Weekly livestock news: April 19, 2021

Groups urge FDA, not USDA, to regulate genetically engineered animals

Thirteen organizations representing animal welfare, public health and environmental interests signed letters urging federal officials to allow the FDA to maintain regulatory authority over genetically engineered food animals, Meat + Poultry reports. Early this year, then-Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue signed a memorandum of understanding with Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir that put most oversight of genetically engineered food animals under USDA control. Perdue, with the support of the National Pork Producers Council, said the agreement leveled the playing field for American pork producers with their global competitors. Opponents of the MOU said it weakened the FDA’s authority to protect public health.

International health agencies urge countries to suspend sale of live wild mammals at markets

The World Health Organization and other international agencies are urging countries to suspend the sale of live wild mammals in food markets, warning they may be the source of more than 70% of emerging infectious diseases in humans. This follows a WHO-led mission to Wuhan, China, to investigate the origin of the new coronavirus. “This is not a new recommendation, but COVID-19 has brought new attention to this threat given the magnitude of its consequences,” said WHO spokesperson Fadela Chaib. Reuters reports.

Mountaire Farms settles pollution lawsuit

More than 3,000 people near a Delaware Mountaire Farms poultry plant are now eligible for their share of a $65 million settlement fund approved by the Delaware Superior Court, the Salisbury Daily Times reports. The class action lawsuit claimed neighbors to the plant suffered property damage and personal injuries as a result of Mountaire’s improper waste disposal practices that violated state and federal regulations. The company also agreed to spend $120 million on upgrades—plus an additional $20 million on operations and maintenance—to bring its wastewater systems into compliance.

Researchers use human health tool to gauge cow well-being

Researchers are using a human medical technique to measure the impact of common diseases on animal well-being. The scientists are using a concept called DALY (disability-adjusted life year), which was developed for use in human medical epidemiology to measure how certain diseases and injuries affect human quality of life. “It is a conceptually challenging way of thinking about a disease, but it allows us to understand the cumulative impact of disease on animal well-being and productivity over the course of a life,” said Craig McConnel, a Washington State University veterinary medicine extension associate professor and lead on the research team. “We currently don’t have effective measures of the lifetime burden of disease for livestock.”

Study looks at animal waste to reduce antibiotic resistance

A new study aims to prevent antibiotic resistance by changing how manure is handled. While manure is an effective crop fertilization method, it can also contribute to the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, said Adina Howe, an assistant professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering at Iowa State University. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria grow in the gut of livestock treated with antibiotics, she said, and those bacteria may end up in manure that’s spread on fields to grow produce eventually fed to humans, allowing the resistant bacteria to spread. Howe’s study will research how this pathway contributes to the rise of antibiotic resistance. It will also investigate possible treatments to eliminate these bacteria from manure, potentially allowing producers to continue using antibiotics even as regulations tighten. Feed Strategy reports.

Lamb sees pandemic bump

Despite an initial industry blow last spring, lamb seems to have fared relatively well through the pandemic, with promise for the future, Bloomberg reports. It’s still a “niche protein” compared to beef, pork and chicken, said Anders Hemphill, vice president of marketing at Colorado-based Superior Farms. But the amount of lamb people eat has been rising in recent years, up from a low of 0.6 pounds per person in 2011. “The pandemic has caused that number to bump up more,” Hemphill said. Part of the increase is due to demand from younger consumers. Another significant factor is growing demand among first-generation Americans from the Middle East and southern Europe, where lamb is more common.