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NCBA Vice President Testifies Before House Ag Committee

The U.S. House Committee on Agriculture held a hearing yesterday to review the state of the livestock industry. Witnesses included U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and NCBA Vice President Todd Wilkinson, a rancher from South Dakota, who was among a panel of livestock producers who testified. Wilkinson said Congress needs to focus on incentivizing expansion of packing capacity and avoid mandates that could interfere with producers’ choice in marketing their cattle. He also cautioned Congress against adopting the Biden administration’s attempt to repeal stepped-up basis and force recognition of capital gains at death. 

In addition, Kansas Congressman Tracey Mann questioned Vilsack about the legality of USDA’s announced intention to remove harm to competition as a requirement to prove a violation of section 202 of the Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA). Mann raised the concern that removing the harm to competition requirement would convert PSA from a tool to ensure equal opportunity to one that ensures equal outcomes. 

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Season 6, Episode 3: Manure Handling Connections Between PRRSV and PEDV

Video: Season 6, Episode 3: Manure Handling Connections Between PRRSV and PEDV

Biosecurity is vital to any swine operation, and manure handling can pose serious potential risks. Research from Ana Paula Serafini Poeta Silva, a research scientist from the College of Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State University, studied the association between manure management practices and disease outbreaks, Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV) and Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV). On today’s episode, she highlights the analysis on improving pumping procedures and which disease showed a stronger association in wean-to-market pigs