Veterinarians Believe in Vaccines
I work with veterinarians who research influenza—the flu—in Ohio. They spend days at county fairs taking nasal swabs from pigs and blood samples from people who work with pigs. They follow the spread of disease from animals to people and from people to animals. Pigs that get the flu run fevers, become lethargic, and sometimes have respiratory symptoms, just like people. Veterinarians often recommend vaccinating animals to prevent flu and other diseases.
More than 10 years ago, these veterinarians told me a pandemic was due. They expected something like the 1918 flu, which caused millions of deaths worldwide. They thought an influenza outbreak would start in animals and move to people—a typical zoonotic disease.
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Agriculture Department and Justice Department Issue Shared Principles and Commitments to Protect Against Unfair and Anticompetitive Practices
Speaking at a White House event focused on competition in agriculture, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Attorney General Merrick B. Garland expressed their shared commitment to effectively enforcing federal competition laws that protect farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural producers and growers from unfair and anticompetitive practices, including the antitrust laws and the Packers and Stockyards Act.
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Farmers and Families Deserve Fair Meat Prices
American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall commented today on the “Biden-Harris Administration’s Action Plan for a Fairer, More Competitive, and More Resilient Meat and Poultry Supply Chain.”
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Biden Meets with Ranchers as He Seeks to Cut Meat Prices
President Joe Biden met virtually with independent farmers and ranchers to discuss initiatives to reduce food prices by increasing competition within the meat industry, part of a broader effort to show the administration is trying to combat inflation.
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Record Beef Prices, but Ranchers Aren’t Cashing In
Judging from the prices at supermarkets and restaurants, this would appear to be a lucrative moment for cattle ranchers like Steve Charter.
America is consuming more beef than ever, while prices have climbed by one-fifth over the past year — a primary driver for the growing alarm over inflation.
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Central Region Crops and Cattle Forum
The LSU AgCenter will hold the Central Region Crops and Cattle Forum on Thursday, Jan. 6, at the State Evacuation Shelter near the LSUA campus in Alexandria.
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Louisiana Cattle Producers: Feedback Requested
We would appreciate your feedback on the possibility of hosting a one or two day event where you could bring your bull(s) to the Dean Lee Research Station or nearby veterinary clinic to have breeding soundness exam(s) performed by a local veterinarian.
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Dominique's Livestock Auction -- December 6-7, 2021
Dominique's Livestock Auction -- December 6-7, 2021
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USDA Surveying Sheep & Goat Operations
Starting in late December, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will measure sheep and goat inventories and wool and mohair production during a nationwide survey.
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USDA Surveying Cattle Operations
In January, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will survey about 41,000 cattle operations nationwide to provide an up-to-date measure of U.S. cattle inventories.
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USDA Program to Unlock $1 Billion for Meat & Poultry Processors
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is deploying $100 million under the new Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan Program to make available nearly $1 billion in loan guarantees; these loan guarantees will back private investment in processing and food supply infrastructure that will strengthen the food supply chain for the American people.
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White House Calls Out Meat Packer Profits
National Economic Council Director Brian Deese on Friday suggested that recent financial statements from America’s large meat processors show the companies used their market power to drive up meat prices and underpay farmers, tripling their own net profit margins since the start of the pandemic.
In an analysis published on the White House website, Deese said meat price are the biggest contributor to the rising cost of groceries, in part because just a few large corporations dominate meat processing. The November Consumer Price Index data demonstrates, Deese claims, that meat prices are still the single largest contributor to the rising cost of food people consume at home. Beef, pork, and poultry price increases make up a quarter of the overall increase in food-at-home prices last month.
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