Weekly Livestock-Equine News: March 3, 2025

Researchers at the Canada Food Inspection Agency described their discovery of a mutated H5N1 avian flu strain resistant to the antiviral drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu) on eight chicken farms in British Columbia in October 2024. “The continued circulation of viruses harboring NA-H275Y may necessitate a re-evaluation of influenza treatment strategies in Canada,” they wrote in a research letter in Emerging Microbes & Infections.

Cattle industry’s 2025 priorities are subject of Senate hearing

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association President Buck Wehrbein told the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry on Feb. 26 the steps Congress should take in 2025 to support American farmers, ranchers and public. They included ”passing a Farm Bill, axing the Death Tax, protecting beef in the Dietary Guidelines, rolling back excessive regulations, holding our trade partners accountable, combatting the New World screwworm, and protecting the Beef Checkoff.”

China wants what every country wants – protein

Gregg Doud, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation, recently told Farm Journal that despite tough tariff talk, there are still deals to be made with China. That country’s demand for U.S. agricultural imports has changed since the 2019 negotiations, when its demand for beef, pork, poultry and dairy was “nearly insatiable.” Today, China would “rather import soybeans and corn and make the meal and feed it themselves. But I still think protein is where it’s at, not just in China but around the world.”

Lab-made whole cow milk introduced

Brown Foods, a startup in Boston with backing from accelerator and VC firm Y Combinator, introduced its UnReal Milk lab-made whole cow milk. The cow-free dairy product is designed to match the taste, texture, and nutrition of conventional cow milk while also being transformable into butter, cheese, ice cream and more. The company reports the product contains all the essential dairy proteins, fats and carbohydrates that make up 99% of conventional cow milk.

A new study has revealed that aspirin and meloxicam – simple NSAIDs – can help farmers reduce inflammation and its subsequent adverse effects (including low milk production) when given to cows in the late stages of pregnancy. The research was conducted at Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.