Elevated commodity prices supported farm income and kept the U.S. agricultural economy strong into this autumn, said the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank on Wednesday. “Prices of most major crops were at multiyear highs moving into fall harvest and supported farm revenue prospects,” wrote economists Nathan Kauffman and Ty Kreitman.
Read MoreYesterday, Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) Livestock Brand Commission agents arrested a Bossier Parish man accused of stealing a horse in Caddo Parish.
Thirty-six-year-old Rodney Jase Norwood, 127 Willow Bend Road, Benton, La., was arrested in Bossier Parish on a warrant from Caddo Parish following an investigation by the Livestock Brand Commission.
Read MorePork, much like everything else these days, has gotten more expensive due in part to the supply chain issues and inflationary pressures spurred by the pandemic.
And now comes another wildcard: The pork industry's ability — and desire — to adapt to a new animal welfare law in California, its largest U.S. market.
The voter-approved measure taking effect on Jan. 1 requires pork products sold within the state to adhere to standards that mother pigs are given at least 24 square feet of space each and kept out of gestation crates — 7-by-2-foot stalls where their movements are severely restricted.
Read MoreSmithfield Foods is the target of an animal-rights lawsuit, which accuses world’s largest pork producer of misleading consumers over how it treats animals in the U.S. food supply chain. The lawsuit, filed by the Humane Society of the United States, one of the most vocal animal-rights activist organizations in the country, accuses Smithfield of failing to eliminate gestation crates for mother pigs.
According to HSUS, the cages used to house the pigs are “barely larger than the animals’ own bodies and they prevent them from turning around.” In the past, such measures were taken in the hog industry because data show that sows inadvertently crush more than 100 million newborn piglets each year. HSUS says that Smithfield never fully eliminated the gestation crates as the company said it would back in 2007, and HSUS is unhappy that that it appears Smithfield only reduced the amount of time it requires pigs to spend inside of them.
Read MoreRattlesnakes are the most common poisonous snakes in the U.S.--especially in the West. The danger or potency of a bite depends on the amount of venom injected by the snake and the type of toxin—which can vary depending on the snake. It also makes a difference where the bite is located. A bite on the leg is usually not as dangerous as a bite on the face. Swelling from a bite on the nose may cause suffocation if it shuts off the air passages.
Read MoreOctober is the month where we are trying to complete the harvest and this year is no exception. Due to weather conditions, as well as market conditions in the cattle business, we are playing “catch up.”
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) announced Sept. 30 that one of its African Swine Fever Virus (ASF) vaccine candidates has been shown to prevent and effectively protect both European and Asian bred swine against the current circulating Asian strain of the virus.
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