Animal Ag Bites 11/18

carrie muehlingAgWired Animal, Animal Bites

  • The first-ever Sioux Falls Dairy Crawl was held on October 28, 2019, at three downtown restaurants. Five dairy farm families, along with dietitians and other ag professionals served as hosts to approximately 40 consumers.
  • Cattle feeders will honor their own Feb. 4, 2020, during their 11th annual banquet, held for the second year in conjunction with the nation’s largest annual cattle industry gathering. The Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame banquet will precede the 2020 Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show, to be held in San Antonio, Texas, Feb. 5-7.
  • United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue released a statement on China’s decision to lift its ban on poultry imports from the United States. China has banned all U.S. poultry since January 2015 due to an avian influenza outbreak in December 2014, even though the United States has been free of this disease since August 2017. The United States exported over $500 million worth of poultry products to China in 2013. The U.S. is the world’s second largest poultry exporter, with global exports of poultry meat and products of $4.3 billion last year.
  • Vets Plus, Inc. announces that the Wonewoc, WI facility of its subsidiary Merrick’s Animal Health, LLC has received a Certificate of Compliance from the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) under its Safe Feed/Safe Food Program.
  • A new white paper detailing the minimal environmental footprint of beef production in the U.S. was recently published by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff. The white paper, authored by Sara Place, PhD, senior director of sustainable beef production research at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, highlights why and how the U.S. is the leader in sustainable beef production.
  • America’s 60,000 pig farmers are dedicated to raising healthy animals to ensure a safe food supply. Today, that commitment means placing a high priority on using antibiotics responsibly for the health of people, pigs and the planet. As this year’s U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week and World Antibiotic Awareness Week, Nov. 18-24, gets underway, America’s pig farmers want to highlight their ongoing efforts to achieve excellent antibiotic stewardship and their determination to always seek improvement.