AgriLabs New Custom Vaccine Option for Swine
AgriLabs® has introduced a new innovative custom vaccine option for swine veterinarians and producers. It combines the benefits of herd-specific autogenous vaccines with proprietary production processes and ENABL® adjuvant technology designed to improve vaccine performance.
“The custom vaccine market has seen little innovation in recent years despite a growing number of companies,” says Sean O’Hare, executive vice president of AgriLabs. “Our technological advancements allow us to deliver a custom vaccine option that is truly different from – and better designed to evolve with your health management practices than – others in the market.”
O’Hare says proprietary production processes will help AgriLabs produce custom vaccines from particular strains of certain swine diseases, such as PRRS, that have evolved to become harder for other custom vaccine manufacturers to grow. “Making custom vaccines for hard-to-grow virus strains has become a particular challenge in the industry, and our scientists have developed novel techniques to address that challenge,” O’Hare says.
In addition, O’Hare says the company’s recently patented ENABL adjuvant technology will be a key differentiator.
“ENABL novel adjuvants feature a patented lipid/polymer matrix to which antigens attach for efficient delivery to target cells,” says O’Hare. “That means higher absorption of antigen to immune cells. The result is a greater immune response – and a custom vaccine offering unlike any other.”
North American Cattle Groups Say Don’t Jeopardize NAFTA
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) joined its cattle-industry partners in Canada and Mexico in sending a joint letter to President Trump, President Justin Trudeau of Canada, and President Enrique Pena Nieto of Mexico, urging the three leaders to not “jeopardize the success we have all enjoyed as partners of the North American Free Trade Agreement.”
The letter was signed by NCBA President Craig Uden, Dan Darling, president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, and Oswaldo Chazaro Montalvo, president of the Confederación Nacional de Organizaciones Ganaderas.
“Recent statements about the possible dissolution of NAFTA or potential renegotiation of NAFTA are deeply concerning to us because of the unnecessary risk it places on our producers,” the letter states. “While there may be general agreement among the countries to improve some parts of the NAFTA trade framework, we urge you to recognize that the terms of the agreement affecting cattle producers are strongly supported as they currently exist and should not be altered.”
The groups also urged them to “reject efforts to use NAFTA as a platform to resurrect failed policies, especially the misguided mandatory country-of-origin labeling policy that was the law of the United States for over seven years.”
“MCOOL failed to deliver its proponents’ promise to increase consumer demand or consumer confidence,” the groups said. “Instead, it created massive disruptions in live cattle trade that hurt beef producers across North America and jeopardized the jobs of American workers that depend on processing those cattle.”
NPPC Says New NAFTA Must Not Disrupt Pork Exports
Following the notification by the Trump administration to Congress that it intends to modernize the trade agreement among the U.S., Canada and Mexico, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) urged the president to make sure that tariffs remain at zero for pork traded in North America.
The White House notified the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees that the administration will update the 23-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The notification begins a 90-day period in which Trump trade officials must consult with Congress on the objectives of the trade talks; 30 days prior to negotiations starting, the administration must make public a “detailed and comprehensive summary of the specific objectives” for a new agreement.
NPPC said U.S. pork exports to Canada and Mexico last year were almost $799 million and nearly $1.4 billion.
“Canada and Mexico are top pork export markets. We absolutely must not have any disruptions in exports to our No. 2 (Mexico) and No. 4 (Canada) markets,” said NPPC President Ken Maschhoff, a pork producer from Carlyle, Ill.
Milk Regulators Seek Proper Use of Dairy Product Terminology
State milk regulators requested that the FDA work with them to enforce the proper use of milk and milk product labeling terms, a development the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) hailed as “the strongest statement yet that the abuse of dairy terms has gone too far.”
“It’s time for FDA to work with state agencies in defending standards of identity for dairy products,” said Beth Briczinski, NMPF’s vice president of dairy foods and nutrition.
The pushback by state officials against FDA’s history of inaction on labeling enforcement came Wednesday at the biennial meeting of the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments (NCIMS) in Grand Rapids this week. The NCIMS is a national cooperative regulatory program that includes state milk regulatory agencies, dairy companies and FDA. The states collaborate with federal regulators and industry groups to ensure the safety and integrity of dairy products regulated under the Grade “A” program, including fluid milk, yogurt and other dairy products.
During the NCIMS session, state milk safety regulators voted unanimously in favor of a resolution intended to clarify the responsibilities of FDA and state programs in ensuring the proper use of standardized dairy product names.
“The state agencies, through their vote today, acknowledged that more effort is needed from FDA to clarify the role of State Milk Regulatory Programs in assuring the proper use of the standardized names of milk and milk products,” said Briczinski. “FDA needs to stop picking and choosing which regulations it wants to enforce.”
Secretary Perdue Testifies at First Hearing
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue testified at his first hearing as the new head of USDA. The House Agriculture Committee welcomed Perdue to Capitol Hill Wednesday to testify on the “State of the Rural Economy.”
Perdue acknowledged that the current state of the rural economy is challenging. “Our farm economy is down about a 50 percent drop in net income from where it was in 2013 as you all were contemplating the ’14 farm bill,” said Perdue in his opening statement. “We’re in some dire straits out there.”
The new secretary submitted seven pages of written testimony which focused on his proposed “realignment” of USDA. “My goal is to make it the most effective, most efficient, the best managed, the best value agency in the United States government,” said Perdue.
Download Secretary Perdue’s opening statement here: Perdue at House Ag Committee hearing
Elanco Awards Poultry Memorial Scholarships
Elanco Animal Health in collaboration with the American Association of Avian Pathologists (AAAP) Foundation, awarded two scholarships to students pursuing degrees in poultry science and veterinary medicine through the Elanco Memorial Scholarships which honors the memory of past Elanco poultry veterinarians and scientists by supporting learning opportunities for future generations.
“We are proud to honor the memories of Dr. Samantha Pohl and Dr. Ben Schlegal with these two scholarships,” said Dr. Sara Steinlage, Technical Advisor at Elanco. “Elanco was fortunate to have worked with these two individuals who cared deeply about the future of poultry production, and it is only fitting to remember them by providing learning opportunities to future industry leaders.”
Jeannett Clampitt of Shawnee, Kansas, a senior at Iowa State University, received the $2,000 scholarship. After graduation, Clampitt plans to pursue a Ph.D. that focuses on enhancing animal welfare using fundamental animal production practices coupled with modern molecular techniques.
Dallas Mackenzie Clontz of Monroe, North Carolina, a first-year veterinary student at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine, is the recipient of the $3,000 scholarship. Upon completion of her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree at NC State University, Clontz plans to complete a Masters of Avian Medicine at the University of Georgia.
Business Planning 101 Webinar
Time for another Cattlemen’s Webinar Series from the folks at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA). Business Planning 101 will take place Tuesday, May 23, 2017 at 7:00pm CDT.
Join Davon Cook of Ag Progress who will explain the different types of business planning, ranging from strategic to tactical, and when you use each. Then you’ll dig into some methods and examples to show you how to get started down the right path.
Cook works with farm and ranch businesses to navigate through transitions-transitions from generational changes in management or ownership, or transitions while building the organization’s team and abilities during growth. In addition to working with individual clients, Ag Progress facilitates peer groups and an agriculture executive education program, The Progress Coach.
Livestock Industry Calls for Relief from EPA’s Regulations
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the Public Lands Council (PLC) filed comments to the EPA calling for immediate action on several regulations the agency put forward under previous Administrations.
The groups said that the regulations, “inhibit job creation, are ineffective, are unnecessary, or impose costs that exceed the environmental benefits. Often, these regulations impose federal requirements on cattle producers that discourage innovation and impose rigid requirements that do not work on cattle operations and, moreover, defy common sense.”
NCBA and PLC called on the agency to replace the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule with a rule that will clarify the extent of federal jurisdiction without overreaching. The replacement rule, the comments state, must work for cattle producers, follow the rule of law, and replace each instance of WOTUS in the Code of Federal Regulations so that there is one single definition across the federal government.
The associations also called on the agency to repeal the Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) rule for manure management.
“According to the EPA, beef cattle production was responsible for 1.9 percent of total U.S. GHG emissions in 2014,” the comments, signed by NCBA President Craig Uden and PLC President Dave Eliason, read. “By comparison, GHG emissions from transportation and electricity accounted for 25.8 percent and 30.6 percent of total U.S. GHG emissions in the same year. The GHG Mandatory Reporting Rule places an undue burden on animal agricultural producers, significantly increasing production costs with negligible environmental benefit.”
Brownfield Livestock Market Reporter to Retire
Veteran farm broadcaster Jerry Passer is retiring – for real this time.
Jerry already retired once after almost 20 years at WMT Radio and TV in Cedar Rapids, Iowa but he came out of retirement in 2002, signing a six month agreement to cover livestock markets for Brownfield Ag News that turned into almost 15 years.
“For almost 35 years of a broadcast career that spans 51 years in July, I have worked for two of the best broadcast companies in the business. Nearly 20 years at WMT Radio and TV in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and 14 ½ for Brownfield,” said Passer. “Without a doubt my time at Brownfield has been the best. The people I have worked with are the best in the business.”
Jerry is a graduate of Brown Institute of Broadcasting and a Vietnam Era war vet, U.S. Navy. He worked at radio stations in Blue Earth, Albert Lea and Austin Minnesota, Cedar Rapids and Oelwein, Iowa before landing at WMT. He looks forward to spending more time in Texas with his daughter and grandchildren when he officially hangs up the microphone at the end of June.
Anchor/Reporter Meghan Grebner will assume the responsibilities of livestock market reporting in a newly created role on the Brownfield Ag News team.