Weekly livestock news: October 10, 2022

Bird flu outbreak worries farmers in Southern California as fall migration begins

A new bird flu outbreak is worrying farmers in Southern California as poultry operations euthanize their flocks and experts say they’re seeing a wave of dying birds moving south during the fall migration. “Unfortunately, we’re really just at the beginning” of this outbreak, said Maurice Pitesky, a University of California, Davis Cooperative Extension associate professor. Millions of birds are just beginning their southward migration, he said, and they’re likely to bring disease with them. “Some disease models show that we are going to get hammered this fall,” he told the Los Angeles Times. That could stress the food supply, which is already being hit by high prices for the corn and soy used to feed poultry.

A veterinarian discusses the path she took to open a clinic in rural North Dakota

A North Dakota veterinarian spoke with The Jamestown Sun about how she’s brought livestock care to a rural town in the southern portion of the state—the kind of place that’s often short on veterinary care. Dr. Erin Christ opened Country Roads Veterinary Clinic in Ellendale, North Dakota, in July 2021. She prefers working with livestock but also cares for pets. Before opening her practice, she worked in a South Dakota clinic where, as one of two veterinarians and the only woman, she came up against sexism. “Sometimes the community isn’t as receptive to get new young vets in there, especially women, and right now the majority of the vets coming out of vet school are women,” she said.

JBS plans to close U.S. plant-based foods business as sales flatten

JBS plans to close its U.S. plant-based foods business, Planterra Foods, which has operated for about two years, the company said. The closure indicates increasing challenges for the plant-based protein sector as U.S. sales flatten, Reuters reports. Colorado-based Planterra sold synthetic meat under the Ozo brand, but JBS will now focus on its plant-based operations in Brazil and Europe, said Nikki Richardson, spokesperson for JBS USA. European and Brazilian operations “continue to gain market share and expand their respective customer bases,” Richardson said.

FDA approves generic bovine respiratory disease treatment

The FDA has approved SpectoGard, the first generic spectinomycin sulfate injectable treatment for bovine respiratory disease associated with several bacteria. SpectoGard, sponsored by Bimeda, contains the same active ingredient (spectinomycin sulfate) in the same concentration and dosage form as the approved brand name product, Adspec. It’s available by prescription.

Tyson Foods to close Chicago and South Dakota offices, relocating employees to Arkansas

Tyson Foods announced it’s closing several corporate offices across the country due to rising costs. The company is closing offices in Chicago and Downers Grove, Illinois, and Dakota Dunes, South Dakota, which currently house many of its prepared-foods and beef-division employees, The Wall Street Journal reports. Employees will have the chance to relocate to the company’s Springdale, Arkansas, headquarters in early 2023. Roughly 1,000 employees work in the two Illinois offices and the Dakota Dunes location, the company said. This comes soon after Tyson, the largest U.S. meat supplier in terms of sales, overhauled its management team. More information on the company’s new actions is available from The Wall Street Journal and Feedstuffs.

Court upholds USDA’s swine inspection rule

A federal judge has upheld USDA’s New Swine Inspection System, saying it doesn’t violate the Federal Meat Inspection Act. In addition to allowing faster line processing speeds, the rule allows for certain inspection duties to be done by processing facility employees. USDA has said the voluntary program, passed in 2019, increases efficiency and the effectiveness of the federal inspection process, with potential to increase the U.S. harvest capacity. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit, the Center for Food Safety and Food & Water Watch, say the new rule could lead to contaminated meat entering the market due to lack of effective training for plant employees doing the inspections. Feedstuffs reports.