Latest News From Livestock

With no GPS equipment, Kansas dairy farmer Rob Leach freehanded the number 15, the jersey number of Kansas City Chiefs Quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The result? A 100% organic manure mural to celebrate the Super Bowl.

EPA is proposing changes to rodenticides that would result in canceling products and uses, adding more requirements to labels, and reclassifying some products to restricted use pesticides. Here's what you need to know.

With 350 slices of pizza eaten every second in the U.S., it’s clearly appropriate to dedicate a national holiday to one of America’s favorite foods: pizza.

USDA has announced the details of their Cattle Market Contract Library Pilot Program but will it be useful in price discovery in the cattle market?

After years of liquidation, the U.S. cattle herd continues to contract. With drought still a driving force behind lower cattle numbers, market experts think cattle price could top previous price records set back in 2014.

According to USDA, the pilot will mirror the working library that was shared with stakeholders in 2022 but will now contain active contracts.

Rising production costs and steady to weaker cash prices trimmed cattle feeding margins to near breakeven levels. Pork producer margins remain solidly in the red.

Cattle feeders and packers were in a standoff most of the week with cash trading only moderate in all regions. Cattle feeders are in a good position as inventories and carcass weights declining.

MoDak Dairy, a 2023 Top Producer of the Year finalist, takes pride in producing high-quality milk in a sustainable manner that supports a bright future for their family and community.

Trey Wasserburger, the 2023 Tomorrow’s Top Producer Horizon Award winner, is redefining the conception-to-consumer beef model to live out his dream of being a cowboy.

Farm Action is asking the FTC to explore why the nation's largest egg company is seeing record-high profits while consumers pay record-high prices. Ag economists say the jump in egg prices is simply supply and demand.

Cash cattle markets traded modestly lower in another week of lackluster activity. Northern regions experienced adverse weather conditions added stress to cattle and reduced weights.

There's now an 'alternative' to alternative plant-based meats. And the first ingredient just might shock you.

Sustainable Beef LLC. isn’t the first regional packing plant to be proposed or built in cattle country, but the unique business model may help it to succeed where others have failed. 

Cattle markets traded modestly lower as slaughter levels recovered from the holiday-shortened schedules. Wholesale beef prices traded lower for the week, but Live Cattle futures ended on an up note.

Construction is expected to begin this year for Cattlemen's Heritage Beef Company, a 2,000-head per day beef processing facility south of the Omaha/Council Bluffs metropolitan area.

Innovation can be defined as taking two things that exist and putting them together in a new way. This is exactly the case for Bar 20 Dairy the recipients of the IDFA 2023 Innovative Dairy Farmer of the Year award.

The Labor Department showed annual inflation cooled in December, with food prices up 0.3%. And while some food costs are showing improvement, the cost of eggs has spiked since last year.

U.S. pork exports saw continued growth in November, posting the largest volume and value numbers of 2022. Despite a November slowdown, beef export value sets records in key markets. Here's a look at what's happening.

While normally any moisture to the Golden State would be welcomed, the massive “Bomb Cyclone” storm hitting California is far from normal. High winds, heavy rain and power outages have impacted California farmers.

Federal regulators have ordered Union Pacific railroad to honor specific service commitments to Foster Poultry Farms in Livingston, California.

Most U.S. animal protein industry segments have posted phenomenal financial performance over the past three years. However, CoBank’s latest report says this broad-based profitability will likely come to an end in 2023.

Fire officials have identified property owners as the primary line of defense in protecting their homes before a wildfire starts.

Negotiated cash cattle trade was slow to develop but finished the year strong with price advances in all regions.

The calendar has flipped to a new year and many producers are asking themselves what adjustments need to be made on their operation as they head into 2023. Here are a few small action items that can lead to big results.

Spiking wholesale beef prices the week before Christmas helped lift packer margins into the black while increasing cattle feeding margins.

Wholesale beef prices are running $20 per cwt. higher than the same week a year ago, with last week's blizzard one factor in the rally. But retail demand for a shrinking supply will support prices into the New Year.

AgWeb is counting down the top 10 stories of the year. At No. 9, is a story about Doug Bichler, arm mangled inside a hay baler, he fought a gruesome battle for life, determined to escape the machine at all costs.

Rustlers in remote southeastern Colorado stole two semi-loads of pregnant cows sometime in early December.

Rustlers in remote southeastern Colorado stole two semi-loads of pregnant cows sometime in early December.

Despite analysts’ pre-report expectations, for the first time in 2.5 years, the national swine breeding herd has seen a year-over-year increase, according to the Dec. 1 USDA Hogs & Pigs Report.

Three days before Christmas, on the 22nd of December, the Mueller family's dairy barn in Strawn, Ill., went up in flames and their dairy farm suffered an enormous loss.

The Prescott Family Reindeer Farm in southern Missouri is 240 acres rooted in a deep desire to give everyone a full Christmas experience. Cattle producers by trade, they decided to also add reindeer to their mix.

Brooke Taylor shares her battle with cancer on her Rural Gone Urban social media accounts. Now, she's working to spread joy to others through her Rural Gone Urban Foundation to leave a legacy larger than cancer.

Reduced supplies of both cows and feeder cattle will support higher prices. Drought is expected to moderate.

Of all the challenges coming at the U.S. pork industry in the year ahead, economists agree it likely won’t be the price of pigs. Here's what four industry experts have to say about the 2023 pork outlook.

Proposed farmworker labor reforms from Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and others were left out of the omnibus spending package but farm groups are continuing to push for immigration reform.  

A mega drought is crippling feed and water availability for California farmers. And as the dire drought continues to grip producers, some fear it could spur dairy farmers to leave California and relocate farther east.  

Krysta Harden shares her decades of participation with 4-H and program that has changed over the decades, with more than half now coming from suburban and urban areas.

Alongside her family, Emily Zweber enjoys selling the bounty of their century farm, which includes an organic dairy and sustainably raised chicken, eggs, pork and beef

Drugs such as penicillin and some others routinely used to treat cattle, hogs and other food animals will be available only with a prescription from your veterinarian, starting June 12, 2023.

French company Ynsect has signed deals to build insect ingredient production sites in the U.S. and in Mexico as the firm kicks off what it says will be the world's largest insect farm.

Nobody does wild pigs like the Yawt Yawt, aka David Ellis. From backwoods redneck to rising star, Yawt Yawt delivers a rip-roaring hunt as the grim reaper of wild pigs.

Mayfield's largest employer, Pilgrim's Pride continues to invest in its workforce and the community following the deadly December tornado in 2021 even donating more than $1 million to rebuild homes and infrastructure.

Has the hype cooled for plant-based meat alternatives? Purdue economist Jayson Lusk thinks so. Here's why.

President and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC), Krysta Harden shares that even through the toughest of times, U.S. dairy exports grew, and she believes that number will continue to rise. 

The 2022 Milk Business Conference keynote speaker Alex Weber will grace the stage on Wed., Dec. 14th at the Paris Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Cash cattle trades a week following the Thanksgiving rally saw steady prices, but the steadily declining supply of harvest-ready cattle will continue to shift bargaining leverage to producers.

Sutton Rucks, chief operating officer for Milking R Dairy, Inc., encourages other farmers to reach out to their community and educate consumers about the benefits of agriculture and dairy farming, specifically.

The pendulum continues swinging toward cattle feeders as cash prices jumped $3 last week and left packers with their largest negative margins in nearly six years.