The advent of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in several dozen U.S. dairy herds in nine states has prompted both U.S. and Canadian regulators to impose testing restrictions on transportation of lactating animals. Dennis Laycraft, executive vice president at the Canadian Cattle Association, says that the virus appears to reproduce in mammary tissue making dairy... Read More
Category: Cattle
It's not rare for a cow to conceive twins (though triplets are rare), but the odds of a cow conceiving quads is about 1 in 700,000. The odds of those calves being born alive is 1 in 11.2 million, give or take, but at least one Saskatchewan ranch hit the jackpot. Mark and Erin van... Read More
The Canada Food Inspection Agency will continue to refer to highly pathogenic avian influenza in cattle as HPAI in cattle, and not refer to it as bovine influenza A virus (BIAV), as suggested by the American Association of Bovine Practitioners earlier this month. Dr. Martin Appelt, senior director for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, in... Read More
Nearly 3,500 livestock producers in Saskatchewan who were eligible for drought assistance through the AgriRecovery program launched last October will be receiving a top-up of up to $50 per head from the federal and provincial governments. Provincial agriculture minister David Marit announced the additional payments during a visit to the Saskatchewan Cattlemen's Association head office... Read More
The American Association of Bovine Practitioners will now refer to highly pathogenic avian influenza in cattle as bovine influenza A virus, or BIAV, and is encouraging everyone to do the same. In an open letter dated April 8, 2024, the AABP says that though caused by the same virus, the disease presents very differently in... Read More
Editor's note: Updated with CDC confirmation of a human HPAI case in Texas. U.S. animal health authorities say they cannot rule out cow-to-cow transmission of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) after detecting bird flu in dairy herds in another three states. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) has confirmed the presence... Read More
A mysterious illness affecting older dairy cows in the southern U.S. appears to be caused by the same virus that has infected millions of domestic and wild birds over the past few years. On Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said milk samples from sick animals on two dairy farms in Kansas and one in... Read More
There are reasons to feel some sustained optimism in cattle markets right now, as trade is holding steady while feed costs dip slightly, says Anne Wasko in this week's Beef Market Update. Cattle prices held strong to steady this week in the more northern regions, which is good news, even if trade was quite light... Read More
Exports from Canada face growing uncertainty as governments around the world look inward in an effort to gain votes. Whether it's the collapse of the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement process, individual countries introducing new technical trade barriers, or politicians deploying subsidies and tariffs in the name of more domestic jobs, the world is generally... Read More
Monday, U.S. ag secretary Tom Vilsack released the final wording of the "Product of U.S.A." label requirements as it relates to several products, including beef and pork. Though voluntary, the rule is as restrictive — or more — than the mandatory country of origin labeling (mCOOL) requirements that spawned years and years of trade disputes... Read More