On Saturday, officials of the company that owns the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus announced that it will close in May, ending a 146-year run that dates back to a time before automobiles or airplanes or movies, when Ulysses S. Grant was president and minstrel shows were popular entertainment. What killed the circus? There are many suspects: increased railroad costs. [node:read-more:link]
Study reveals negative sustainability implications of ‘slower growing’ raising methods; NCC supports more research on chicken welfare. A study released January 11 by the NCC details the environmental, economic and sustainability implications of raising slower growing chickens, revealing a sharp increase in chicken prices and the use of environmental resources - including water, air, fuel and land. NCC also calls for more research on the health impact of chickens' growth rates, to ensure that the future of bird health and welfare is grounded in scientific, data-backed research. [node:read-more:link]
New deboning facility to employ 1,100 people and provide opportunity for 100 contract growers.Sanderson Farms has opened a new $155 million poultry processing plantand wastewater treatment facility in St. Pauls, North Carolina.This new 180,000-square-foot plant will accompany the existing 65,000-square-foot hatchery located in Lumberton, North Carolina, as well as a feed mill in Kinston, North Carolina., making it the company’s eleventh fully integrated poultry processing facility nationwide. [node:read-more:link]
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in the United States, approximately three million high school graduates, and more than a million college graduates, will make up a massive “youth workforce” entering the job market in 2017 - this is particularly relevant as America’s workforce potential is certain to be highlighted this Friday at the inauguration of America’s 45th President, and as a new Congress and administration make a renewed commitment to prioritizing job creation across the country. Although 32 percent of people’s first jobs are in the retail industry, the nu [node:read-more:link]
A patent application from General Mills shows it is experimenting with legumes such as chickpeas, adzuki beans, fava beans and lentils to create non-dairy ‘milks;' eggless mayonnaise and dips; and cultured legume based products such as cheeses, yogurts, kefir and ice cream. [node:read-more:link]
Unable to find enough workers to carry out the painstaking tasks of milk production, dairy producers in South Dakota hope to tap into a different labor force: unemployed residents of Puerto Rico. It could be a tonic both for dairy operators and Puerto Rico, where the jobless rate stands at 12 percent but workers are far freer to travel to the U.S. for jobs than immigrants due to the island's status as a U.S. territory. South Dakota dairy farms produced 209 million pounds of milk in 2016, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service. [node:read-more:link]
A coalition of health and environmental groups is asking Oregon officials to investigate construction of a mega-dairy in Morrow County. It's unclear whether state agencies will sign off on the controversial 30,000-cow dairy farm. It hasn't been determined whether Lost Valley Ranch broke the law by breaking ground long before it secured the necessary permits. [node:read-more:link]
In one end of the long green warehouse come heaps of powdery, malodorous chicken manure. Out the other goes garden-ready fertilizer sold to golf courses or companies like Scotts, which bag it and markets it as Miracle Gro Organic Choice and other products. Supporters say the Perdue AgriRecycle facility a few miles from the Maryland state line is one solution for chicken farmers on the Eastern Shore who need to get rid of manure. Along with the chicken litter, Perdue receives hundreds of thousands of state taxpayer dollars each year. [node:read-more:link]
USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection service has issued a notice providing instructions to FSIS Public Health Veterinarians (PHVs), inspection program personnel (IPP) and District Veterinary Medical Specialists (DVMSs) about assessing and informing official livestock establishments whether their written systematic approach for humane handling and slaughter meets the criteria for being a robust plan or not. [node:read-more:link]
The United States announced an end to a ban on imports of French beef that was in place for 19 years on concerns over bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), the European Commission said Friday. France becomes the fourth European country under BSE-related restrictions to receive the nod from the U.S., which earlier reopened to Ireland, Lithuania and the Netherlands. [node:read-more:link]
