- Extreme volatility in livestock markets is raising red flags across the country, leading the American Farm Bureau to urge the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to leave no stone unturned as they monitor and analyze market activity.
- In a letter sent last week to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, R-CALF USA urged that Congress’ $9.5 billion COVID-19-related appropriations be used to directly assist actual cattle and sheep producers “whose already broken marketplace” has been severely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
- Zoetis announced the acquisition of Performance Livestock Analytics to enhance its animal health solutions across the continuum of care for beef producers.
- Dairy producers now have additional trait insights to help predict potential lifetime profitability. Results from CLARIFIDE® Plus genetic testing for Holsteins and Jerseys now include cow-wellness traits for cow respiratory disease and fertility traits for cow abortion, twinning and cystic ovary. Previously available only for Jerseys, Holsteins now have milk fever available among the cow-wellness trait insights. These new trait insights are in addition to cow-wellness traits for mastitis, lameness, metritis, retained placenta, displaced abomasum and ketosis, and calf-wellness traits for calf livability, respiratory disease and scours. With the availability of more trait insights, Zoetis also has updated the Dairy Wellness Profit Index®, which helps producers predict potential lifetime profit of individual dairy replacements.
- The National Milk Producers Federation and the International Dairy Foods Association sent a set of recommendations to the U.S. Department of Agriculture yesterday urging the Administration to take swift, comprehensive action to support the U.S. dairy industry through the COVID-19 crisis.
- The Animal Agriculture Alliance announced that Casey Kinler has been promoted to director of membership and marketing and will assume this new role on May 1.
