Hypor, the swine breeding business of Hendrix Genetics, will join a research alliance to end surgical castrations of male piglets. The alliance, announced on January 3, 2018 by Recombinetics and DNA Genetics, is developing a precision breeding technology that results in male piglets born naturally castrated.- The National Milk Producers Federation April Dairy Market Report shows the U.S. average all-milk price lost a total of $2.80/cwt. in three roughly equal drops from November 2017 through this past February. Total U.S. milk production was up by 1.6 percent from a year earlier during the three months of December 2017 through February 2018, while estimated total U.S. production of milk solids rose by 2 percent during the same period. The monthly margin under the dairy Margin Protection Program (MPP) for February 2018 was $6.88/cwt. It was the third month in a row during which the MPP margin was down more than $1.00/cwt. from the previous month.
- Rural, small-scale farmers in four states in Southern Mexico will soon gain market access to a large-scale consumer base in a new groundbreaking project. This initiative will provide economic stability to communities in need, while meeting growing market demand for high-quality, sustainably sourced food. The two-year project, “Rural Entrepreneurs: Connecting Field to Table” is led by the nonprofit Heifer International and made possible by a grant from Walmart Foundation.
- The American Hereford Association introduces the Maternal Advantage program – a genetically verified program that will be used to identify premium replacement females. This new female-focused program is designed to take advantage of hybrid vigor by capitalizing on Hereford genetics.
- Zoetis kicked off the #MyVetIsCore Sweepstakes, a new online sweepstakes that invites horse owners to express their appreciation for their veterinarian. Until May 22, 2018, horse owners can visit MyVetIsCore.com to enter for a chance to win weekly prizes as well as a grand prize of a $1,000 gift card to the equine veterinarian or tack store of their choice. Additionally, the grand-prize winner’s veterinarian will come away with a one-year membership to American Association of Equine Practitioners.
- An upcoming free CattleFax webinar will provide an outlook for the cow-calf and entire beef industry for the remainder of 2018. The CattleFax Trends+ Cow-Calf Webinar will be held May 23, 2018 at 5:30 p.m. MT. To participate in the webinar and access program details, producers and industry leaders should register online at https://www.cattlefax.com/#!/about.
