chickens

The Washington state Department of Agriculture announced another bird flu case Thursday.  A backyard flock in Kitsap County tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza on June 29th.  Kitsap is the 11th county with bird flu detected in domestic flocks, with 27 infected flocks statewide.  All inf...

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza continues to spread across the Pacific Northwest. Last week, the Oregon Department of Agriculture confirmed a case of bird flu in a backyard flock of ducks and geese in Polk County. The flock's owner notified a private veterinarian after the sudden death of at least one bird; meanwhile, other birds in the flock were displaying clinical signs consistent with HPAI

When it comes to responding to reported detections of high path avian influenza, currently compared to the infamous bird flu outbreak of 2015, "we are in a much better place now than we were before," noted Dr. Rosemary Sifford, with USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service ...

The number of highly pathogenic avian influenza cases in the United States is outpacing the 2014-2015 outbreak. However, the American Farm Bureau Federation said the higher numbers might be attributed to improvements in detection and reporting protocols ...

According to ERS, most values of cotton, dairy and specialty crops produced in 2020 took place on large-scale family farms. USDA defines a family farm as one in which the principal operator and related family own the majority of the assets used in the operation ...

American table egg producers have been riding a wholesale price roller coaster over the past few years. 2019 prices only averaging about 96 cents per dozen, then when we got to early 2020. "We had this sudden surge in retail buy-in as consumers faced with stay-at-home orders went to the grocery stores to stock up on perishable items such as eggs," USDA Livestock Analyst, Shayle Shagam, s

We recently told you that the Washington state Department of Agriculture is warning of a possible bird flu outbreak, similar to what was reported seven years ago. Its become a nationally issue, as concerns are growing about a potential highly-pathogenic avian influenza outbreak ...

Those who raise broilers could pay anywhere from 7%-20% more this year for feed. And since feed is most of the cost of  production, those feed prices could effect the number of birds raised and sold in the coming year or two. Mark Jekanowski, USDA Outlook Board Chairman, said there will be in increase in broiler production this year, but it will be a marginal one at less than 1%. Mo ... Read Mo

The North American Meat Institute’s challenge to California’s Prop 12 is unsuccessful once again. Earlier this week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the institute’s challenge to the California 2018 ballot initiative that imposes new standards for animal housing. The court dec ...

According to the latest outlook, the USDA is expecting lower prices across the meat sector. World Ag Outlook Chair Mark Jekanowski said that expectation comes from production changes. "Our beef production forecast we've pulled back a bit, mainly based on lower steer and heifer slaughter, and given the very low prices for cattle recently that also suggests producers might be holding some catt