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Diseases that can be transmitted between animals and humans—known as zoonotic diseases—are in the news with increasing frequency, and for good reason! Zoonotic diseases represent a significant concern for farmers and ranchers worldwide. As a livestock producer, what is your…
Coccidiosis affects nearly all farmed species and can be particularly devastating for young animals. The disease is caused by a parasitic protozoan, which is ingested when animals graze or are exposed to infected fecal matter. Infected animals pass thousands of…
Some livestock diseases enter through an insect bite. Others are tracked on a borrowed trailer or dirty boots. A few reside in contaminated soil or water. While the virus that causes Caprine Arthritis and Encephalitis (or CAE) in goats is…
AGW staff are continuing to monitor the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) and support AGW-certified producers in following biosecurity measures to ensure the safety of their flocks. If you are looking for guidance, please read on for what you need to…
October 27, 2021 U.S Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service 1400 Independence Ave. S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250 Re: Request for comment pertaining to the labeling of meat and poultry products comprised of or containing cultured cells derived from…
As the prevalence of antibiotic resistant bacteria escalates and food recalls become a daily occurrence, the need to establish sanitary handling practices from the farm to market has become a necessity. Yet the growing public anxiety surrounding the dreaded question…
It's a tradition of mine to write a note of sincere gratitude to Big Ag for the many "gifts" they've bestowed upon us all over the past 12 months relating to food animal production. Gifts that we didn't really want, need, or—in some cases—didn't even know about. Here's my top 10 for 2014.
While the GRSB states that it has deliberately avoided outlining indicators, metrics or practices on the basis they are “only applicable in a narrow range of environments and systems and therefore need to be developed at the local level,” we believe that in order to be credible, any further local and international work in this area must properly tackle the following fundamental limitations of the GRSB’s Principles and Criteria report—and the industrial beef production model itself.
A damning new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) reveals that our Government has been ignoring the very real risks to public health from routine antibiotic abuse in intensive livestock farming. According to the NRDC’s new report, Playing Chicken With Antibiotics, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—whose key remit it to protect public health—permitted the nontherapeutic use of 30 medicinally important antibiotics, including 18 rated as “high risk” to human health, on industrial farming operations despite knowing this could pose a direct threat to human health through the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria. It makes truly somber reading for anyone concerned about future public health—and the independence of our Government agencies from vested corporate interests.
Forgive me if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recent announcement to control antibiotic use in food animals didn’t have me reaching for the Champagne.
Yet another industry assurance about the safety of the controversial practices used in intensive livestock production has been exposed as a falsehood. Hot on the heels of recent public health and environmental scares associated with industrial livestock farming—including the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, ractopamine residues in pork, and arsenic residues in poultry meat—new scientific research on an anabolic steroid which is routinely used in industrial beef production in the U.S. is causing alarm.
In this era of uninformed, “silver bullet” solutions to the plague that is industrial farming, it’s great to see that Dan Imhoff—the author of the seminal book CAFO: The Tragedy of Industrial Animal Factories—is making a stand against the reckless abuse of antibiotics in industrial livestock production. And he’s making real sense, too. In a bold move, Imhoff has launched a new public petition which targets the largest—and yet possibly the most responsive—player when it comes to U.S. meat production and consumption: Walmart, our nation’s largest retailer.
