Animal Ag News 7/15

USDA launched a new, modernized Midwestern Food Safety Laboratory in St. Louis this week to bolster USDA’s efforts to combat foodborne illness. This better positions USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), which is responsible for ensuring meat, poultry, and egg products are safe, wholesome, and properly labeled, to protect the nation’s food supply. FSIS will continue to work in close collaboration with partners like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ensure the safety of the entire food supply chain.

The American Farm Bureau Federation has extended its deadline until July 25 for farmers to submit nominations for the 2026 Farm Bureau Farm Dog of the Year contest, which comes with cash prizes and bragging rights. This is the eighth year of the contest, supported by Nestlé Purina PetCare, which celebrates farm dogs and the many ways they support farmers and ranchers.

Creekstone Farms has promoted Andrew Baltz, current Senior Vice President and General Manager, to the role of Chief Operating Officer (COO). In his new role, Baltz will drive productivity and automation across plant operations, expanding the production of value-added products and future industry offerings. Prior to joining Creekstone Farms in 2024, Baltz held several leadership positions within Tyson Foods including Director of Engineering and Director of Automation.

USPOULTRY is offering to its members a first-of-its-kind Sanitation Safety for the Poultry Industry certification program designed for workers across all parts of the poultry industry. The goal of the certification program is to provide safe and sanitized working conditions to produce poultry products. Developed and reviewed by a team of industry specialists and Georgia Tech Safety, Health and Environmental Services professionals, the training offers a third-party certification to cover sanitation safety.

Cattle producers from across the country were recognized during the industry’s Summer Business Meeting in San Diego through the 2025 Environmental Stewardship Award Program (ESAP). Regional award recipients were honored for their commitment to conservation and stewardship. The national winner will be announced during CattleCon 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee, in February. The 2025 ESAP Regional winners are:
Region I: Whispering Hills Farm, Lawrenceburg, Kentucky; Region II: M&D Overstreet Ranch, Kathleen, Florida; Region III: Smith Family Farms, Bankston, Iowa; Region IV: McFaddin Ranch, Victoria, Texas; Region V: G&G Livestock and Cathey Cattle Company, Polson, Montana; and Region VII: Wine Glass Ranch, Imperial, Nebraska

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins congratulates the dairy industry’s commitment to eliminate artificial food dyes from their ice creams. This is a voluntary, proactive pledge to eliminate the use of Red 3, Red 40, Green 3, Blue 1, Blue 2, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 from ice cream and other frozen dairy desserts by 2028. Rollins joined leaders from the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary, and others at the USDA headquarters in Washington to announce the Commitment and participate in a special celebration of ice cream, where crowds enjoyed complimentary ice cream in recognition of National Ice Cream Day occurring on Sunday, July 20.

With a new reported case of New World Screwworm (NWS) in Ixhuatlan de Madero, Veracruz in Mexico last week Secretary Rollins ordered the closure of livestock trade through southern ports of entry effective immediately just days after it had been reopened. The new case in northern Veracruz indicates screwworm has traveled 160 miles northward of the location where sterile flies are currently being dropped. As the screwworm continues to move north through Mexico the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) urges USDA to immediately begin work on a sterile fly facility in the United States.

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