FYI on Swine

Almost without question, during this decade, pork’s sterling record of food safety from farm to fork is virtually unmatched. Perhaps the biggest form of recognition recently came from USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), which after three years of deliberations approved a lower cooking temperature. The agency lowered the cooking temperature for whole muscle cuts of pork by 15°, from 160°F to 145° F, with a three-minute rest period. However, the cooking recommendation remains the same for ground product at 160° F. Using a digital meat thermometer is recommended to confirm that pork has been cooked to the proper temperature.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported two cases of "swine-origin influenza" in children in the US. The CDC reports shows the incidents occurred in a boy under five in Indiana and a girl under five in Pennsylvania.

New legislation introduced by Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) that would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating naturally occurring farm dust is welcome news for the nation's farmers and ranchers, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

In April 1990, Al Gore published an open letter in the New York Times "To Skeptics on Global Warming" in which he compared them to medieval flat-Earthers. He soon became vice president and his conviction that climate change was dominated by man-made emissions went mainstream. But a few physicists weren't worrying about Al Gore in the 1990s. They were theorizing about another possible factor in climate change: charged subatomic particles from outer space, or "cosmic rays," whose atmospheric levels appear to rise and fall with the weakness or strength of solar winds that deflect them from the earth.

The U.S. will likely become the world’s largest ethanol exporter in the second half of 2011, overtaking Brazil, which has been suffering from high sugar prices, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

It's a truism that technology is always shrinking and getting more compact. This, however, might be something else altogether. Previously the world's smallest electronic motor was a microscopic 200 nanometers across. Not bad, especially when you consider that the average human hair is only 60,000 nanometers wide.

Monsanto Co. (MON)’s insect-killing corn is toppling over in northwestern Illinois fields, a sign that rootworms outside of Iowa may have developed resistance to the genetically modified crop, according to one scientist.

Hog prices may rebound from the biggest monthly loss since October as consumers switch from beef to cheaper pork, according to Karl Skold, an economist and the former head of commodity procurement for ConAgra Foods Inc.

Mycotoxin analysis results for the second quarter of 2011 from Biomin, including more than 2,800 analyses of more than 800 animal feed ingredients. At least one mycotoxin was found in 90 per cent of the samples.

With the 2011 corn crop not likely big enough to meet demand and as prices continue to rise, livestock producers soon might be facing a critical decision: whether they should reduce their use of corn for feed.

Purdue Extension agricultural economist Chris Hurt said the livestock industry probably would cut back when 2012 crop prices rise above $7 per bushel – a level the market has now reached.

Agricultural land values in Britain climbed to a record in the first half as higher livestock and grain prices encouraged farmers to increase production, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said.

The average cost of an acre of bare land, terrain without built structures, rose to 6,115 pounds ($10,100) from 5,846 pounds at the end of 2010, the fourth straight increase for a six-month period, the London-based group said in a report today. Prices have more than doubled in the last five years, RICS said.

Anna Johnson, an Iowa State University animal scientist, will be leading a research project to understand lameness in pigs and provide solutions to producers. The four-year project is being funded with a $700,000 grant from US Department of Agriculture-Agriculture Food Research Initiative (USDA-AFRI).

Concerns over volatility in the food and agriculture market stem from fears over price rises and behind this, fears over food security.

A recent report from the Food and Agriculture Organisation at the UN has called for global leaders to take action to ease the fluctuations in prices and calm the fears over food security around the world.

Technology that provides the on-site nutrient treatment is known as advanced micro-aerobic digestion, and it forgoes the traditional approach of treating water at municipal wastewater and stormwater facilities. 

A proposed rule has been issued by the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to establish general regulations for improving the traceability of US livestock moving interstate when animal disease events take place.

"Through the past two years, I have listened carefully to stakeholders throughout the country about how to reach effective animal disease traceability in a transparent manner without additional burden," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Perry Vieth baled hay on a neighbor’s farm in Wisconsin for two summers during high school in 1972 and 1973. The grueling labor left him with no doubt about getting a college degree so that he’d never have to work as hard again for a paycheck. Thirty-eight years later, and after a career as a securities lawyer and fixed-income trader, Vieth is back on the farm.

Except, now, he owns it. As co-founder of Ceres Partners LLC, a Granger, Indiana-based investment firm, Vieth oversees 61 farms valued at $63.3 million in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Tennessee.

For managers and supervisors who need an in-depth overview of today’s changing environmental regulations, Lion Technology Inc. presents its Complete Environmental Regulations workshop in the area this September. Key topics include air quality, water quality, chemical controls, and waste management. Recent regulatory changes will be addressed, including the July 7, 2011 Cross-State Air Pollution Rule and new reporting responsibilities under the 261-page greenhouse gas rule.

The comprehensive two-day workshop will be held in Kansas City, MO on September 12-13; Tulsa, OK on September 15-16; Little Rock, AR on September 19-20; Dallas, TX on September 22-23; and Corpus Christi, TX on September 26-27.

U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) has introduced H.R. 2631, the Livestock Marketing Fairness Act, a bipartisan bill authored by U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, (R-Wyo.). According to a press release from Lummis, the legislation would target unfair meat packer practices and help restore a level playing field to independent livestock producers.

The National Pork Producers Council opposes the Lummis and Enzi bills because they would restrict private marketing arrangements and contracts between producers and packers.

SEATTLE (AP) — A healthy diet is expensive and could make it difficult for Americans to meet new U.S. nutritional guidelines, according to a study published Thursday that says the government should do more to help consumers eat healthier.

A update of what used to be known as a food pyramid in 2010 had called on Americans to eat more foods containing potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin D and calcium. But if they did that, the journal Health Affairs said, they would add hundreds more dollars to their annual grocery bill.