Latest News From Livestock

The livestock industry needs a comprehensive, cohesive plan to address the virus. Producers, their employees and veterinarians need clear answers and support from U.S. agricultural leadership, moving forward.

USDA is now ordering all dairy cattle must be tested prior to interstate travel as a way to help stop the spread of HPAI H5N1. This comes a day after FDA confirmed virus genetic material was found in retail milk samples.

A lone juror stood between rancher George Kelly and innocent. “It is what it is, and it will be what it will be. Let me go home, okay?”

The pork community is in the crosshairs right now for the animal rights extremist community. Here's what you need to know.

USDA said this week cow-to-cow transmission is a factor in the spread of avian flu in dairy herds, but it still does not know exactly how the virus is being moved around.

It’s not sharks, wolves, or bears that kill the most people—it’s wild pigs, and the numbers are trending up.

USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) announced it’s canceling the July Cattle Inventory Report. In the announcement, NASS blamed budget cuts from the most recent appropriations bills. 

South Dakota Dairy Producers encourages all dairy producers to closely monitor their herd and contact their herd veterinarian immediately if cattle appear symptomatic.

Steve Troxle, state commissioner of agriculture, said he is waiting for more diagnostic information from the National Veterinary Services Laboratory and will work collaboratively with North Carolina dairy farmers.

The American Association of Bovine Practitioners is making the name change, as it more accurately reflects the issue.

Kay Russo, DVM, Novonesis technical services manager for dairy and poultry, emphasized the situation is rapidly evolving and more clarity will come with time as researchers learn more.

Sid Miller, commissioner of the Texas Department of Agriculture, says the risk of highly pathogenic avian influenza impacting beef cattle in the state's panhandle – where dairy cows have been infected – is minimal.

Ohio has become the sixth state where dairy cattle have tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), also known as bird flu.

Livestock producers and veterinarians are urged to practice good biosecurity practices to prevent transmission of the disease. Five states have also issued restrictions on dairy cattle movement.

In an effort to increase its biosecurity measures against HPAI, also known as bird flu, the Nebraska Department of Agriculture has issued a 30 day restriction on the importation of dairy cattle.

The Texas Department of State Health Services reports that a human case of bird flu has been confirmed in Texas and identified in a person who had direct exposure to dairy cattle presumed to be infected with the disease.

The Idaho State Department of Agriculture announced that HPAI, known as highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu, has been found in dairy cattle in Idaho.

The livestock industry continues to grapple with the first confirmed cases of HPAI in cattle, while federal and state agencies continue to assure consumers there's no concern about the safety of the U.S. milk supply.

Now that the mystery illness impacting some dairy herds has been revealed as the same strain of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza that has been impacting the U.S. poultry flock, pork producers are asking questions.

Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) participants can donate emergency grazing authority to ranchers in Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas impacted by recent wildfires.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and USDA food safety experts, properly prepared beef is safe to eat and is not a food safety risk to humans.

USDA says genetic sequencing revealed the mystery illness impacting Texas dairies is the same strain of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) that's been in the U.S. The virus is carried by wild waterfowl.

In affected cowherds, the illness impacts nearly 10% of the animals, causing reduced feed consumption and a 10% to 20% decline in milk production. 

While HPAI has been detected in predatory mammals that prey on infected birds, this is the first identified case of HPAI in domestic livestock in the U.S.

Firefighters were dispatched to National Beef's 6,000-head per day facility in Liberal, Kansas, Wednesday evening.

The Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City will honor the late Cliff Becker and Dr. Scott Brown with the group’s prestigious Jay B. Dillingham Award for Agricultural Leadership and Excellence.

U.S. pork exports to Mexico hit the second-highest on record in January, while another major meat processor says it's shutting the doors on another pork processing plant as consolidation concerns continue to grow.

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension photographer Sam Craft was in the Texas Panhandle documenting the aftermath of the largest wildfire in Texas history, and the aid and support for fire victims.

Meat and poultry industry trade groups were quick to criticize USDA's announcement of changes to the Packers and Stockyards Act claiming the changes add unnecessary regulations and costs.

After burning for more than six days, the Smokehouse Creek Fire in the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma was only 15% contained Sunday morning. Drifting sand now poses a threat to rural roads.

Nebraska officials say a mower ignited a wildfire that burned roughly 110 square miles of central Nebraska grasslands.

While the Smokehouse Creek Fire rapidly became the state's largest in history, four other wildfires are burning in the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandle area. (Additional images contained in story.)

Donations of hay, feed, fence supplies, cow feed and milk replacer are needed to support livestock owners impacted by the wildfires that have scorched ranchland across a large portion of the Texas Panhandle.

Devastating wildfires are burning in the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandle region and the Smokehouse Creek Fire has already become the second largest in Texas history, consuming at least three-quarters of a million acres.

A U.S. District Court judge for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division, dismissed a lawsuit filed four years ago against the USDA regarding its decision to increase line speeds at poultry plants.

The laying hen industry shares similar risks to the pork industry regarding disease prevention. Versova's Craig Rowles shares practical examples from the egg industry that could work on your farm.

Need a good one-liner to make your valentine swoon? Try one these tested and true oaths of love featuring the best animal on the farm this Valentine's Day.

Say "I love you" with this tasty treat.

Super Bowl fans in Illinois will be able to cheer on some familiar faces in a commercial during the big game on Sunday. Illinois pork producer Chad Leman says the commercial is all about communicating trust in farmers.

Cattle producers are coming off a year of record prices in 2023 but what is the outlook for the coming year?

In South Dakota, you’ll find a 130-year-old dairy operation that runs on passion, perseverance and a focus on finding the right people. This dynamic trifecta is what makes up the unparalleled culture of MoDak Dairy.

The January 1, 2024, beef cow herd inventory was 28.22 million head, down 2.5 percent year over year and a decrease of 3.47 million head or 10.9 percent lower, from the cyclical peak in 2019.

Oklahoma State's Derrell Peel points out with the U.S. beef cow herd the smallest since 1961 and the all cattle inventory the lowest since 1951, it’s setting the cattle market up for higher highs.

The U.S. cattle report shows all cattle and calves reported at 87.2 million head, 2% below the 88.8 million last year.

Ag tech startup MyAnIML and USDA find first-of-its-kind facial recognition technology successfully analyzes cattle muzzles to predict illness.

While estimates suggest that black vultures are responsible for the loss of thousands of calves every year, as a protected species, the bird may not be killed without a permit.

An average of 17 people in the U.S. die every day waiting for a transplant. More than 100,000 are on a waiting list. After decades of experimenting, many doctors now see potential in genetically modified pig organs.

With another round of frigid temperatures blanketing the U.S. again, what's behind the cold? Here's a hint: it's not El Niño.

Laurenio Vitorino came to America at only 15-years-old. After facing years of hardships and bullying, he found his calling working at a nearby dairy. 34 years later, he continues to bring excellence to the table.

Despite nearly 24 inches of snow, below-zero temperatures and raging winds that some people are affectionately calling “Death Storm #2,” Illinois livestock producers are finding ways to overcome the horrific conditions.