Livestock

This announcement followed concerns raised by the poultry industry, including the Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU), over cheap poultry product imports from the European Union, Brazil and the United States which is flooding the South African markets. The DTI said the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) had been working with the domestic industry ...

Pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella, Campylobacter and Escherichia coli are among the major pathogens causing foodborne illness worldwide. On the poultry farm, conventional approaches like increased bio-security, better hygiene, changes to management and husbandry and improved feed microbial security can help control pathogens. Going forward, however, major improvemen...

The Kibaha Education Centre, west of Dar es Salaam, was founded as part of an international aid project in 1963 and was formerly the site of Tanzania’s leading poultry operation. Kibaha was a major local employer, supplying chicks to local families, farmers and businesses and producing 1.5mn day-old chicks per year. The centre was forced to close five years ago followin...

But social tension can be reduced by properly designing the feeding areas. Researchers from the Institute of Animal Husbandry and Welfare at Vetmeduni Vienna, in cooperation with the Institute of Organic Farming at the Thünen Institute, have shown that goats experience less stress during feeding when partitions are placed between the individual feeding places. The study ...

According to the National Pork Board, an important takeaway from the study is that the U.S. pork supply is safe. The resistant gene identified in the study was not found in a market hog, and there was no threat to food safety. As experts in swine production, the Pork Checkoff is eager to analyze the initial findings, alongside its authors, and better understand result...

Soy protein concentrate is typically produced by using an alcohol extraction process to remove soluble carbohydrates from soybean meal," says Hans H Stein, professor of animal sciences at the University of Illinois. "However, a new soy protein concentrate has been developed which combines a non-alcohol extraction process with enzymatic treatment of soybean meal." Ste...

Dairy production is growing fast in the Southern High Plains region of West Texas and New Mexico, and most of the dairy producers there use corn silage or alfalfa as a key feed component. Corn and alfalfa require more water than other crops, thus stretching the Ogallala Aquifer, the source of water for that region, beyond capacity. Prasanna Gowda, an Agricultural Resear...

If you’re picturing happy flocks of chickens scratching away for insects on a sunny hillside somewhere (the kind of images egg companies love to adorn their cartons with), you’d be wrong. Cage-free facilities can still be industrial-scale chicken farming where thousands of hens spend their lives indoors in what many would consider cramped conditions. Walmart will requ...

Before entering New Hope, a 5,000-sow farm in south-central Pennsylvania, I was ordered to strip. Off came everything, including my hearing aids. Buck naked, I showered and shampooed, then pulled on freshly laundered socks, underpants, and overalls provided by the farm. I had encountered similar biosecurity protocols, intended to prevent the spread of disease, when visit...

Today it’s home to a large production studio, a distillery, various art studios and, most notably, the world’s largest rooftop soil farm, Brooklyn Grange. The building housing the farm still clearly boasts an industrial feel; everything’s grey and heavy-duty materials are required. Exiting the elevator on the top floor and walking up a short final flight of stairs is an ...

“When cattle are stressed because of high temperatures and humidity, producers can see reductions in dry matter intake, milk production and reproduction,” says Anthony Hall, MSc MSB, PAS, Technical Services, Ruminant, with Lallemand Animal Nutrition. “While we can’t control the weather, producers can change how they help their herds manage this challenging time.” Dair...