pigs

The Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture Wednesday announced an investment of $14 million in research to protect agricultural animals from disease. The grants are part of NIFA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative’s Diseases of Agricultural Animals program area priority. NIFA directo ...

The Department of Agriculture Thursday announced that an African Swine Fever Virus vaccine candidate has been adapted to grow in a cell line. The announcement means those involved in vaccine production will no longer have to rely on live pigs and fresh cells for vaccine production ...

The USDA says there were 74.8 million hogs and pigs on U.S. farms as of March 1st. The Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report says that the number is down 2% from March 2020, and three percent lower than December 1st of last year. Among the other key findings, NASS says of the 74 ...

According to Reuters, a new form of African swine fever is popping up on Chinese pig farms. The timing is not good for the world’s biggest pork producer that’s still trying to recover from a devastating epidemic. Two new strains of African Swine Fever have infected over 1,000 sows on several farms owned by China’s fourth-largest pork producer. It’s also showin ...

Recovery is underway in North Carolina after Hurricane Florence.  The number of livestock lost to flooding is climbing in the aftermath.  The North Carolina Ag Department says 5,500 hogs and 3.4 million poultry were lost due to the hurricane.  In addition to da...

USDA slightly reduced its projections for red meat and poultry production in 2018.  The forecast is slightly lower than last month, primarily due to a drop in beef production, which will more than offset increased pork and turkey production.  The lat...

The USDA’s quarterly report on hogs and pigs shows an increase of about two percent in the number of head with a new quarterly record, and farrowing was also up two percent.   Shayle Shagam, USDA Livestock Analyst said there’s a good reason.   “Throug...

It was ten years ago that California passed cage-free laws for chickens, thanks to a campaign from the Humane Society of the U.S.  Another HSUS-backed ballot initiative could go before California voters in 2018.  The Sacramento Bee says the proposed “Prevention of Cruelty to Farm Animals Act” would set new rules for cage-free hens as well as set some strict limits on the confinement of calves and

Pork producers in Washington have been on high alert after two disease outbreaks, including Porcine Delta Coronavirus for the first time ever in the state followed by Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome, or PRRS.   WSU Extension’s Sarah Smith said the symptoms for the Coronavirus are similar to PED.   “...

As pork production changes and pigs are housed, not individually but in groups, researchers at UC Davis are now researching how to tell what kind of personality a pig might have and whether or not it will thrive or suffer in a group setting...