The National Pork Producers Council led livestock and farm groups in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to fight back against activist attacks on pork producers’ fundamental due process rights and the regulatory foundation of modern livestock production. Earlier this year, a large number of national and state activist groups, led by Food & Water Watch (including Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network) filed a lawsuit before the court against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Biden Administration. These groups seek fundamental changes to EPA’s concentrated animal feeding operation rules, including that the law should presume pig and other livestock farmers are discharging pollutants into Waters of the United States in violation of the Clean Water Act. They have asked the court to remove application of the long established and congressionally developed exemption for agricultural stormwater from animal fee
Kansas State University researchers and representatives of Kansas Wheat have published updated findings on the value of feeding wheat to pigs. What they’ve found is good news for swine producers and wheat growers. “Our data collected from 2014 to 2020 suggests that wheat’s mean energy content is 99% and 98% of corn for digestible energy and metabolizable energy, respectively” said Joel DeRouchey, a swine specialist for K-State Research and Extension. Bottom line: Wheat can be used at a similar rate as corn in those areas where wheat is available, without a major decrease in the diet energy density. “The use of wheat co-products for the milling industry is a common practice in feeding livestock,” DeRouchey said. “For wheat, there are many different classifications of co-products, such as wheat middlings, wheat millrun, wheat shorts and wheat red dog.” K-State formed a partnership with Kansas Wheat to update what is known about the nutritional value of wheat and wheat co-products.
KENT Nutrition Group says they are taking their decades-long commitment to real-world solutions for swine producers to new levels with the release of Nexgen Advanced swine feeds. According to the company, this rebranded line of swine products includes all stages of animal development and combines more than a decade’s worth of performance enhancements, continuous improvements and recent research. “Our ongoing, intense research showed we could improve upon our already strong formulas,” Jim Smith, senior technical swine nutritionist at KENT Nutrition Group, said in a release. “We saw improvements in average daily gain, cost per gain and net return and we want our hog producer customers to have these advantages.” The rebranded line includes improved formulas for over 50 products using the research conducted by Michael Edmonds, vice president, swine nutrition, KNG, at the KENT Research Farm in Muscatine, Iowa. Examples of the research-based pig starter changes include removing fish mea
The Iowa Pork Producers Association (IPPA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Brielle Smeby as its new Producer Outreach Director. Smeby, a 2023 graduate of Iowa State University with a major in Animal Science, brings a wealth of experience and a deep passion for the agriculture industry to her new role. She spent the past year as IPPA’s Program and Events Manager. Having grown up on her parents' nursery-to-finish farm in Klemme, Iowa, Smeby has been actively involved in various aspects of pork production, including working with show pigs, weaner pigs, and conducting vaccinations. Her upbringing instilled in her a strong desire to contribute to the agricultural community. “I want to use this position to bring more producers into the association,” Smeby said. “It would be great to have more producers connect with IPPA and utilize the resources we have. The association is here for any questions they have about their farm or industry issues. Reach out to us. We are here to suppor
Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan, through its canadianfoodfocus.org web site, has released the first of a series of videos to help non-farming consumers relate to farmers and life on the farm
