Reading Time: 2 minutes Paris | Reuters — Poland has reported several outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu at poultry farms with flocks totalling nearly 650,000 birds, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) said on Monday. Poland is the European Union’s largest poultry producer. Five outbreaks, of which four were at fattening turkey farms and one at […] Read more
EU’s bird flu outbreaks reach Poland
Country's outbreaks hit farms totalling 650,000 birds
Germany reports first suspected case of African swine fever
German producers currently exporting pork to China
Reading Time: 2 minutes Berlin | Reuters — Germany’s ministry of food and agriculture said on Wednesday it had a suspected case of African swine fever (ASF) in a wild boar in the eastern state of Brandenburg. The suspected case concerned a wild boar carcass found near the German-Polish border. A sample of the carcass was being taken for […] Read more
African swine fever spreads near German border
Reading Time: 2 minutes Paris | Reuters — Poland recorded 55 outbreaks of African swine fever in wild boar near the German border last month, the world animal health body said on Thursday, in a sign the deadly virus is spreading near one of the European Union’s biggest pork exporters. A report posted on the World Organization for Animal […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hogs extend slide, fall below seven-week lows
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures slid for the third consecutive session on Thursday and touched their lowest prices in more than seven weeks on concerns about increasing supplies, traders said. The market has weakened since contracts set multi-month highs on Oct. 1 amid worries about meat supplies swelling due to […] Read more
France to the rescue as drought hits EU barley crop
Reading Time: 2 minutes Hamburg | Reuters — Drought has seriously damaged barley harvests in northern Europe, potentially tightening supplies of animal feed and malt for beer brewing, but a decent crop in France could save the day, experts said on Thursday. “There are painful crop losses in Germany, Poland, Britain and Scandinavia,” one German trader said. “The volume […] Read more
University sets its sights on fusarium
This major U of M lab program hopes to stop fusarium before it starts
Reading Time: 4 minutes Protecting crops from the ravages of fusarium is a never-ending job for investigators like Dr. Dilantha Fernando and his staff at the University of Manitoba. The most common species of the pathogen is fusarium graminearum, commonly known as fusarium head blight (FHB) or fusarium scab. It’s a cereal crop pathogen that has become the most […] Read more
Poland’s top court says ban on kosher slaughter unconstitutional
Reading Time: < 1 minute Warsaw | Reuters — Poland’s top court ruled Wednesday a ban on traditional Jewish slaughter methods was unconstitutional, bringing relief to Jews in a country scarred by Nazi Germany’s Holocaust. A previous 2012 court verdict had effectively banned Jewish production of kosher meat, backing animal rights groups who said it was cruel to kill animals […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
