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1. WTO authorizes $1B in COOL retaliation
By Jacqui Fatka
Feedstuffs
December 7, 2015
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has authorized Canada and Mexico to place tariffs on over $1 billion of American-made goods in retaliation for the country of origin labeling law being incompliant with WTO standards.
COOL law, first authorized in the 2002 Farm Bill and amended in the 2008 Farm Bill, requires meat labels detailing where livestock were born, raised and slaughtered. This announcement is the final step in a WTO dispute that has been ongoing for over seven years. Despite efforts by the USDA to amend the rule, the WTO has repeatedly ruled that the U.S. COOL rule discriminates against imported livestock in violation of our trade agreements.
The WTO determined that the COOL measure "increases the record-keeping burden from imported livestock entailed by the original COOL measure." Furthermore, the panel noted that "between 57.7% and 66.7% of beef and between 83.5% and 84.1% of pork muscle cuts consumed in the U.S. convey no consumer information on origin despite imposing an upstream recordkeeping burden on producers and processors that has a detrimental impact on competitive opportunities for imported livestock."
The WTO approved concessions up to $227.758 million annually for Mexico and $1.054 billion Canadian dollars. Canada has announced a comprehensive list of products they intend to retaliate against, including not only U.S. beef and pork, but grains, fruits and manufactured goods. Under WTO retaliation procedures Canada and Mexico can also carousel the products they retaliate against, choosing to target certain products during parts of the year. That would maximize the damage to the entire U.S. economy.
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2. Chronic wasting disease confirmed in Fremont County [WY}
Associated Press
SheridanMedia.com
December 7, 2015
RIVERTON, Wyo. (AP) - State wildlife officials have confirmed the presence of chronic wasting disease in a hunt area near Lander.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department said it found the disease in a white-tailed doe in deer hunt area 171. Staff at the department's wildlife disease laboratory in Laramie confirmed the finding.
The Riverton Ranger reports that chronic wasting disease is a fatal neurological disease that affects deer, elk and moose; it was first detected in wild populations in Wyoming in 1987.
The disease also was found this year in a bull elk northeast of Saratoga, in a white-tailed buck southwest of Cody; at Devils Tower National Monument; and in a white-tailed deer near Big Horn.
Game and Fish recommends people not eat deer, elk or moose that test positive for chronic wasting.
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3. Surprising Link Between Egg Colour and Hen Disease Resistance
ThePoultrySite.com
December 7, 2015
NETHERLANDS - Selecting healthier chickens using a newly discovered immune characteristic could lead to changes in eggshell colour, scientists from Wageningen University in the Netherlands have said.
Whilst the eggshell colour is affected, breeding for a more robust laying hen has minimal negative consequences on production, the researchers concluded in the journals PLOS ONE and Poultry Science.
In 2012, housing of chicken in individual cages was banned in the EU, because of welfare issues. Nowadays, chickens are group housed on sand with space to move around freely.
However, this new system also brings new challenges to keeping poultry: in this new system chickens get more easily infected through sick flock mates, or through the dirtier environment. Preventing or treating these infections is becoming more difficult, due to stringent legislation and limitations set on the use of antibiotics.
There is an increased need for a robust laying hen: a chicken that maintains egg production and health, under varying and challenging environments. The scientists said breeding for improved general disease resistance could be that strategy to get this robust chicken.
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4. NOTICE: Comments on Equine Infectious Anemia by January 22, 2016
USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Bulletin
December 4, 2015
APHIS Veterinary Services (VS) recently hosted a discussion group seeking input on approaches for equine infectious anemia (EIA) control. The summary document from the EIA Discussion Group is posted at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal-health/equine-health-eia. VS is soliciting additional public comment about EIA through January 22, 2016. We will use the input we receive from these comments and the discussion group to formulate recommendations for EIA control. Please submit comments via email to vs.sprs.equine.health@aphis.usda.gov.
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5. LMU-CVM holds Annual Research Day
Claiborne Progress
December 5, 2015
Lincoln Memorial University-College of Veterinary Medicine (LMU-CVM) held its first Research Day at the Hamilton Math and Science Building on Nov. 13. Over 200 students, faculty and staff attended the event as well as faculty from the University of Kentucky.
Kicking off the event, Dr. David Horohov, chair of the Department of Veterinary Science and director of the Gluck Equine Research Center at the University of Kentucky (UK) and professor of immunology at LMU-CVM spoke about available research opportunities to veterinary students. Dr. Craig Carter, director of the University of Kentucky Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (UKVDL), a full service animal health diagnostic facility, also shared information about research projects and the UKVDL facility. A keynote presentation on Equine Sperm Lipidomics was made by Dr. Paul Wood, professor of pharmacology at LMU-CVM. The day concluded with poster presentations from 12 students on their summer research projects.
"We are most appreciative of the strong support of Dr. Horohov and Dr. Carter and their faculty who participated in the student research and in the presentations. Research day highlighted the integration of research that has resulted from the cooperative agreement between University of Kentucky and LMU," said Dr. Glen F. Hoffsis, dean of LMU-CVM.
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6. Texas Tech Planning to Open a Vet School
By Matthew Watkins
Texas Tribune
December 4, 2015
Citing student demand and growing industry needs, the Texas Tech University System announced Friday that it will seek to open a veterinary medicine school in the coming years.
If successful, the new school would be the state's second, but the Tech system will need approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and funding from the Legislature to move ahead. And it may have to ward off resistance from the one university that already has a vet school: Texas A&M.
"Addressing the veterinary education needs in Texas is crucial not only because of the region's and state's deep-rooted history with agriculture and ranching but also because of its continued prosperity," said Tech Chancellor Robert L. Duncan.
Details of Tech's plans are scant. System officials said they don't know where it would be located, although they said Amarillo is a promising site. No targeted opening date has been disclosed.
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7. Purdue Touts Vet School Impact
By Andy Ober, Assistant Managing Editor
Inside Indiana Business
December 4, 2015
WEST LAFAYETTE - Purdue University says its College of Veterinary Medicine and its alumni generate hundreds of millions of dollars in economic impact for Indiana. A study from Purdue Extension's Community Development Program estimates the school had an economic output of more than $470 million in 2014, and supported more than 1,700 jobs.
The study suggests more than 60 percent of Indiana's veterinarians and 30 percent of the state's registered veterinary technicians are Purdue alumni. Indiana has a large animal health market. The school says more than half of the state's households own a pet. In addition, Indiana has more than 22,400 farms producing poultry, livestock and related products.
According to the report, the college itself generated $220.2 million in economic output in Indiana in 2014, with alumni generating $256.7 million. The school says the jobs supported by the college pay approximately $52,400 per worker. The study suggests the college and its alumni produced an estimated $28.6 million in state and local government tax revenues.
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