Weekly livestock news for December 16: meat labeling, biosecurity, 5G

Senator introduces meat labeling act

U.S. Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska has introduced the Real Marketing Edible Artificials Truthfully Act of 2019, also known as the Real MEAT Act. The law would clearly define “beef” and “beef products” on labels so they’re not confused with plant-based meat alternative products that are increasingly available, Meat + Poultry reports. The bill is a companion to a measure introduced in October in the House of Representatives. “Under USDA, beef undergoes a rigorous inspection and labeling process, but plant-based protein products that mimic beef and are sometimes labeled as beef are overseen by the FDA instead,” Fischer said in a statement. “These products are not held to the same food safety and labeling standards as beef.” According to Fischer, plant-based product labels would have “imitation” in the same size and prominence immediately before or after the name of the food. There would also be a statement on the label clearly indicating the product doesn’t contain meat.

USDA raises 2020 broiler, turkey, egg export forecast after China lifts import ban

The U.S. Department of Agriculture raised its projection for the export of broiler, turkey and eggs, following China’s decision to end a ban on imports of poultry from the United States, WattAgNet reports. The agency in a December 10 report raised its forecast for 2020 poultry-related exports from the November projections. For broilers, USDA projects 2020 exports of 7.43 billion pounds, up from 7.25 billion projected last month. For turkey, the agency now projects 680 million pounds, up from 660 million projected in November. And the egg export estimate was raised to 310 million dozen, up from 300 million dozen predicted in the November report.

Bird flu outbreak in England leads to chicken slaughter

All 27,000 chickens at a farm in Suffolk, England, were set to be slaughtered after cases of bird flu were confirmed, the BBC reports. A number of the birds were found to have the H5 strain of avian flu, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which set up a 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) exclusion zone around the farm to limit the risk of disease spreading. The Food Standards Agency said there was no food safety risk as long as poultry products, including eggs, are thoroughly cooked. The strain at the commercial farm has been identified as low pathogenic avian flu. The risk to public health was very low, but per standard practice, Public Health England is offering advice and antivirals to those who had contact with the affected birds, according to one official. The British Poultry Council said there was no link to the Christmas turkey market, which was unaffected by the case.

Kansas State University improves PEDv biosecurity

Faculty at Kansas State University thought their swine unit’s biosecurity practices were solid—until a March 2019 outbreak of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus. But the university had an action plan, which it quickly implemented, and officials took other steps, like updating the school’s feed transfer protocol to keep the transfer zone free of the virus. They also changed their biosecurity plan to require those entering the swine unit to have clean coveralls going into each room, limit all outside entrance to the farm, and separate employees in different areas of the farm. According to Steve Dritz, a professor and swine specialist at Kansas State, these PEDv measures can also be effective in preventing African swine fever. School faculty have worked with officials in Vietnam to improve biosecurity measures in the country, which is dealing with its own ASF outbreak, Dritz said. Feed Strategy has the full story.

FCC chair to propose $9B in funding for rural wireless coverage over 10 years

Federal Communications Commission chair Ajit Pai said December 4 that he’ll propose $9 billion in funding over 10 years to boost next-generation 5G wireless coverage in rural areas of the United States. This is about twice what Pai proposed last year over the same period and would be aimed at helping bring 5G networks to sparsely populated rural areas that often struggle to obtain access to wireless services or the internet, Reuters reports. Pai plans to formally propose rules for the funding early next year and said he’d set aside at least $1 billion for “precision agriculture.” Farmers around the world are using next-generation wireless for agricultural uses like crop monitoring and gauging water temperature and salt concentration.

Consumers believe technology is key to sustainability, but they’re skeptical about its use on farms

Technology in agriculture will be important to feed a growing population, make farming more sustainable and improve the lives of farm animals, 85% of the 3,000 participants said in a new survey by Cargill. But only about half of those surveyed want their food to come from a technologically advanced (versus traditional) farm, Feedstuffs reports. Respondents most wanted technology to be used in medicine and education; farming ranked third, followed by defense, manufacturing, retail and food. “We know that new technologies are allowing farmers to make better, faster, more informed decisions to feed a hungry world while protecting the planet,” said Sri Raj Kantamneni, managing director of Cargill’s digital business. “We also know that agriculture is still the least digitalized industry sector in the world. That means there’s a lot of opportunity—and a lot of need—for greater investment in ag-tech. This survey highlights that in order to help humanity benefit from these advancements, we first need to do a better job of explaining the value of new technologies to consumers.”