The meat and dairy industries are trying to assure the public beef and milk is safe, despite the finding of dairy cattle infected with avian flu in at least two states.
USDA says the milk supply is safe. And a joint statement issued by the main dairy industry groups notes that cattle and other mammals don’t spread the virus and that it’s “extremely rare” for humans to contract the virus. Infected cattle generally recover in two to three weeks, the statement says.
Two of the infected farms are in Texas, and state Ag Commissioner Sid Miller says he doesn’t expect the operations to be depopulated.
By the way: The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association notes that USDA has been tracking the virus in mammalian wildlife for many years. Those detections are routinely reported on the USDA website. The most recent reports were in skunks in Washington state.
Chinese hackers indicted for intrusions, wire fraud
The Justice Department unveiled an indictment Monday naming seven Chinese hackers who were allegedly part of a larger scheme to illegally obtain access to internal servers at a wide range of U.S. institutions, including businesses and government agencies.
Since at least 2010, the hackers “engaged in computer network intrusion activity on behalf of the [Hubei State Security Department] targeting numerous U.S. government officials, various U.S. economic and defense industries and a variety of private industry officials, foreign democracy activists, academics and parliamentarians in response to geopolitical events” affecting the People’s Republic of China, the indictment said.
Among the targets: members of Congress, and officials at the White House, the Departments of Justice, Commerce, Treasury, State and Transportation. The hackers also sent deceptive emails to spouses of senators, as well as the spouses of high-ranking Department of Justice and White House officials.
Specifically: DOJ’s release said the individuals were charged with conspiracy both to commit computer intrusions and wire fraud. They allegedly were involved in a “PRC-based hacking group that spent approximately 14 years targeting U.S. and foreign critics, businesses, and political officials in furtherance of the PRC’s economic espionage and foreign intelligence objectives.”
Vilsack to tout new ‘climate friendly’ rice
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is in Wisconsin today to highlight a project that’s part of the Biden administration’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities. Columbia Grain International and subsidiary Enrich Foods are launching lines of white and brown rice that are being marketed as “climate friendly.”
Water-usage techniques reduce the methane emissions associated with growing the grain. According to the company, the “AgriCapture” production method reduces greenhouse gas emissions of rice by 60 to 95% and reduces water usage by up to 33%,
Tennessee rancher takes government to court over FCA appointments
A Tennessee rancher is suing President Joe Biden over a lack of two new appointments to the Farm Credit Administration board.
Maury County rancher Dustin Kittle has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Tennessee alleging that the vacancies have hindered the board’s ability to regulate lenders within the Farm Credit System.
The President is tasked with appointing candidates to serve staggered six-year stints on the three-person board, an independent agency that regulates Farm Credit System lenders. The terms of two current members, Jeffrey Hall and Glen Smith, have expired, though both continue to serve on the board until successors can be appointed, according to the FCA website.
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Chick-fil-A pulls back from ‘No Antibiotics Ever’ commitment
Chick-fil-A is backing off its 2014 commitment to serve chicken raised entirely without antibiotics and will now allow antibiotics not used in human medicine to treat birds, but “only if the animal and those around it were to become sick,” the fast-food chain announced Monday.
The 3,000-restaurant company said the decision to shift from “No Antibiotics Ever” to “No Antibiotics Important to Human Medicine” is intended to “maintain supply of the high-quality chicken you expect from us.”
The transition will begin this spring, according to the announcement.
FAO warns of Red Sea Crisis impact on Yemen
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization is urging the international community to de-escalate the crisis in the Red Sea for humanitarian reasons. The Red Sea crisis is increasing shipping costs broadly and also slowing the delivery of food to Yemen. About 90% of the staple grains Yemenis rely on must be imported.
“We cannot afford to wait until the humanitarian emergency worsens even further. This is the time to coordinate efforts and de-escalate the Red Sea crisis,” the FAO representative in Yemen, Hussein Gadain, said in an agency release. “We should facilitate an uninterrupted flow of commercial and essential humanitarian food supplies. This crisis, if not attended to, threatens to reverse the gains we have made in restoring livelihoods of Yemenis since the start of the conflict eight years ago.”
The most recent Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis indicates 45% of the population in areas controlled by the government of Yemen are considered to be in crisis – or worse. That’s 5 million people in all.
They said it: “At this stage, there is no concern about the safety of the commercial milk supply or that this circumstance poses a risk to consumer health.” – Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service news release following the detection of HPAI in dairy cows in two states, March 25, 2024.
