Reuters — Merck & Co. is taking steps to resume sales of its controversial cattle feed additive Zilmax by changing the way the drug is administered, hoping to recapture some market share in the beef industry, where the U.S. herd has the fewest animals in more than 60 years. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration […] Read more
Merck takes steps to return Zilmax to cattle market
U.S. launches task force to tackle antibiotic-resistant bugs
Chicago | Reuters –– The U.S. government will set up a task force and presidential advisory council to tackle the growing threat of antibiotic resistance to national security, setting a Feb. 15 deadline for the outlining of specific steps to be taken, White House advisers said at a press conference Thursday. The White House announced […] Read more
U.S. lawmakers want to curb antibiotic use on farms
Reuters — Two U.S. lawmakers are calling for action to rein in antibiotic use in livestock in response to a Reuters investigation showing how top U.S. poultry firms have been administering drugs to their flocks. U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) said she plans to introduce new legislation authorizing the Food and Drug Administration to collect […] Read more
Farmaceuticals: Poultry firms systematically feed low-dose antibiotics to flocks
Atlanta/Chicago | Reuters — Major U.S. poultry firms are administering antibiotics to their flocks far more pervasively than regulators realize, posing a potential risk to human health. PART 1 OF A SERIES: Visit Part 2 and Part 3 here, or view the series in full HERE. Internal records examined by Reuters reveal that some of […] Read more
Farmaceuticals: Problems at Foster Farms plants emerged amid salmonella outbreak
Livingston, Calif. | Reuters — Sanitation problems at a slaughterhouse can promote the spread of antibiotic-resistant “superbugs,” by allowing dangerous bacteria to remain on meat that is shipped into the food supply. In the poultry industry, salmonella is a particular risk. PART 2 OF A SERIES: Visit Part 1 and Part 3 here, or view […] Read more
Zoetis gets conditional license from USDA for PEDv vaccine
Chicago | Reuters –– Zoetis Inc. has received a conditional license from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for its vaccine against the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) and will begin selling it this month in the U.S., the company said Wednesday. Shares of Zoetis, the world’s largest animal-health company, reached an all-time high of US$36.65 […] Read more
Tyson looks for other pork export markets after China ban
Chicago | Reuters — Tyson Foods plans to find other export markets for its pork products after a recent delivery to China triggered an export ban of half its U.S. hog slaughterhouses, the company told Reuters Friday. The U.S. Agriculture Department announced earlier this week that China was barring future pork imports from six U.S […] Read more
BPI reopens plant as ‘pink slime’ lawsuit proceeds
Chicago | Reuters — Beef Products Inc. will reopen a Kansas processing plant on Monday to boost production of “lean finely textured beef,” which critics call “pink slime,” as wholesale beef prices soar with a shrinking U.S. cattle herd. The reopening of the Garden City, Kansas, plant comes more than two years after it was […] Read more
Panel’s report likely to tie farm antibiotics to human resistance
Reuters — A White House advisory committee is expected to acknowledge the link between antimicrobial resistance in humans and livestock being fed antibiotics when it issues its report in the next few weeks, according to the transcript of a committee meeting held earlier this month. But how much of the public health problem can be […] Read more
Drought sends California cattle to Texas
The beef industry in the U.S. is becoming increasingly mobile as cattle move large distances to feeding and slaughter
Reading Time: 3 minutes For decades, ranchers from the east have brought their livestock to California, where mild winters and lush natural pastures created prime conditions for fattening beef cattle. No more. In the midst of the worst California drought in decades, the grass is stunted and some creeks are dry. Ranchers in the Golden State are loading tens […] Read more
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