The provincial and federal government have teamed up to contribute almost $40 million to eliminate bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) from Albertas cattle herds. The enhanced feed ban is intended to further protect animal health and accelerate Canadas progress toward eradicating BSE from the national herd. The 60:40 federal-provincial cost sharing agreements funding will go towards removing all specified risk material (SRM) which are tissues that can harbour BSE, from all animal feeds,...

In an effort to streamline its poultry division, Tyson Foods inc. said Thursday it will sell two Alabama chicken processing plants and supporting facilities -- eliminating 400 jobs in that region. Koch will run the commodity chicken processing plants, pet food facilities and cold storage warehouses in both Ashland and Gadsden, according to the release. Tyson Foods said its Gadsden plant had not been running at full capacity after five percent production cuts were made in the company's...

He's been caring for chickens since he was about 3 years old on his grandfather's chicken farm, and admits to interacting better with birds than people. Visitors to the Oakdell Egg Farm, about 10 miles north of Pasco, must don white biosuits in their vehicles before stepping into the dark 280-foot long barn to see the chicks. Walking toward the metal barn on a recent afternoon, he said the first few days are the most critical for the tiny fluffy chicks. Delivered just in time for Easter,...

The PRIME BioSolutions' fully integrated ethanol-producing facility produces 27 million gallons of ethanol from corn a year, feeds wet cake distillers grains to 25,000 to 30,000 beef cattle, collects and breaks down the manure and distillers syrup in the anaerobic digester and uses the heat produced to run the ethanol plant, replacing 90 to 100 percent of the plant's natural gas needs. The PRIME BioSolutions' fully integrated ethanol-producing facility produces 27 million gallons of...

Finding the genes and then determining which bulls could pass them along to their calves would enable cattle producers to produce calves that would show better weight gain from eating forages. The goal is to find elusive genetic markers to identify genes in cattle that are responsible for efficient growth from calves grazing forages from those in feedlots. Ninety heifers have been purchased, but further progress is on hold until there is some assurance that Congress will allocate funds for...