Weekly livestock and equine news: July 26, 2021

France bans crushing and gassing of male chicks beginning in 2022

France next year will begin banning the killing of male chicks by crushing or gassing, a practice animal welfare groups have called barbaric, Reuters reports. The country will push for a similar measure at the European level, Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie said. Each year, 50 million male chicks are culled this way, Denormandie said, adding that France and Germany are the first countries in the world to enact this type of ban. Starting next year, breeders in France will need to have machines that can detect the sex of chicks before they hatch. To help breeders buy the equipment, France will grant 10 million euros ($11.8 million) in subsidies.

Researchers warn of the far-reaching risks of chronic wasting disease in Canada

The Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, which advises the federal government on agriculture policy, has recommended Canada create a deer-depopulated buffer zone to separate caribou range from deer infected with chronic wasting disease. The disease could threaten hunters’ livelihood if it gets into the caribou population. The report also discusses soon-to-be published research that raises concerns over whether the disease can affect humans. The research is still being peer-reviewed but has been presented at conferences and is widely discussed among disease experts, CBC reports. It found low-level infections of the disease in macaque monkeys—considered the closest animal analog to humans—after they were fed meat from infected animals.

India reports first human death from bird flu

An 11-year-old boy in India has died from H5N1 bird flu, the first death of this kind in the country, Reuters reports. The boy died last week after being admitted to New Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences on July 2 and suffering multi-organ failure, a government statement said. In the boy’s home state of Haryana, the Animal Husbandry Department hasn’t found any suspected cases of bird flu and has stepped up surveillance, the department said. India has seen several bird flu outbreaks in poultry in the past two decades, all of which were brought under control, with no human cases reported in the country previously, according to Reuters.

Legislation would open temporary guestworker program all year for all agriculture sectors in 2022

A U.S. House committee has approved an amendment that would allow producers to access the H-2A temporary agriculture guestworker program year-round for fiscal year 2022. The amendment to the Fiscal Year 2022 Homeland Security Appropriations Act would open the program to producers in all sectors of agriculture, including dairy, greenhouses and other agricultural operations with year-round labor needs, Feedstuffs reports. “As farming methods have become less seasonal or able to produce multiple harvests, the H-2A program must be updated to meet the needs of the agriculture industry,” said U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse of Washington. “This amendment supports legal immigration while making H-2A more workable for farmers.”

Synchrony expands CareCredit credit card into equine market

Synchrony announced it’s expanding its CareCredit credit card into the equine market. The company has also become an American Association of Equine Practitioners Educational Partner. “Research shows that one in three owners worry about their ability to pay for their horse’s essential needs, which can be stressful,” said Jonathan Wainberg, general manager of pets at Synchrony. “By empowering their customers with a financing solution that helps them pay over time, while also helping practices get paid quickly for care, we can alleviate the emotional and economic toll for both.”

Animal agriculture organizations launch initiative to measure industry sustainability progress

Twelve agriculture organizations have joined to create what they call the “Protein PACT”—for the People, Animals and Climate of Tomorrow—meant to accelerate and verify progress on global sustainable development goals across all animal protein sectors. “The Protein PACT is the first initiative to unite meat, poultry and dairy farmers and processes in a common vision for transparent communication, continuous improvement and ambitious commitments to ensure the sustainability of the high-quality protein foods Americans rely on every day,” said North American Meat Institute president and CEO Julie Anna Potts. The Meat Institute released a draft sustainability framework, which it will use to set targets for public commitments by packers and processors in the Protein PACT.