Livestock

Programs Provide Timely Disaster Assistance for Livestock Losses

WASHINGTON, Jan. 7, 2010 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said today that USDA has already made more than $175 million in disaster payments to America's livestock producers after implementing two new programs in 2009, demonstrating USDA's commitment to rapidly meeting the goals of Congress and providing farmers and ranchers with timely and effective disaster assistance.    » read more »

October 14, 2009 -- WASHINGTON -- The United States has reached a settlement with ranchers in a longstanding dispute over livestock trespasses on public lands in Nye and Esmeralda Counties, Nev., the Justice Department and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced today.

As part of the settlement, Benjamin J. Colvin and Colvin Cattle Company acknowledged past unauthorized grazing on federal government lands and agreed to comply with federal grazing laws and regulations in the future.    » read more »

October 14, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Tom Harkin (D–IA) lauded today’s unveiling of the Green Plains Renewable Energy Algae Project in Shenandoah. The project has been working on new technologies to grow algae for the purpose of producing biodiesel and feed for livestock.    » read more »

Warns of Continuing Food Safety Issues

October 7, 2009 -- Congresswoman Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY), chair of the House Rules Committee, today spoke on the House floor to encourage members to support her legislation ending the overuse of antibiotics for livestock. Slaughter’s also warned that American farmers risk losing access to overseas markets unless we can reassure other countries that our agriculture products are safe.

Below is a copy of her remarks, delivered on the House floor this morning during the debate on the Agriculture Appropriations conference report:    » read more »

May 6, 2009 -- CHEYENNE, Wyo. – The Governors of Idaho and Wyoming expressed their concern to the U.S. Department of Agriculture on what they say is an “ill-conceived and hastily contrived” approach to eliminate brucellosis.

Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter of Idaho and Gov. Dave Freudenthal of Wyoming wrote to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack regarding the proposed National Brucellosis Elimination Zone (NBEZ), which they say would further impede the progress of disease eradication.    » read more »

Washington, DC - 03/17/2009 - Nearly one year after the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production released its landmark recommendations on how America should reform the way food animals are raised, U.S. Representative Louise Slaughter today introduced the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act of 2009 (PAMTA). The bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to withdraw the use of seven classes of antibiotics vitally important to human health from use on factory farms unless animals or herds are sick with disease.    » read more »

Legislation Would Protect Critical Antibiotics for Human and Animal Medicine

WASHINGTON (March 17, 2009) — Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) introduced legislation today that would curtail the overuse of antibiotics in food animal production and help protect the efficacy of the small number of existing, lifesaving antibiotics. More than 350 groups have endorsed the legislation, including the American Medical Association.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, March 14, 2009 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced a final rule to amend the federal meat inspection regulations to require a complete ban on the slaughter of cattle that become non-ambulatory disabled after passing initial inspection by Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) inspection program personnel.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, March 13, 2009 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that the U. S. Department of Agriculture has issued a conditional license to Epitopix, LLC, of Willmar, Minn., for a vaccine to reduce the prevalence of E. coli O157 in feedlot cattle.

"Providing the American people with safe and nutritious food is a top priority for President Obama and the U.S. Department of Agriculture," Vilsack said. "The conditional licensing of this vaccine is an important step toward our goal of improving food safety in this country."    » read more »

14 September 2007 -- British authorities have confirmed the discovery of a case of foot and mouth disease at a second farm west of London just days after the latest outbreak was announced.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), in a statement Friday, said cattle on a farm adjacent to the previous infection site have tested positive for the disease.

Authorities had gathered the animals for slaughter, suspecting they could also be infected.    » read more »

Health officials encourage taking precautions

September 12, 2007 -- LANSING - The Michigan Departments of Community Health (MDCH) and Agriculture (MDA) today received confirmation from the Michigan State University (MSU) Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health (DCPAH) that a yearling Quarter Horse from Cass County tested positive for the Mosquito-borne disease, Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE). The young stallion was demonstrating neurological signs associated with EEE and was humanely euthanized. This is the second case of EEE in a Michigan horse this year.    » read more »

August 29, 2007 -- (Ayr, NE) Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman and Agriculture Director Greg Ibach announced the official designation of Adams County as a Livestock Friendly County in Nebraska. The declaration is determined under a state program coordinated by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA).

Adams County joins Webster County, Morrill, Hitchcock, Keith Dawes and Wayne Counties in being certified as Livestock Friendly. The announcement was made at the Paul and Patty Berger Feedlot, located south of Hastings.    » read more »

Cases of human brain-wasting disease often confused and misreported as BSE, more commonly referred to as Mad Cow Disease

August 21, 2007 -- SPRINGFIELD – Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) officials report today there are no confirmed or suspected cases of a type of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in Illinois, commonly referred to as human mad cow disease. CJD is a rare, fatal brain disorder that causes mental deterioration and a variety of neurological symptoms, which usually leads to death within a year of onset.    » read more »

August 15, 2007 -- (Lincoln, NE) Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman and Agriculture Director Greg Ibach announced the official designation of Wayne County as the sixth Livestock Friendly County in Nebraska under a state program coordinated by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA).

Wayne County joins Morrill, Hitchcock, Webster, Keith, and Dawes Counties, which have been certified as Livestock Friendly.    » read more »

New Bush appointee says public lands no longer protected by landmark law

WASHINGTON, DC (August 14, 2007) – A decision just released by the new director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) means that countless potentially harmful projects involving oil and gas exploration, logging and grazing on public lands are no longer subject to a key federal law that protects our nation’s natural resources, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).    » read more »