Agriculture

Four of Australia’s wealthiest farming barons have launched a counterbid to prevent Chinese investors from buying the country’s largest cattle farm, S. Kidman & Co.  The BBHO consortium—comprising the families of influential Australian outback ranchers Tom Brinkworth, Sterling Buntine, Malcolm Harris and Viv Oldfield whose interests span livestock, grain and transport—said on Sunday it had secured financing to offer 386 million Australian dollars (US$294 million) for 100% of Kidman’s shares in what would be one of the country’s biggest agribusiness deals on record. [node:read-more:link]

Seaford, Del.-based chicken producer and processor Allen Harim Foods announced plans to invest $22 million to build a state-of-the art hatchery in Dagsboro, Del., that will have an egg-set capacity of 2.5 million eggs per week. [node:read-more:link]

A glut of U.S. pork at a time when Chinese imports are slowing will pressure global pork prices in the months ahead, Rabobank said in its latest quarterly pork report.  “Prospects for 2017 are weak, with global trade expected to stabilize and all main producers in expansion mode, making supply discipline key to the outlook," Rabobank animal protein analyst Albert Vernooij said. [node:read-more:link]

A local tax incentive package totaling some $2.3 million over the next six years will help Mountaire Farms reopen and possibly expand a former Townsends chicken processing plant in Siler City, N.C. The Chatham County board of commissioners approved about $1.5 million in the form of a property tax refund, and the Siler City town council also approved a property tax incentive worth about $800,000. [node:read-more:link]

The state's utility regulator is planning to spend more money on energy projects in rural Wisconsin, including a plan to help underwrite the use of systems that convert cattle manure into electricity.  The state Public Service Commission voted on Thursday to authorize at least $7.7 million in funding for rebates for solar, wind and geothermal projects around the state that would keep in place a rebate program for energy consumers. The program, Focus on Energy, provided $8.5 million in rebates over the past two years. [node:read-more:link]

The USDA has announced it will invest up to $7 million in grants for projects designed to expand wood products and wood energy markets that support sustainable forest management, especially in areas with high wildfire risk. The grants will be made available in through the U.S. Forest Service’s Wood Innovations Program.  According to the request for proposals (RFP) published to the Wood Education and Resource Center website, proposals must be submitted by Jan. 23. [node:read-more:link]

With no problems with sea lice, no risk of escape, minimal to no use of antibiotics and the same great taste and nutritional profile as other farmed Atlantic salmon, is the AquAdvantage® Salmon the perfect salmon? The Fish Site Editor Lucy Towers talks to Dr Ron Stotish, CEO of AquaBounty Technologies about its sustainable production. In a world where demand for food is growing, the Genetically Modified (GM) AquAdvantage Salmon (AAS) could be a sustainable option for meeting future dietary needs. [node:read-more:link]

Officials in Boulder County have released a plan to remove all genetically-modified crops from county-owned farmland within the next five years.  The county’s commissioners directed staffers to draft the plan following a series of heated public hearings in early 2016, where scientists argued farmers were being unfairly targeted and local activists said the crops in question threaten the county’s agricultural viability, and its reputation as an environmentally-conscious community.  The plan calls for farmers who lease county land for their operations to stop planting GMO corn within the next [node:read-more:link]

Randy Hilleman says he first heard of the new veterinary feed directive (VFD) policy earlier this year.  “I happened to be in the vet clinic not long after, and I asked about it,” he says. “I talked to our vet and figured we needed to get set up.”  Beginning Jan. 1, 2017, producers will no longer be able to use medications without veterinarian approval. Medically important drugs such as tetracycline will no longer be used as a growth promotant, according to guidelines from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). [node:read-more:link]

The International Poultry Council (IPC) said the global poultry industry will work on a coordinated effort to address antibiotic resistance in animal agriculture and will work to release a comprehensive report in the next several months in the next several months.  This issue was part of the discussions among delegates from 20 countries at the IPC’s recent conference in Estoril, Portugal.  “The International Poultry Council shares the public’s concern about antibiotic resistance, which is an issue of global significance,” IPC President Jim Sumner, president of the USA Poultry & Egg Expo [node:read-more:link]