This morning U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, along with Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, presented a proclamation signed by President Trump naming the first day of spring National Ag Day. Cindy was attending and will have more to add later today. The photo is courtesy of @SecretarySonny‘s Twitter account! Also pictured with the proclamation is Spencer Flood, Minnesota FFA. This …
SMART Farmer Leon Sheets
In this episode of the SMART Farmer podcast, we hear from America’s Pig Farmer of the Year, Leon Sheets, who raises 33,000 pigs a year in northeast Iowa along with his wife and son. SMART Farmer podcast listeners may remember that we interviewed last year’s Pig Farmer of the Year Brad Greenway from South Dakota, who also serves as chairman …
Animal Ag Bites 3/19
The Dairy Alliance‘s Global Dairy Summit convened state agriculture officials, industry stakeholders and thought leaders from across the Southeast to rally around a plan to reverse the dire economic circumstances facing the 2,000 local, family-owned farms in the Southeast. Since 2010, the U.S. has lost nearly a quarter of its dairy farms nationwide, and the situation is even worse in …
Lucky Alltech KEENAN Great Green Getaway Winners
For three U.S. dairy producers, the luck of the Irish was on their side when their names were selected in a live, random drawing at the 2017 World Dairy Expo for the Alltech KEENAN Great Green Getaway. Hank and Joanne Greisen of Wisconsin; Mary and Mike Van Rossum of Wisconsin and Ashley Ervin, her mother and twin sister, have all …
Cabinet Members Testify on Infrastructure Needs
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and four other cabinet members testified this week before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing entitled “Rebuilding Infrastructure in America: Administration Perspectives.” Secretary Perdue was joined by Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Department of Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, and Department of Energy Secretary Rick Perry. …
Outsmarting the PRRS Virus
The 2018 Aptimmune Scientific Symposium focused on the success of the Barricade vaccine for porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), which was introduced in 2017. “PRRS is a daunting challenge and a difficult vaccine to not only develop but also manage in the production world,” said Dr. Bob Nordgren, chairman of the board for Aptimmune. “For 20 years, we’ve come …
Aptimmune Vaccines Gaining Popularity
Aptimmune is looking to grow its presence in the swine vaccine market with the success of Barricade for porcine reproductive & respiratory syndrome (PRRS). “It’s kind of an exciting time because we launched the product over a year ago and we’ve got customers that are using the product, evaluating it in a number of trials,” said Steve Berger, director of …
Aptimmune Shares Barricade Vaccine Field Data
In the year since Aptimmune launched the Barricade vaccine to fight porcine reproductive & respiratory syndrome (PRRS), the company has been gathering field data from 30 different veterinarians in 12 different states. “We’ve been able to see a 50 percent reduction in mortality across the board, so it’s been very rewarding,” said Dr. Jessica Seate, professional service veterinarian for Aptimmune. …
Animal Ag Bites 3/12
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has announced the appointment of 11 members and 10 alternates to serve on the American Egg Board. More information about the board is available on the American Egg Board website. Under an export certificate recently negotiated between the two countries, the United States now can ship pork to Paraguay. While the South American country …
USFRA Launches engAGe App to Help Advocate Online
In in a proactive effort to bring farmers and ranchers into the mainstream conversation about food and ag-related issues, U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance® (USFRA) has launched engAGe – a new app to give farmers, ranchers and advocates a turnkey tool in sharing their story on social media. This platform allows users to easily stay abreast of current news in …