Take a look back at some of the top headlines from the previous week, March 10-14.
1.National Pork Board increases PEDV research funding
The National Pork Board is supplying an additional $1 million in funding to fight the spread of PEDv.
The money was collected from supplemental pork checkoff funding and through a new agreement with Genome Alberta.
The project will unite swine, feed and veterinary groups to better understand transmission of and immunity to the virus.
2.US meat exports up from last year
Even with beef exports below last year, this country’s total 2014 exports of all meats will top those of 2013.
Despite cutbacks in this year’s beef exports, the total shipments of all U.S. meats will be up this year.
Agriculture Department Outlook Chair Gerry Bange has added 75 million pounds to his total meat export forecast for the year, taking it up to just under 16 billion pounds – 1 percent more than last year.
3.ASA recognizes Sen. Debbie Stabenow
Soybean producers recognized one of the key authors of the Agriculture Act of 2014, Sen. Debbie Stabenow.
The American Soybean Association chose her for the Soy Champion Award, which they presented to her on Wednesday, March 12 in Washington, D.C.
She represented a lot of the tings that the American Soybean Association wanted in the farm bill and worked very hard to basically get the things that we wanted to do, carried the water really, for a lot of those issues,” said ASA Vice President Wade Callen.
4.Recent rain not enough to ease California drought
Despite recent storms in California, dry weather could last through the end of the month, says a United States Department of Agriculture meteorologist.
“Given the current snow pack numbers from California, looking at the California Department of Water Resources figures, only eight inches of liquid has accumulated in the Sierra Nevada snow pack. That’s about 30 percent of average for mid-March. And it is not going to change much. In fact we’ll lose a little bit of ground in the next couple of weeks because of no snow expected and warm weather could melt away a little bit of that snow prematurely,” said USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey.
5.Western Sports Roundup headlines
There was plenty to cover this week in your Western Sports Roundup.
The Diamonds and Dirt Barrel Horse Classic paid some of the biggest amounts available to barrel racers.
The Four Sixes Ranch NCHA Eastern Regionals Championships produced some standout cutting runs.
The PBR’s Guilherme Marchi rode his 500th bull in Phoenix over the weekend.
Check out all the recent headlines here.
