Three Sacked over Animal Abuse Allegations
US - Smithfield Foods has sacked two employees and their supervisor for violating Smithfield Animal Welfare policies.

CDC: 1 in 6 Sick from Foodborne Illnesses Each Year
US - About 48 million people (1 in 6 Americans) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die each year from foodborne diseases, according new estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Pr...

Undeclared Allergen Prompts Pork Recall
US - L&R Fine Fashions Inc. is recalling about 2,182 pounds of raw pork paste and ready-to-eat fried pork loaf products because they contain an undeclared allergen, wheat, the USDA’s Food Safety and...

NPPC: US-South Korea FTA Remains Good Deal
US - Pork producers took one for the proverbial team as the United States and South Korea on Friday, 3 December, resolved an issue with autos through a compromise on pork to finalise a free trade agreement...

GIPSA Proposed Rule Not Good for Ag Industry
US - Although the Congressionally mandated purpose of the US Department of Agriculture is to strengthen America’s agriculture industry and revitalize rural communities, a rule proposed by the Grain Inspection,...

Industry Applauds US-Korea Free Trade Agreement
US - Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), on Friday, 3 December, said that the bureau is pleased that the US and Korean governments have come to an agreement that will...

NPPC Urges Congress to Fix Estate Tax Law
US - Saying US pork producers and other farmers deserve more for their hard work than to be “taxed in death, to death,� the National Pork Producers Council yesterday urged Congress to fix the estate...

AMI Urges USDA to Withdraw Proposed GIPSA Rule
US - AMI is urging the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) to withdraw its livestock and poultry marketing proposed rule in written comments submitted yesterday.

NPPC Angered over GIPSA Rule
US - A US Department of Agriculture agency lacked authority or exceeded it on certain provisions of a proposed rule on buying and selling hogs and failed to support the need for the regulation with evidence...

NFU: GIPSA Briefings; Positive Impacts for Producers
US - National Farmers Union (NFU) held briefings this week for US House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture and US Senate Agriculture Committee members and their staff on the Grain Inspection and...

User Fees for Meat, Poultry Industry Recommended
US - The Co-Chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, established earlier this year to suggest actions to address the national debt, last week recommended that user fees be...

Mexican Trucking Dispute Hurting US Pork
US - US pork exports to Mexico have fallen by a whopping 20 per cent since the Mexican government added pork to the list of US products against which it is retaliating for the failure of the United States...

GIPSA Rule’s Costs Substantial, Analysis Finds
US - Confirming what food-animal producers have suspected about a proposed federal rule on buying and selling livestock and poultry, a comprehensive economic analysis of the US Department of Agriculture’s...

New Proposal from Ethanol Industry Concerns AMI
US - AMI has joined a number of agriculture associations in expressing serious concerns over a new proposal from the ethanol industry that would extend the expiring ethanol blenders credit and import tariff...

Revised Directive on Recall of Meat, Poultry Products
US - The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued Directive 8080.1, Revision 6: Recall of Meat and Poultry Products.

FDA Awards Grants for Food and Feed Safety
US - The US Food and Drug Administration awarded 84 grants worth $18.5 million in fiscal year 2010 to help state and local regulatory agencies defend against and respond quickly to threats to the food...

New Economic Impact Study on Livestock Rule
US - The proposed USDA Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration’s (GIPSA) rule would have far-reaching negative economic impacts on US livestock producers and US consumers according to...

GIPSA Proposal: Major Animal Welfare Consequences
US - The Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) proposed livestock procurement rule, if finalised, would have major animal welfare consequences, said Colorado State University...

Senator Voices Concerns About GIPSA Proposed Rule
US - Senator Richard Lugar (R-Indiana) expressed “deep concern� about the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) proposed livestock procurement rule in a recent letter to Agriculture...

CME: GIPSA Files Complaint Against JBS Swift
US - USDA’s Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) is in the news again, this time filing a complaint against JBS United for underpaying for hogs purchased from 1 January 2007...

NFU: Congress Should Not Interfere with GIPSA
US - National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson yesterday issued the following statement about the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) proposed rule and the process...

NPPC: EPA's Decision to Increase Ethanol Blend Rate
US - The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) Ethanol Task Force Chairman Randy Spronk yesterday expressed concern about the US Environmental Protection Agency's decision to increase the ethanol blend...

Pork Producer Says New GIPSA Rules Will Hit Hard
US - An Indiana pig farmer explains that the new GIPSA rules will have a devastating effect on his business.

Lawmakers Want GIPSA Rule Economic Analysis
US - House lawmakers, in a letter sent late Tuesday to US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, asked that an economic analysis of the agency’s proposed rule on buying and selling livestock and poultry...

Idaho Senators Urge Reconsideration of GIPSA Rule
US - Idaho Senators Mike Crapo and James Risch are urging the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to reconsider the purpose and benefits of the proposed Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards...

NPPC Wants Restrictions on Cuba Trade Lifted
US - US pork exports to Cuba will more than triple if restrictions on travel and export financing for products going to the Caribbean island nation are lifted, according to an Iowa State University an...

Call for Withdrawal of GIPSA Proposal
US - Representative Jerry Moran (R-KS) is calling for the withdrawal of the recently proposed Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) livestock procurement rule, citing a lack of...

GIPSA Proposal Doesn't Offer Single Improvement
US - In an interview with National Hog Farmer, University of Missouri Professor of Agricultural Economics Ron Plain, Ph.D., said that USDA’s Grain, Inspection and Packers and Stockyards Administration’s...

Market Preview: Pork’s Stake in Price Reporting
US - This week, in National Hog Farmer's weekly Market Preview, Steve Meyer, Ph.D. of Paragon Economics, Inc., writes about the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999, which was recently r...

USDA Seeks Public Feedback on Organic Standards
US - USDA is seeking feed-back from the public on the latest proposed recommendation from the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB).