Generally speaking, the fiscal cliff—also called “Taxageddon” in some circles—is the perfect storm when (or if) the Bush-era tax cuts expire at the end of 2012 and automatic government spending cuts to over 1,000 programs take effect at the beginning of 2013.

Ever wonder what that “guaranteed tender” sticker on beef packages at the store means? In the past, the definition varied from location to location or packer to packer. USDA has stepped in, however, and now requires specific, provable, consistent definitions to back claims of tenderness.

For three months now, Indonesian customs officials have impounded an estimated 2,500 tons of frozen beef at the Jakarta port on the northwestern tip of the country. The beef originated from the U.S., Australia and New Zealand. The move came on the grounds of exceeded import quotas.

Halloween saw the oneyear anniversary of MF Global’s spectacular collapse and declaration of bankruptcy. And while the frights of that experience might be gone along with the trick-or-treaters, the injuries it caused to the agricultural industry remain in the form of shaken confidence and lost trust.

Undercover coverage in the modern food chain is nothing new to the American public. Covert videos taken on farms down to misdeeds in high-end kitchens are readily available online. But the tradition Upton Sinclair made popular with “The Jungle” might have seen its youngest addition yet: a 10-year-old with a pocket camera.

Both the most recent Cattle on Feed report and the most recent Cold Storage report shows cattle and beef down. For the Cattle on Feed report, the numbers were down as expected, but they were well below industry expectations and surprising.

Of the 674 votes, 47 percent were in favor of the increase and 53 percent were against it. Reportedly, the 53 percent no vote represented 49 percent of the marketed cattle in the state while the 47 percent yea vote represented 51 percent of the state’s cattle.

The Feral Hog Community of Practice’s ongoing hog webinar program seeks to educate livestock producers of the health dangers feral hogs represent. Joseph Corn, Ph.D.

Nearly 12 years after female and Hispanic farmers initiated a lawsuit against USDA for discrimination, a claims resolution program has been created to address the issue.

The recall of beef processed in the XL Lakeside packing plant, owned by XL Foods and located in Brooks, Alberta, Canada, began back in mid-September because of possible E. coli 0157:H7 contamination. Since then, the recall has been expanded nearly two-dozen times to include thousands of products distributed all across Canada and in 41 different U.