The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) has released a statement in support of the Federal Ruling on the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) New Swine Inspection Program (NSIS).

• The NSIS provides incentive – and investments – for pork producers to use science-based approaches to continuously improve and modernize their practices and ensure product quality and consistency and their workforce’s health and safety.

… not between the train and the platform, but between ASF and the population. If African Swine Fever (ASF) were introduced in the US, the pork industry would face major disruptions. So what can be done about it?

• A study recently conducted with two Midwest pork harvest facilities aimed to determine the input and output pathways of ASF virus introduction and spread, and assign priorities. 

⚠️ Overall, six input and 16 output pathways were found.

• Those include people, vehicles, wa...

For years we have used ingredient databases such as the NRC to estimate nutrient levels for formulating diets for our pigs, but what if I told you that there is another database out there with recently updated values that also has some modeling capabilities? In this episode with Dr. Phillip Miller, we talk about a database he and his colleageus have been working on, the National Animal Nutrition Program, that has new ingredient compostion information and many other capabilities that can help nut...

Pork producers have a lot to be proud of when it comes to sustainable production practices – says Ashley McDonald, Vice President of Sustainability for the National Pork Board (NPB). Now it’s time to quantify it through some grants… 

• The NPB is tied to three grants totaling $155 million in USDA Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities funding. They are part of the $2.8 billion awarded to 70 selected projects in the first round of funding for the program.

🔍 In short…

The aim of ...

Smithfield Foods Inc. has agreed to pay $75 million to settle a lawsuit by consumers. The meat producer and several competitors had been accused of conspiring to inflate prices in the US pork market by limiting supply.

• We’ve talked about this before – catch up here.

The Smithfield spokesman said the company denies responsibility in agreeing to settle; and that the accord reduces the distraction, risk, and cost of prolonging the suit, besides eliminating a substantial portion of Smith...

California governor Gavin Newsom has signed a new law designed to help reduce the state’s estimated amassing number of feral hogs. Senate Bill 856 will: 

• Allow licensed hunters to kill an unlimited number of wild pigs;
• Lower the tag prices for hog hunting;
• Legalize the hunting of wild pigs at night;
• Prohibit the intentional release of pigs to live in the wild.

It’s hoped that the law will allow for better population control and habitat management, ensuring better security for the ...

Ironically, reporting wild pig sightings is wildly easy now! Sightings can be automatically sent to Squeal on Pigs using the free Farm Health Guardian app.

• This innovation is the result of a new collaboration among the Manitoba Invasive Swine Eradication Project, Manitoba Pork, and Farm Health Guardian.

• Squeal on Pigs MB was launched earlier this year to get a better understanding of the wild pig population in the province of Manitoba, Canada. 

🐗 Since it’s suspected that the...