Following action by President Trump yesterday to impose tariffs on up to $60 billion in Chinese imports, China is making its list of what U.S. products will be the target of retaliation. The list reportedly includes agricultural products such as U.S. pork, modified ethanol, wine, fruits and nuts, and soybeans are expected to be as well. “We sell a lot … Read More
Reducing Mortality with Barricade PRRS
Participants in the 2018 Aptimmune Scientific Symposium heard some real world examples of how Barricade PRRS is helping farmers to fight the illness in their herds. Dr. Natalie Baker shared evidence of the vaccine’s success after Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) broke on an Indiana operation in April 2017. “We followed these pigs out and looked at mortality data … Read More
KEENAN Connects Farmers to Nutrition Specialists
U.S. dairy farmers visiting the headquarters for KEENAN Systems in Dublin, Ireland, learned more about MechFiber and the impact it can make on a dairy herd. KEENAN Corporate Marketing Manager Martin Minchen shared that the concept, developed in 2008, has been a key value proposition for the company globally. The focus is on consistent fiber lengths and an even mix … Read More
President Proclaims National Ag Day
This morning U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, along with Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, presented a proclamation signed by President Trump naming the first day of spring National Ag Day. Cindy was attending and will have more to add later today. The photo is courtesy of @SecretarySonny‘s Twitter account! Also pictured with the proclamation is Spencer Flood, Minnesota FFA. This … Read More
SMART Farmer Leon Sheets
In this episode of the SMART Farmer podcast, we hear from America’s Pig Farmer of the Year, Leon Sheets, who raises 33,000 pigs a year in northeast Iowa along with his wife and son. SMART Farmer podcast listeners may remember that we interviewed last year’s Pig Farmer of the Year Brad Greenway from South Dakota, who also serves as chairman … Read More
Animal Ag Bites 3/19
The Dairy Alliance‘s Global Dairy Summit convened state agriculture officials, industry stakeholders and thought leaders from across the Southeast to rally around a plan to reverse the dire economic circumstances facing the 2,000 local, family-owned farms in the Southeast. Since 2010, the U.S. has lost nearly a quarter of its dairy farms nationwide, and the situation is even worse in … Read More
Barricade Vaccine Reducing Nursery Mortality
A field veterinarian who has experience with Aptimmune‘s Barricade Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) vaccine plans to continue using the product. Dr. Brigitte Mason with Country View Family Farms said the vaccine significantly reduced nursery mortality when introduced into two PRRS-positive sow units. “We have already started implementing it in our other sow unit and we’re going to do … Read More
Lucky Alltech KEENAN Great Green Getaway Winners
For three U.S. dairy producers, the luck of the Irish was on their side when their names were selected in a live, random drawing at the 2017 World Dairy Expo for the Alltech KEENAN Great Green Getaway. Hank and Joanne Greisen of Wisconsin; Mary and Mike Van Rossum of Wisconsin, and Ashley Ervin and her sisters have all been enjoying … Read More
Cabinet Members Testify on Infrastructure Needs
USDA photo Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and four other cabinet members testified this week before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing entitled “Rebuilding Infrastructure in America: Administration Perspectives.” Secretary Perdue was joined by Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Department of Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, and Department of Energy Secretary … Read More
New Isolation Technique Improves Vaccine Development
Scientific breakthroughs in the way a virus can be isolated from diagnostic samples are improving the development of vaccines to fight porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus. The success rate was not good when the virus was isolated in traditional simian (MARC-145) cells. The Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory is working with Aptimmune Biologics, Inc. to use the … Read More