Although the organic industry generally has expressed support for USDA’s move in tightening the animal handling standards, there have been some concerns from certain sectors (such as poultry) that these new rules go too far. Animal Welfare for Organic Production Last week USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) issued a new 181-page proposed rule for animal handling standards for organic animal welfare. It is intended to bring widespread production practices in line with consumers’ expectations regarding organic production, prevent erosion “of consumer confidence in the organic label more broadly” and stop “unfair competition among producers.” The focuses of the rule are:
Animal health and well-being: minimizing stress and pain in...
What You Need to Know Today: A third U.S. border crossing (Columbus, New Mexico) has reopened to Mexican cattle imports following nearly two years of restrictions related to New World screwworm. The reopening could gradually improve feeder cattle availability, although more than 60 confi...
Yesterday, the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) released a new report of negotiated cash purchases of cattle under the mandatory price report. The report included Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas. The goal of the report was to solve the confidentiality issues e...
Key Takeaways: U.S. soybean crushing began in 1911 and saw its most rapid expansion during the 1930s amid the broader agricultural and technology revolutions of the time. After peaking in the early 2000s, the soybean crushing industry went through a downturn as poor crush margins forced...
