Terry Etherton’s Blog on Hormones, Biotechnology, and Food Safety

N. Alan Bair
Director of Dairy Industry Relations
The Pennsylvania State University

I recently had the opportunity to make a short presentation to a mixed audience of local farmers and their neighbors in Perry County on the value of a dairy farm to a community. The organizers requested this topic primarily for the non-farm neighbors thinking it would give them a better appreciation of what a farm brings to the community and potentially “soften” some existing and future farm-urban conflicts. Based on the comments after my brief talk it became apparent that the farmers in the audience appreciated the information as much as their neighbors, reminding us once again that agriculture has a wonderful story to tell – but we must remember to tell it! With all the current bad news in the dairy industry, everyone appreciates hearing some positive things about the important work of producing dairy foods.

What a dairy farm brings to a community can be summarized into three main categories: Prosperity, People and the Planet.

Read the rest of this entry »

Terry D. Etherton

I had a wonderful (and sweltering) time at Ag Progress Days (APD) last week.  This is an event sponsored by the College of Agricultural Sciences and attracted about 50,000 attendees over three days.

I have been asked:  what do you do out there for three days?  A lot (more about this later)!  And, the faculty and staff in the Department of Dairy and Animal Science do a great deal to put on a variety of educational and science-based programs for APD attendees. Read the rest of this entry »

Background: Common to all fields of science and engaged scientists is their willingness to participate in the free exchange of ideas. This blog often posts such ideas in the form of existing citable scientific contributions and news items. In recent conversations among like-minded individuals regarding contemporary topics in livestock production agriculture and biotechnology, the issue of U.S. animal disease research was raised. No factor in livestock production can impact production efficiency and profitability more than a disease issue. And, in the case of a highly contagious foreign animal disease (FAD) where the U.S. would change from disease-free status to one of a FAD positive diagnosis, livestock production could be decimated in quick order. Read the rest of this entry »

From the World Health Organization

Assessing the Severity of an Influenza Pandemic

The major determinant of the severity of an influenza pandemic, as measured by the number of cases of severe illness and deaths it causes, is the inherent virulence of the virus. However, many other factors influence the overall severity of a pandemic’s impact. Read the rest of this entry »

Terry D. Etherton

A recent Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Media Release about the detection of A/H1N1 virus in pigs in Canada is presented below.  The release also was distributed by ProMED.

As a point of interest, ProMED is one of the largest publicly available emerging disease and outbreak reporting systems in the World.  Currently, ProMED posts are read by over 50,000 subscribers in over 187 countries. Read the rest of this entry »

Bob Mikesell, Ph.D.
Senior Instructor
Department of Dairy and Animal Science

Introduction

In light of the H1N1 (formerly known as swine flu) virus outbreak, consumers should have an understanding of the influenza virus from a pork producer perspective, and the steps that US swine producers routinely utilize to keep pigs healthy. Read the rest of this entry »

William Henning
Emeritus Professor of Animal and Food Science
Penn State University

Dr. Henning had a letter posted in USA Today combating myths about beef and global warming.

Here is Dr. Henning’s letter. Read the rest of this entry »

Jacob Werner, VMD
Assistant Professor of Veterinary Medicine and Dairy and Animal Science
Attending Veterinarian for Agricultural Animals and Wildlife
Animal Resource Program
Penn State University

With the media reporting increased numbers of swine flu cases daily, it is time for the swine industry to maintain and, perhaps, expand the strict biosecurity procedures already in place. Read the rest of this entry »

Terry D. Etherton

As readers of my blog have observed, I have not posted a blog for a few months.  About all that could be written about the battle over application of rbST in the dairy industry in the United States, and defending the freedom of dairy farmers to use safe and effective technologies has been discussed.  The stories currently being written by opponents of this biotechnology are simply a rehash of a rehash…nothing new.  This all has been chronicled in Terry Etherton Blog on Biotechnology. Read the rest of this entry »

Cole Hons
Penn State Outreach

UNIVERSITY PARK — For more than six years, Bradford County dairy producer Glen Gorrell has relied on Penn State Extension to help him run a profitable business. Through Extension’s Dairy Alliance program, Gorrell has long benefited from useful tips on labor management and financial stewardship at his Smithfield dairy. Over the past year, though, Penn State has helped increase Gorrell’s bottom line in a new way — by helping him keep his 570 dairy cows healthier and more productive. Read the rest of this entry »