Livestock News for July 15

Plant-based meat company sues Mississippi over state labeling law

According to a Food Dive report, Upton’s Naturals, a Chicago-based maker of plant-based meat alternatives, and the Plant Based Foods Association have sued Mississippi state officials over the state’s new law banning plant-based or cell-cultured products from being labeled as meat or a meat food product. The complaint was filed in federal court on July 1, the day the law went into effect. The plaintiffs claim the law violates their First Amendment rights and that terms like “vegan burgers,” “vegan bacon” and “vegan chorizo” are not misleading for customers. fooddive.com

Elanco and AgBiome to collaborate on swine nutritional health

Feedstuffs reported that Elanco Animal Health announced a new research and development collaboration with crop science company AgBiome Inc. to develop nutritional health products for swine. According to Elanco, the partnership will leverage AgBiome’s proprietary strain identification system and provide Elanco with access to AgBiome’s extensive and growing collection of bacteria, virus and fungus strains. The collaboration will combine AgBiome’s success in crop science with Elanco’s animal health expertise, Elanco’s announcement said. feedstuffs.com

Evonik, Perdue Agribusiness form partnership

World-Grain reported that Evonik announced it will begin working with Perdue AgriBusiness to market its probiotic GutCare, which helps balance intestinal microbial populations in the gut of poultry species and other monogastric animals. The agreement for the U.S. market starts a close technical cooperation between the two companies, and commercial activities are expected to begin immediately. world-grain.com

USDA begins issuing payments under the Dairy Margin Coverage program

According to Dairy Herd Management, USDA announced the Farm Service Agency began issuing payments under the Dairy Margin Coverage program. To date, nearly 10,000 operations have signed up for the new program, and FSA has begun paying approximately $100 million to producers for January through May. “Times have been especially tough for dairy farmers, and while we hope producers’ margins will increase, the Dairy Margin Coverage program is providing support at a critical time for many in the industry,” said Bill Northey, USDA Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation. “With lower premiums and higher levels of assistance than previous programs, DMC is already proving to be a good option for a lot of dairy producers across the country.  USDA is committed to efficiently implementing the safety net programs in the 2018 Farm Bill and helping producers deal with the challenges of the ever-changing farm economy.”