Weekly livestock news: April 20, 2020

Federal government plans to spend $15.5B to buy surplus farm goods

The Trump administration plans to buy milk and meat from U.S. farmers as part of an initial $15.5 billion effort to help them deal with the effects of the coronavirus outbreak, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said. “We want to purchase as much of this milk, or other protein products, hams and pork products, and move them into where they can be utilized in our food banks, or possibly even into international humanitarian aid,” Perdue said in an interview on Fox Business Network. The farm industry has been calling on the government to purchase their goods to bring them to market amid supply chain disruptions that have forced some farmers to throw out supplies, according to Reuters.

Coronavirus could mean a $20B drop in farm income this year: study

Crop and livestock prices could fall as much as 12% this year due to the coronavirus, new research shows. The decline could pull farm income down by $20 billion, according to the research from the University of Missouri Food & Agricultural Policy Research Institute. Farm sector losses could be offset by federal relief, said FAPRI director Pat Westhoff, though it’s still unclear how new aid announced by the Trump administration will be used. When the estimated $32 billion drop in crop and livestock income is combined with factors like lower production costs and more farm subsidies, the sector stands to see about $86 billion in 2020 net farm income—$20 billion, or 19%, less than FAPRI’s original estimate, Successful Farming reports. Livestock income is estimated to drop more than crops, with livestock prices forecast to fall 8-12% and crop prices 5-10%, FAPRI’s estimates show.

Federal agencies to ease some H-2A requirements

Federal agencies announced the easing of some restrictions on foreign guest workers to ensure the agriculture industry has an adequate labor supply, Meat + Poultry reports. “Under this temporary final rule, an H-2A petitioner with a valid temporary labor certification who is concerned that workers will be unable to enter the country due to travel restrictions can start employing certain foreign workers who are currently in H-2A status in the United States immediately after United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) receives the H-2A petition, but no earlier than the start date of employment listed on the petition,” according to the Department of Homeland Security. “To take advantage of this time-limited change in regulatory requirements, the H-2A worker seeking to change employers must already be in the United States and in valid H-2A status.”

Elanco Animal Health submits form to EU for approval of Bayer acquisition

Elanco Animal Health submitted a key document to European regulators as it seeks approval for its acquisition of Bayer’s animal health business. The company submitted its Form CO, which “triggers the start of the statutory period for the [European Commission’s] review and approval of the transaction,” according to the announcement. The commission will now have until June 8 to make its decision. “Despite these unprecedented conditions created by the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to be on track with our original mid-2020 closing time” for the acquisition, said Elanco CEO Jeff Simmons.

Antitrust concerns cloud DFA’s purchase of Dean’s assets

While Dean Foods and Dairy Farmers of America agreed on a sale, the deal has yet to be approved in court, and some farmers are wary of the deal, Food Dive reports. “If it continues on the path it is on, it’s a death knell for the independent family farm in the United States,” said one farmer. Federal antitrust regulators have reportedly been probing the potential agreement for months. The Justice Department’s antitrust division wrote to Dean’s unsecured creditors in March saying a deal with DFA “appears to pose a serious risk of anticompetitive harm.” The department also wrote that “DFA has shown little willingness to engage or fully acknowledge the significant antitrust concerns posed by this transaction.” The department filed a limited objection before the court approved the deal, asking the bankruptcy judge to ensure the sale doesn’t affect “non-bankruptcy laws.”

Poultry industry scrambles to respond to South Carolina bird flu outbreak

An infectious and fatal strain of bird flu has been confirmed in a commercial turkey flock in South Carolina. This is the first case of the more serious strain of the disease in the United States since 2017 and a concerning development for the poultry industry, the Associated Press reports. The high pathogenic case was found at a Chesterton County operation. In 2015, an estimated 50 million poultry had to be killed at operations, mainly in the Upper Midwest, after infections spread throughout the region. The current outbreak, first discovered April 6, killed 1,583 birds, and the remaining 32,577 birds in the flock were euthanized, according to a report. “Yes, it’s concerning when we see cases, but we are prepared to respond very quickly and that was done in this case,” said Lyndsay Cole, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.