- Registration is now open for the 2021 World Pork Expo presented by the National Pork Producers Council. Pork producers and other industry professionals will gather for three days of networking, education and innovation on June 9-11 at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. Attendees, media and exhibitors can register by visiting the World Pork Expo website.
- Dr. Lon Whitlow, professor emeritus, NC State University, leads a webinar titled “An Introduction to Mold and Mycotoxins: Toxic Effects and Preventative Management” to provide producers with mold and mycotoxins identification, prevention and treatment techniques. The webinar is available for free at Phibro Academy, Phibro Animal Health Corporation’s digital information platform, and can be accessed here: https://academy.pahc.com/catalog/info/id:349.
- Select Sires and the J. R. Simplot Company’s Animal Sciences division are pleased to announce Simplot’s SimVitro® HerdFlex™-branded beef embryos are now available through all Select Sires member cooperatives nationwide.
- At its March board meeting, the FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative Board of Directors reviewed approved policies and identified this year’s top priorities. During the cooperative’s ninth annual meeting held on February 12, cooperative delegates approved new policy in several key areas, including federal milk order reform, international trade policy, incentive programs, and commodity advertising, research, and promotion programs. Policies adopted at the meeting guide the legislative agenda for the cooperative in the year ahead.
- Cattle producers are encouraged to submit their best calving season photos to the company’s Calving Season Sweepstakes for a chance at daily prizes to help power through the calving season. Zoetis is asking cow/calf producers to enter the sweepstakes at CalvingSeason.com by submitting pictures of their calves. All calving photos are welcome, whether it’s late-night shots from the barn, kids helping with the new animals, cows with baby calves, or producers simply caring for their calves by bottle-feeding or wrapping them in blankets. Every qualifying photo submitted to CalvingSeason.com through May 21, 2021, will earn entry into the sweepstakes. There is a limit of one photo submission per day during the sweepstakes. Zoetis will draw daily winners to receive a prize package consisting of a Zoetis-branded cooler full of helpful things to get through calving season, with an approximate retail value of $225.
- Americans are buying more beef, pork, poultry, and lamb than ever as increased time at home during the pandemic sent meat grocery sales soaring by 20% from 2019 to 2020. The national analysis shows that three out of every four Americans agree meat belongs in healthy, balanced diets (up by nearly 20% since 2020), and 94% say they buy meat because it provides high-quality protein.
- Michael Dykes, D.V.M., president and CEO of the International Dairy Foods Association, gave video comments to the U.S. Department of Agriculture on a food purchase and distribution program to succeed the Farmers to Families Food Box Program created in 2020. In the three minutes allotted to him, Dykes advocated for dairy products to remain a primary component of USDA’s food purchase program for their unparalleled health benefits, and he provided recommendations to the department on crafting a program that does not distort dairy markets.
