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To satisfy Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) inspectors, feed mill employees should know and be able to explain the reasoning behind all the steps in an animal feed safety plan, said Cassandra Jones, Ph.D., associate professor at Kansas State University, in an interview after her presentation at the Feed and Pet Food Joint Conference, on September 19 in St. Louis. Jones has observed a recurring problem when she helps feed mill facilities preparing for FSMA inspections. [node:read-more:link]

On a recent trip to Europe I had the opportunity to visit some free-range layer houses. The barns look much like the other layer houses that I saw on my visit, they just had the “dog doors” on the side of the house. Just like “pasture-raised” hen farms in the U.S., there are no barriers to exposure to rodents, birds or insects for hens outside the house. I couldn’t help but think of the lengths that U.S. egg producers go to, whether in houses equipped with cages or aviaries, to keep rodents and flies out of their houses. [node:read-more:link]

As Costco is set to be the first U.S. retailer to integrate its meat supply to the farm level, a new report from CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange Division predicts that other food retailers and foodservice companies may be prompted to reevaluate their own supply chain integration opportunities.
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As the rivers trapped them inside their blacked-out town, the dwindling families of Ivanhoe collected rain to drink in plastic pitchers and flushed the toilets with buckets of rust-colored hurricane floodwater. They salvaged thawing chicken from their broken freezers and cooked it over wood fires. They handed out headlamps at bedtime so their family members could find the bathroom in the bottomless dark. [node:read-more:link]

Trade disruptions in Iowa looking at soybeans, pork and corn combined will impact the Iowa economy somewhere in the range of $1.68 billion to $2.216 billion looking at direct effects and additional related losses in different sectors of the economy. Iowa State University's Center for Agricultural and Rural Development looked at historical trade patterns, income and changes to the futures market to peg the near-term impacts of tariffs and trade disruptions on the state. [node:read-more:link]

By Thursday afternoon, state estimates for the total number of North Carolina farm animal lives lost during Hurricane Florence and her aftermath had risen to 3.4 million birds and 5,500 pigs. The storm’s environmental impacts were beginning to come into focus, too: 57 hog waste lagoons had flooded, breached, or “overtopped,” and an additional 75 were in danger of overflowing. On Thursday morning, Duke Energy issued a high-level emergency alert as waters at a retired power plant flooded a lake adjacent to three coal-ash dumps. [node:read-more:link]

Vladimir Mishurov transformed the remnants of the “Lenin’s Path” collective farm in this village into a profitable business. He also helped make Russia the world’s largest wheat exporter for the first time since the last years of the czars. Over the past decade or so, Mr. Mishurov replaced his aging Russian equipment with a dozen high-tech machines from John Deere and other makers, and started using powerful new fertilizers and seeds. [node:read-more:link]

Forecasts for heavy rain in the Upper Midwest for the final days of the official 2018 summer season have been verified -- and the result is not favorable for harvest. From eastern South Dakota to across northern Iowa, southern Minnesota and into southern Wisconsin, rainfall of 2 to 5 inches has flooded fields, delayed harvest and leads to potential for crop loss. About 10% of total U.S. corn and soybean production is in the area hit by the storms. [node:read-more:link]

The safety of the American food supply is one of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s highest priorities. A key part of our work in this space focuses on implementing the principles and measures of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The actions directed by FSMA are designed to prevent foodborne illness and food safety problems from happening. As part of these efforts, we conduct surveys that involve collecting a robust sample of certain food commodities available in the U.S. marketplace to monitor for the presence of foodborne pathogens. [node:read-more:link]

With farm income having dropped and continuing to decline, there is beginning to be more attention paid to the level of debt in the U.S. farm sector.  This week we will examine some of the broad trends in debt use. Today, the total indebtedness stands at $407 billion.  Total debt has grown steadily, increasing by 46% since 2010 (an annual compound growth of 5% per year).  The total interest cost on this debt is forecast to be $21.9 billion dollars for 2018. [node:read-more:link]