Weekly livestock news: March 4, 2024

Cattle surviving Texas wildfires need immediate care

Cattle owners assessing land and livestock following wildfires across the Texas Panhandle and in parts of East Texas must carefully examine their animals to determine next steps, said Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service experts. First, they must attempt to move cattle out of the path of fire. Some affected cattle, particularly cattle with scorched hooves, may not begin to show signs or symptoms for days to weeks following the fire. It’s important to pay close attention to extremities, particularly hooves, udders, testicles, sheaths and soft tissues such as eyes and muzzles. A veterinarian should be consulted as soon as possible for help diagnosing issues and developing a strategy to treat burns and injuries, manage pain and provide a recovery prognosis. Cattle with a low likelihood of recovery should be critically analyzed due to the extent of their injuries and mobility, Texas A&M reports.

Most veterinarians are women, but they still face sexism in rural areas

Nearly 70% of veterinarians in 2023 were women, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges reports 83% of the veterinary medical class of 2027 are women. Still, some female practitioners in rural areas continue to face discrimination and pay gaps—problems the industry will need to overcome to fill a shortage of animal care in those communities. Experts say rural veterinary spaces are still largely dominated by men. “Those practices tend to be smaller, much more isolated and tend to be more geared towards working with farmers and ranchers,” Clint Neill, a veterinary economist at Applied Economics Consulting, told KCUR. Neill said farming and ranching is a male-dominated field, and as a result, women veterinarians are unlikely to locate in rural practices and even less likely to own them.

Gene-edited, PRRS-resistant pigs move closer to U.S. market

Genus plc, a U.K. company, has engineered several commercial breeds of pigs to be resistant to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, which has spread worldwide and costs the pork industry an estimated $2.7 billion annually. PRRS kills nearly all the suckling pigs it infects and weakens older ones as well. Genus hopes that by the end of 2024, the FDA will formally approve the company’s gene-edited pigs for widespread human consumption, a first for a gene-edited animal. Scientists at the company modified animals in four lines of pigs that are used in commercial production of pork by doing a CRISPR edit in early embryos that are transferred into gilts, and then doing further breeding of the progeny. The FDA has so far formally approved two genetically modified food animals, but neither is widely consumed, Science reports.

NY attorney general sues JBS for ‘fraudulent’ marketing around climate change

New York state Attorney General Letitia James sued JBS in state court for allegedly misleading the public about a pledge the company made to cut its climate pollution in the coming decade, NPR reports. Prosecutors said JBS continued making deceptive marketing claims even after a consumer watchdog group recommended the company stop advertising because it didn’t have a strategy to achieve its climate target. Prosecutors added that even if JBS had developed a plan, it couldn’t “feasibly” deliver on its climate commitment. The state said there aren’t proven ways right now to zero out agriculture emissions at the scale of JBS’ operations, and offsetting the company’s emissions with things like carbon credits “would be a costly undertaking of an unprecedented degree.” Prosecutors want to force JBS to stop making “fraudulent and illegal” marketing claims about its climate efforts.

Fear Free expands to farm animal well-being

Fear Free has rebranded itself as it aims to apply the principles of physical and emotional well-being to farm animals such as cattle, chickens and swine, fellow NAVC publication Today’s Veterinary Business reports. “Working with Dr. Temple Grandin, Fear Free is in the very early stages of engaging with food animal veterinarians, producers, manufacturers and retailers about improving the lives of animals used for food and fiber, from birth to earth,” said company founder Dr. Marty Becker.

Merck Animal Health awards $50,000 in scholarships to future swine veterinarians

Merck Animal Health, in partnership with the American Association of Swine Veterinarians Foundation, is sponsoring the 2024 recipients of the Veterinary Student Scholarship Program. Scholarships totaling $50,000 were awarded to 10 veterinary students for 2024. Recipients were announced at the 55^th AASV Annual Meeting in Nashville. Second- and third-year students enrolled in AVMA-accredited or recognized colleges of veterinary medicine in the United States, Canada, Mexico, South America and the Caribbean Islands are eligible for the scholarship.