The USDA's monthly Consumer Price Index for Food projects that retail prices for pork, beef and poultry will fall overall for 2017, and increase by single digits next year. Pork prices were 0.8 percent lower in June 2017 than in June 2016 according to USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS). Factors, such as the lower beef prices, are driving the retail price for pork lower by 0.5 to 1.5 percent. However, the retail price for pork is expected to increase by 1.5 to 2.5 percent in 2018. The post Retail Price for Pork Lower than a Year Ago appeared first on Swineweb.com more >>

Full Interview 9:53Listen Farmscape for July 26, 2017 Livestock producers who have not already registered the locations on which they have animals are being encouraged to do so. Premise Identification Blitz Week, a national effort involving the federal and provincial governments and the various livestock commodity groups to encourage producers who have not already done so to register their operations and obtain premise identification numbers, kicked off Monday. Jeff Clark, the Manager of PigTrace Canada an initiative of the Canadian Pork Council, explains the goal is to remind livestock operators of the importance of premise identification numbers for traceability, emergency response more >>

I keep 2 data sets on weekly US slaughter weights. One is the Iowa/S Minn/SDak data series of producer sold barrow and gilt live weight (NW_LS720) and the other is a weighted weekly average of all barrow and gilt carcass weights based on the LM_HG201 report. One of the questions this summer has been the impact of reduced ractopamine use as a summer management tool to maintain sales weights on slaughter weight. As readers of this blog are aware, China has banned all pork products from pigs fed ractopamine, even when the use in the country of origin is approved and more >>

The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) today urged Congress to adopt a new long-term farm bill incorporating five broad goals and offered enhancements to USDA programs to prevent a farm credit crisis. Testifying before the Senate Agriculture Committee's “Commodities, Crop Insurance & Credit” hearing, ICBA witness Brenda Kluesner, a loan officer and crop insurance manager for Royal Bank in Cassville, Wis., advocated for Congress to adopt a dynamic new multi-year farm bill upon expiration of the current bill to provide continuity and enable agricultural producers and their lenders to engage in multi-year business decision making. Kluesner urged Congress to authorize permanent more >>

Topanga McBride from Kansas State University receives the 2017 Livestock Publications Council Forrest Bassford Student Award from Jenn Norrie, on-farm communications manager for Alltech, during the Ag Media Summit in Snowbird, Utah, July 22–26. Kansas State University student chosen for 2017 Forrest Bassford Student Award Inaugural Alltech Cultivating Young Ag Journalists Awards presented to industry professionals Young agricultural communicators are the voices of the future, and helping these passionate leaders join the global conversation is key to educating the world's consumers about where their food comes from. Alltech is proud to support young agricultural journalists at the Ag Media Summit through the Livestock more >>