Feedstuffs in Focus

According to the International Feed Industry Federation, the commercial feed manufacturing industry is a nearly half-trillion dollar business globally. In the U.S. alone, according to the American Feed Industry Association, there are more than 5,800 animal food manufacturing facilities producing more than 284 million tons of finished feed and pet food each year.  The past year has presented a seri...

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. consumers spent more than half of their food dollar on what the U.S. Department of Agriculture calls “food away from home;” in other words, on food consumed at restaurants and other foodservice establishments. The pandemic flipped that pattern on its head, with spending on food away from home dropping by more than $32 billion between February and April 2020. In...

Tyson Foods is one of the world’s largest food companies. With a massive global footprint and millions of animals in production, the company has taken an increased look at animal welfare with a scientific approach to figuring out ways to improve animal health and wellbeing. Recently, the company’s animal welfare research team embarked on a study that leveraged animal preference to test which envir...

Welcome to this episode of Feedstuffs Swine Healthline, brought to you by Pharmgate Animal Health and focused on Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae. M. hyo doesn’t have to be a part of pig production anymore. As we hear in this episode, elimination programs can be a cost-effective solution versus controlling this troublesome pathogen.  Our guest is Dr. Amy Maschhoff, DVM, associate director of health for Th...

On the heels of passing a $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill, the Biden Administration released details of a $2 trillion infrastructure initiative that would make massive investments in roads, bridges, inland waterways, rural broadband and other key pieces of the nation’s logistics and utilities grid of importance to agriculture. But will the nature of partisan Washington politics get in the way of g...

The emergence of plant-based proteins and other would-be meat alternatives has many in the traditional animal protein industries concerned about losing market share among U.S. consumers. But what does the data actually tell us? How many consumers are willing to pay the premium price many plant-based proteins currently command at retail? In this episode we talk with Glynn Tonsor, a leading agricult...

Infrastructure – namely, the ability to quickly and efficiently transport commodities and other goods – has been a competitive advantage for a number of U.S. industries, especially agriculture. From our inland waterways to our extensive network of highways, the U.S. farmer, livestock producer and agribusiness professional has benefited for centuries from the best overall logistics infrastructure i...

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae has a complex interaction with a pig’s  immune system. Understanding this response is essential to recognizing the pathogen’s role in respiratory disease, as well as treatment and prevention decisions. Welcome to the third of four episodes of Feedstuffs Swine Healthline, brought to you by Pharmgate Animal Health and focused on  Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae . Our guest is Dr. D...

For those who spend too much time online, it may seem that farmers are frequently under the gun for a range of issues, from greenhouse gas emissions to GMOs. But despite the occasional hue and cry from some quarters, recent survey data suggests that the average consumer actually holds the U.S. farmer in relatively high regard. In this episode we talk with one of the leaders at the United Soybean B...

Recent headlines have suggested that food prices are rising faster than inflation or incomes, prompting concerns that consumers struggling through a pandemic-racked economy may be spending more of their dollars to feed their families. But what is the data really saying – are we talking about retail grocery prices, food consumed away from home, or simply about rising commodity prices? In this episo...

Accurate detection of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae infection in live pigs is critical for timely disease control, but it is challenging. New, practical tools that improve upon or complement existing diagnostics can make a difference.  Our guest is Dr. Maria Pieters, a faculty member with the Veterinary Population Medicine Department and the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at the College of Veterinary...

At first glance, Donald Trump would not have appeared to be the type of politician rural Americans would identify with; a lifelong New York real estate developer, born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth, and with essentially zero experience dealing with agriculture or other issues of importance to those of us who live in “flyover country.” And yet, for the past four years the former Pre...

You know that Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae is a primary pathogen in swine respiratory disease (SRD) complexes and a gateway to endemic health challenges.  Jordi Mora of ECO Animal Health explains the impacts of M. hyo and swine respiratory disease in modern finishing operations and what swine health professionals can do to prepare for continuing challenges. This podcast is brought to you by Pharmgate...

Technology drives so much of the modern economy. From app-based food ordering to online banking to the idea that someday we may be ferried about in autonomous vehicles, our lives are increasingly aided or driven by technological advancement. What about livestock production? Are food animal producers keeping pace with the developments in automation, innovation, big data or artificial intelligence?...

Winter Storm Uri, the latest in a series of winter storms this month, pummeled much of the Heartland, from deep into Texas on through the High Plains and across the Midwest. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, more than 73% of the Lower 48 states was covered in snow by Wednesday — the largest snowcover for a single day since NOAA began tracking this data in 2003. With...

Last year was a record-setting year for U.S. pork exports. Sales abroad in 2020 were up 11% by volume and value increased 11% compared to 2019, according to recent data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation. From January to December, 6.56 billion pounds of U.S. pork and pork variety meat, valued at $7.7 billion, were exported globally...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported last week that beef cattle inventories were slightly smaller than a year ago, but given long-term market trends, there may yet be too many cows producing too many calves to keep producers profitable over the long haul. Couple that with rising feed costs and a shifting policy situation in Washington, and it’s an interesting time — to put it mildly — to be...

When you go to the grocery store, why do you buy what you buy? Are you most concerned with price, with a product’s taste or appearance, or are you more interested in its impact on your body and the environment? And has the importance you place on those attributes shifted over the past 10 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic? In this episode we talk with a University of Illinois economist who recent...

Initial research in the U.S. on African swine fever started in the 1970s when the viral disease was spreading through Spain and Portugal. In the 1990s, USDA’s Agricultural Research Service started looking for a vaccine. After years of work, sometimes was a bit sporadic due to funding, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced that it has a new vaccine for African swine fever that is he...

Now two decades into the “new” millennium, there is little question the livestock industry has changed, and continues to grow and evolve as time goes by. While technological improvements get a great deal of attention, one nutritionist says the evolution of genetics over the past 10 years has radically changed the way the swine industry feeds, houses and manages the modern hog. In this episode we t...

A new year, a new way of communicating, and a new benefit to Feedstuffs  subscribers: Feedstuffs 365 , a new virtual community and events platform for the feed and livestock industry, launches later this month. In addition to delivering live, interactive presentations and discussions on the day’s leading news and technical information, the new service also includes a new, more in-depth look at fee...

When it comes to imported feed ingredients, it is important for feed manufacturers and livestock producers to have as much information as possible related to that ingredient and its origin. At stake is the health of our nation’s herds as unapproved ingredients can introduce significant disease risks.  Unlike in Canada and now in Australia, the U.S. lacks any requirement that a supplier or trader c...

While the world has been focused on dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, a small but diverse group of members of the food supply chain gathered to evaluate if there are enough shared goals and beliefs on climate policy to speak on the issue with a unified voice for agriculture. In the past, climate legislation has failed in the U.S. in no small measure because the agriculture and forestry industrie...

In 1987, when Congress voted to keep the Farm Credit System going with an infusion of funds, a contingency was that each of the system institutions needed to have a young, beginner and small farmer program. With the average age of the U.S. farmer pegged at 57.5 years, that young, beginner and small farmer program is a particular focus of the current chairman of the Farm Credit Administration. In t...

U.S. pork exports to China skyrocketed in 2020 as African swine fever (ASF) eroded two-thirds of China’s hog herd and drove local hog prices to record highs. A new report from CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange notes that exports to greater China now accounts for nearly 8% of U.S. pork production, compared to just 2% in 2018. However, the report also suggests that as China makes progress rebuilding its h...