Weekly Livestock-Equine News: August 26, 2024

Social pressure impacts farmers’ decision to vaccinate dairy cattle

Despite the number of diseases that can be contracted by dairy cows living in crowded conditions – from botulism and bovine ephemeral fever to brucellosis, lumpy skin disease and rabies – not all farmers in Israel or other countries actually give their bovines the necessary shots, according to a new Hebrew University of Jerusalem study. Regulations, guidelines and laws involving livestock vaccinations vary by country and region, often combining mandatory and voluntary programs to safeguard animal health and food safety, and social pressure can influence farmers’ decisions to vaccinate.

NestFresh uses in-ovo sexing technology for ethical egg production

NestFresh has adopted in-ovo sexing technology to determine the sex of chicks while still inside the egg, eliminating the need to euthanize newborn male chicks. The company expects to be the first to implement in-ovo sexing technologies for their chicks beginning in late 2024.

Rebuilding the U.S. cattle herd

Rebuilding the U.S. cattle herd could take years as market conditions encourage ranchers to sell off rather than keep their cows, according to CoBank Knowledge Exchange. Although pasture conditions and feed costs are improving, there are still financial upsides for producers to send their beef calves and heifers to feedlots rather than raise them.

Video sales attract cattle producers

Cattle producers are finding they can reach a large buyer pool through video sales. At the Video Royale sale in Winnemucca, Nevada, 171,253 head of calves, yearlings and bred stock totaling 1,449 lots sold through the video auction. The four-day event hosted by Superior Livestock Auction included cattle consigned from 33 states. Strong buyer participation from several bidders throughout the auction resulted in 243 successful buyers, according to the market report. Cattle were sold on contract to deliver immediately through April 2025.

BinSentry secures $15M in new Series B funding

Feed inventory monitoring company BinSentry has secured $15M in the form of a Series B round, led by Spring Mountain Capital, a private investment management firm. Additionally, BinSentry publicized it recently crossed a market penetration threshold with over 20,000 feed bins monitored daily. The company says it has made significant technology advancements in applying AI to its feed management software platform.

TARGAN installs first sex identification system

TARGAN, Inc., an animal AgTech systems company, has secured its first international placement of WingScan™ as part of efforts to transform the production of animal protein. The automated chick feather sex identification system has been delivered and installed at Trouw Nutrition’s Ramsay Hatchery in Saint-Félix-de-Valois, Québec, Canada. The company states that with a throughput of up to 100,000 chicks per hour, depending on the configuration, the advanced imaging system uses artificial intelligence to achieve the equivalent performance of up to 32 or more manual bird sexers, with an in-field accuracy of up to 98%.