- U.S. Poultry & Egg Association is now accepting nominations for the 2021 Family Farm Environmental Excellence Award. The award recognizes exemplary environmental stewardship by family farmers engaged in poultry and egg production. Those eligible for the award include any family-owned poultry grower or egg producer supplying product to a USPOULTRY member or an independent producer who is a USPOULTRY member. Nominations are due Oct. 31.
- The Holstein Association USA 2020 Distinguished Leadership Award honoree is Patricia Gifford of Groton, N.Y. This award recognizes an individual who has made a career of providing outstanding and unselfish leadership for the betterment of the dairy industry.
- As of June 1, there were 79.6 million hogs and pigs on U.S. farms, up 5 percent from June 2019, and up 3 percent from March 1, 2020, according to the Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.
- The American Feed Industry Association has opened registration for its popular biennial Feed Industry Institute, which will be offered in a self-paced, virtual learning environment over a span of a few weeks later this summer. The conference, which kicks off Aug. 17 and culminates on Sept. 23, brings together industry newcomers to learn the fundamentals of the animal food manufacturing process – from the types of ingredients used to the animals served to federal policies that shape the output of the industry.
- The National Pork Producers Council strongly supports legislation being discussed during a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing that creates important elements needed to support a private carbon credit offset market. The bill would reward the valuable current and future contributions by pork producers and other sectors of agriculture to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Growing Climate Solutions Act, introduced by Sens. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), would direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture to create a program to provide transparency, legitimacy and informal endorsement of third-party verifiers and technical service providers that help private landowners generate carbon credits through a variety of agriculture and forestry related practices.
- The economic disruption impacting nearly all sectors of the U.S. bison business far exceeds the threshold required to qualify bison producers for assistance being offered to agriculture through USDA’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, according to formal comments that the National Bison Association filed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
