologized and is offering a refund to U.K. customers who purchased a black pudding product labeled as Halal that actually contained pork blood and skins, which is forbidden by the Muslim community.
    According to WATTAgNet’s meat and poultry labeling glossary, products prepared by federally inspected meat packing plants identified with labels bearing references to "halal" or "Zabiah halal" must be handled according to Islamic law and under Islamic authority.
    The product was supplied to the grocery chain by Punjab Pakora, a Scottish company that produces a variety of authentic Indian dishes. The company’s owners said that the misleading labels were used because a manager that was assigned with approving the labels including a U.K. Health Code stamp failed to notice the mistake.
    “We are issuing a notice about the recent discovery of halal being advertised on the black pudding sleeve as being a printing mistake, and have rectified the issue immediately, we sincerely apologize to the public who have been affected by this mistake and would like to thank everyone who brought this error to our attention,” Punjab Pakora stated on its website.
    A spokesman for Aldi said the company regretted the error, which resulted in the outrage of Muslim customers. It welcomed customers who purchased the product to return it to the store where it was purchased for a full refund.

3 reasons Sanderson Farms won’t eliminate antibiotics

Foundation laid for Dixie Egg Company's 5th hen house

FAO: Avian influenza puts Nigerian food security at risk

  • Andrea Gantz
    An official from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization says avian influenza is putting food security in Nigeria at risk.
    From WATTAgNet:
    Food security in Nigeria will be at risk, a United National Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) representative said, unless intense surveillance and control measures for avian influenza are implemented.
    The virus that has been plaguing the global poultry industry in 2015 was detected in a backyard flock in January that included broilers, layers and growers, according to a report from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). That was the first confirmed case of avian influenza in Nigeria since 2008. Since that time, OIE has reported 51 more avian influenza outbreaks. In total, 167,064 birds – most of which have been layers -- have been susceptible, with 6,951 birds dying and another 140,839 being destroyed.
    The virus has also spread into Niger, first entering that country near the Nigerian border. It was the first avian influenza case in Niger since 2006.
    While speaking at a two-day training workshop for disease surveillance agents, FAO representative Dr. Louise Setshwaelo said that if the spread of the virus is not stopped in Nigeria, it will become endemic.
    "Then we will have even a bigger problem to deal with. The resurgence of avian influenza in the country has serious implication given the importance of poultry industry to the livelihood and food security as well as health implications,” said Setshwaelo.
    To keep current on the global avian influenza situation, bookmark WATTAgNet’s avian influenza page, which includes news reports and analysis concerning avian influenza.

Former poultry science department head at Auburn passes away

Tainted feed results in deaths of 47,000 turkeys

  • USDA
    Tainted soy oil cost a West Michigan turkey farm more than $1 million when it killed 47,000 turkeys and ruined 500 tons of feed.
    From WATTAgNet:
    Tainted soy oil cost a West Michigan turkey farm more than $1 million when it killed 47,000 turkeys and ruined 500 tons of feed, federal authorities said.
    Shur-Green Farms of Ansonia, Ohio, allegedly continued to sell the tainted product after the turkey deaths. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said the company intentionally misrepresented industrial waste tainted by drug residue as recycled restaurant oil.
    FDA said at least two shipments of the waste byproduct, which is intended only for fuel use, was sold in September 2014 as soy oil with the implication that it was fit for use as food.
    The oil was used at Sietsema Farms of Allendale, Michigan, where turkey flocks at five of the farm’s locations died in August 2014 after eating feed that contained the oil. All the birds died before they went to market.
    Sietsema Farms believed the oil it bought was restaurant-grade oil used in the manufacture of pelleted animal feed, and was unaware of the drug content.
    Also as a result of the feed contamination, 35,900 head of swine were held from market for 29 days to assure none of the drug residue would be in the meat when they went to the slaughterhouse.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

American Egg Board says pasteurized eggs safe as ever

West Virigina halts live poultry sales to keep AI away

OIE leader: AI should be under control in US in 4 months