Weekly Livestock-Equine News: July 14, 2025

Pork producers’ input sought for National Swine Health Strategy

Pork producers’ input is sought as the National Pork Board and industry partners develop a National Swine Health Strategy. Currently, efforts to improve swine health can feel scattered, reports National Hog Farmer, even as initiatives from barn innovation and diagnostics to nutrition, biosecurity, and FAD preparedness, are in place. The proposed Strategy would create an aligned framework that directly tackles the industry’s most pressing health challenges.

Researchers examine heat-stress-related losses in poultry production

When exposed to prolonged heat, broiler chickens eat less but paradoxically accumulate more fat relative to their body weight, which reduces meat quality and production efficiency, according to researchers in Japan. Their findings suggest new strategies to mitigate heat stress-related losses in poultry production amidst global warming.

Southern livestock trade put on hold again due to NWS

Just two days after opening the Douglas, Arizona, port of entry for cattle exports from Mexico, the USDA closed the southern livestock trade on July 9 due to a newly discovered case of New World Screwworm approximately 370 miles south of the U.S./Mexico border.

Researchers map threat of antibiotic resistance in livestock waste

A study by Michigan State University and partner researchers reports that livestock manure is packed with antibiotic-resistant genes that potentially could transfer to bacteria that infect humans. “Genes from manure can make their way into the water we drink, the food we eat and the bacteria that make us sick,” said MSU microbiology expert James Tiedje. The study spanned 14 years and 26 countries.

No THC detected in milk or meat of cows fed hemp byproduct

A new study by a team from Oregon State University examined feeding a hemp byproduct to cows and found that the trace amounts of psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in hemp were undetectable in the milk and edible tissue of cows if they were weaned off the byproduct before milking or processing. “This study is one step forward in providing the data needed for FDA approval of spent hemp biomass as a feed supplement for livestock,” said Massimo Bionaz, lead author of the study.

Study confirms benefits of meloxicam for calves after dehorning

A Kansas State University study confirmed meloxicam can play an important role in easing pain and reducing inflammation in calves after dehorning. While both before- and after-treatment helped, the timing did seem to influence how long the drug’s effects lasted, especially when it came to certain inflammation markers.