Featured Articles

  • Sep
    01
    Massachusetts delays rule banning the sale of some pork


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    A federal judge in Massachusetts has agreed to delay the enforcement of Question 3, the state law that would ban the sale of pork that comes from animals not housed according to the state’s housing standards. Massachusetts’s Question 3 requirements are like those in California’s Proposition 12, which has been challenged in a case that will be heard by the Supreme Court this term, National Pork Producers Council v. Ross.

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  • Sep
    01
    Homeland Security pursues support for agriculture defense


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    The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has released a request for information regarding capabilities for science support for the S&T Food, Agriculture, and Veterinary Defense Program (FAV-D). DHS recently established the Office of Health Security to refocus department efforts on human and agriculture security.

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  • Sep
    01
    Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program receives USDA support


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    The Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) brings together stakeholders from various parts of the food and healthcare systems. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced almost $8 million to GusNIP’s Produce Prescription Project, as part of the American Rescue Plan to be administered by the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).

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  • Sep
    01
    Food prices decline in July 2022


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    The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has released the FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) for July 2022. The FFPI is a measure of the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities.

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  • Sep
    01
    Expanding Local Meat Processing Act Introduced


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    Expanding Local Meat Processing Act, a companion act to the Amplifying Processing of Livestock in the United States Act (A-Plus Act), has been introduced to the Senate. The bill would reduce regulatory red tape to enable livestock auction market owners to invest in small meat packing operations.

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  • Sep
    01
    CHIPS Act is signed into law


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    The Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America Act or the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 was passed by both the House and Senate with bipartisan support. The Act will strengthen American manufacturing, supply chains, and national security while investing in research and development, science and technology, and the workforce of the future to keep the United States as the international leader in specific industries.

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  • Sep
    01
    Biden Administration supports pork producers in Prop 12


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    The Solicitor General of the United States, Elizabeth Prelogar, has filed a brief in support of the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) and the American Farm Bureau Federation’s (AFBF) lawsuit against California’s Proposition 12. The Proposition mandates farm animal confinement standards and directs the Department and the Department of Public Health to jointly promulgate regulations to implement the provisions for specified farm animals and the sale of specified products derived from them.

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  • Sep
    01
    Americans prefer in-store grocery shopping, according to study


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    A new study from researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign looked at how American food-buying behaviors have changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers also examined how these behaviors changed through the development of vaccines and as case numbers fluctuated.

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  • Aug
    24
    Interpretive Summary: Meta-analysis of the effects of the dietary application of exogenous alpha-amylase preparations on performance, nutrient digestibility, and rumen fermentation of lactating dairy cows


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    For more than a decade, starch-degrading enzymes (amylolytic enzymes) have been used as a strategy to increase total-tract starch degradation to increase milk yield of dairy cows. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of starch-degrading enzymes on starch digestion and milk yield in dairy cows.

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  • Aug
    24
    Interpretive Summary: Effect of feeding calcium gluconate embedded in a hydrogenated fat matrix on feed intake, gastrointestinal fermentation and morphology, intestinal brush border enzyme activity and blood metabolites in growing lambs


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    Gluconate salts have been reported to be metabolized by microbes in the gastrointestinal tract to yield butyrate. Butyrate has shown potential to enhance functionality of the gastrointestinal tract by increasing the absorptive surface area, enzyme activity, and the barrier function.

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  • Aug
    24
    Interpretive Summary: Effect of live yeast supplementation in sow diet during gestation and lactation on sow and piglet fecal microbiota, health, and performance


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    Feeding live yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. boulardii (SB) in pig diets is recommended to promote a better health and reduce antibiotic use during critical periods like weaning. Our study was conducted to determine if SB added to the diet of sows during the last 2 mo of gestation and the 4 wk of lactation may contribute to support the health and performance of their piglets before and after weaning.

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  • Aug
    24
    Interpretive Summary: Postbiotic effects of Lactobacillus fermentate on intestinal health, mucosa-associated microbiota, and growth efficiency of nursery pigs challenged with F18+Escherichia coli


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    Newly weaned pigs are susceptible to multiple stressors that may lead to postweaning diarrhea, thereby causing significant economic losses in the swine industry. Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli strains are the major agents causing diarrhea in newly weaned pigs.

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  • Aug
    24
    Interpretive Summary: Improvement in feed efficiency and reduction in nutrient loading from rainbow trout farms: the role of selective breeding


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    Resource efficiency, the ratio of inputs to outputs, is essential for both the economic and environmental performance of aquaculture. The data from commercial rainbow trout farms showed that from 1980 onwards, the farm-level feed conversion ratio (FCR) improved by 53.4%, and the specific nitrogen and phosphorus loading from the farms decreased by over 70%.

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  • Aug
    24
    Interpretive Summary: Sensory attributes, dog preference ranking, and oxidation rate evaluation of sorghum-based baked treats supplemented with soluble animal proteins


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    Treats are commonly given to dogs to create a better relationship with the owner. Most treats on the market are baked and wheat based as this grain has gluten that provides good texture attributes and facilitates production.

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  • Aug
    24
    Interpretive Summary: Oral microbiota populations of adult dogs consuming wet or dry foods


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    Canned wet foods are often blamed for poor oral health in dogs, but comparison between wet and dry foods is not commonly done. We used 12 healthy adult dogs to determine differences in oral health measures, breath odor, and oral bacteria populations of dogs consuming wet or dry foods.

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  • Aug
    24
    Interpretive Summary: Impact of prepartum administration of a vaccine against infectious calf diarrhea on nonspecific colostral immunoglobulin concentrations of dairy cows


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    Unlike human babies, calves do not receive protective immune proteins (immunoglobulins) from the mother before birth, so a sufficient volume of immunoglobulin-rich colostrum of adequate quality must be consumed within hours of birth. It can be a challenge to meet this requirement for all dairy calves.

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  • Aug
    11
    Interpretive Summary: Effects of in ovo injection of nicotinamide riboside on high-yield broiler myogenesis


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    Broiler chicken weight gain is a result of genetics and nutrition, with increased muscle mass attributed to accelerated embryonic myogenesis and posthatch muscle growth. During the avian incubation period, in ovo injection may be used as a strategy to deliver exogenous supplements into growing embryos for improving skeletal muscle development and growth.

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  • Aug
    11
    Interpretive Summary: Short Communication: Beta-adrenergic agonists alter oxidative phosphorylation in primary myoblasts


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    Beta-adrenergic agonists (β-AAs) are supplemented to pigs and cattle to improve growth performance, carcass weight, and loin muscle area. Little is known about the mechanism taking place within individual cells by which β-AAs achieve this outcome.

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  • Aug
    11
    Interpretive Summary: Short Communication: Supplementation with calcium butyrate causes an increase in the percentage of oxidative fibers in equine gluteus medius muscle


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    The largest tissue in the body, skeletal muscle, is a heterogeneous mix of fibers that are categorized based on their primary source of energy production and speed of contraction. Evidence suggests that Thoroughbred horses with a greater percentage of type IIA, fast-twitch, oxidative fibers are more successful than those with fewer.

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  • Aug
    11
    Interpretive Summary: The impact of Zearalenone on heat-stressed skeletal muscle in pigs


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    Heat stress (HS) and Zearalenone (ZEN), a toxic feed contaminant, affect growth, production efficiency, and animal welfare, and can cause death. As HS and ZEN independently increase oxidative stress, an imbalance of free radical production and clearance, and the likelihood of ZEN contamination during heat events, we hypothesized concomitant exposure would induce oxidative stress in pig skeletal muscle more than either agent alone.

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