While May was expected to be the month in which U.S. pork exports were most affected by A-H1N1 influenza, the effect has not been as negative as some analysts had predicted, according to an analysis of USDA statistics by the U.S. Meat Export Federation. At the same time, U.

Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) Director Greg Ibach last week announced the numbers for the sixth week of testing in the ongoing bovine tuberculosis (TB) case. All TB test results have been negative on the approximately 8,800 head of cattle tested between June 15 and July 19.

Three new University of Nebraska Lincoln (UNL) research projects underway at the Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory (GSL) near Whitman seek to reduce feed cost while maintaining benefits.

A.J. Smith Jr., the 24-year editor of the Oklahoma Cowman magazine, knew of and was known by thousands of cattle producers in Oklahoma as well as other states. Saturday, July 25, Smith suffered an aneurysm during the Oklahoma Cattlemens Association state convention in Midwest City, OK, and died.

A study of prices received on calves sold through seven video auction sales in 2008 reveals that cattle producers received the highest premiums since 1995 on VAC45 and VAC PreCon calves, and the second highest premium on VAC34 calves. Fourteen years of Pfizer Animal Health price data shows an increasing value for preconditioned calves.

A new yeast that makes ethanol from both five-carbon and six-carbon sugars without needing oxygen has been developed by an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist. This could be an important breakthrough in industrial ethanol production because its difficult to control oxygen levels as yeasts ferment sugars into ethanol.

Paul Ramirez of Tucson, AZ, displayed the fastest, most persuasive chant in the West, winning the 21st International Livestock Auctioneer Championship at the Calgary Stampedes Livestock Show and Rodeo. It was Ramirezs fifth time competing for a shot at the title.

The House of Representatives, on a 239-185 vote, recently passed a bill changing how the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is allowed to manage the nations wild horse population.

The Clean Water Restoration Act (CWRA), Senate Bill 787 (S. 787), was strongly opposed by a wide range of organizations last Wednesday at a hearing before the House Committee on Small Business.

USDA announced it is accepting applications for up to $50 million in projects to promote the continued production and use of biofuels.