- At Pork Forum, delegates approved a change in the mandatory Pork Checkoff rate. The current rate of $0.40/$100 value per live animal will change to $0.35/$100 effective Jan.1, 2023. This represents a 12.5% reduction in the Checkoff rate.
- For his 40 years serving U.S. pork producers, including 20 years as CEO of the National Pork Producers Council and his dedication and countless contributions to the pork industry, Neil Dierks was inducted into the National Pork Industry Hall of Fame at NPPC’s annual business meeting — the National Pork Industry Forum.
- The National Pork Producers Council has hired Dr. Anna Forseth for the newly created position of director of animal health. She will focus on foreign animal disease prevention and preparedness, as well as antibiotic use and resistance issues.
- The Senate passed the Fiscal Year 2022 Omnibus Appropriations package. In addition to providing funding for a number of programs of importance to U.S. beef cattle producers, the bill also maintained key provisions the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association has long advocated for, such as the Electronic Logging Device exemption for livestock haulers, important EPA regulatory relief, and an extension of the Livestock Mandatory Reporting program. Also included in the package is a Cattle Contract Library pilot program, a critical tool as NCBA works to increase market transparency for cattle producers.
- The National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program released its 2021 Year in Review highlighting new initiatives and program area advancements.
- Dairy Management Inc. CEO Barbara O’Brien provided an overview of four “bold moves” the checkoff has made with farmer and importer directors representing DMI, United Dairy Industry Association and National Dairy Promotion and Research Board at their recent meeting in San Antonio, Texas. O’Brien, who assumed the CEO position in October, spent the last four months gathering input from hundreds of farmers and other stakeholders about the checkoff’s vision and strategy.
- In response to the introductions of Senate Bills 2716 and 949, R-CALF USA issued an in-depth guide for U.S. cattle producers and consumers to influence the timely enactment of the two key pieces of legislation – the “MCOOL and 50/14 Toolkit”.
- Kynetec, the global leader in market and customer insights in Agriculture and Animal Health, is delighted to announce that Paul Walker has joined the company’s Executive Committee as Chief Operating Officer for Crop Market and Customer Insights.
