USDA Builds on Actions to Protect Livestock and Public Health From H5N1 Avian Influenza

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is planning to enhance national surveillance of H5N1 on dairy farms, building on measures taken by USDA since the beginning of the avian influenza outbreak. In partnership with state veterinarians, USDA will implement a tiered strategy to collect milk samples to better assess where H5N1 is present on U.S. dairy farms, with the goal to better inform biosecurity and containment measures, as well as to inform state-led efforts to reduce...

Nellie’s Free Range Unveils a New Campaign Aimed at Educating Misinformed Consumers

Nellie's Free Range, the #1 free-range brand in the U.S. and part of the Pete & Gerry’s family, today unveiled its new brand campaign, "Life’s Better Out Here," highlighting the company’s commitment to the highest standards of animal welfare, and educating consumers on the critical differences between cage-free and free-range eggs.

The campaign features children, fueled by Nellie’s eggs, who are permitted to let their bodies (and imaginations) run free outdoors, drawing a parallel to how the brand believes hens should live. The spots...

Illinois Senator Proposes Cage-Free Law

Illinois State Senator and Chairperson of the Senate's Agriculture, Commerce and Economic Development Committee, Linda Holmes, proposed a bill that prohibits intense confinement of egg laying hens and the sale of eggs from caged hens.

Senate Bill 3655 has been referred to the Senate Committee on Assignments and would be enforced by the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

The bill would require farm owners to offer hens the usable floor space per hen required as outlined in the 2017 edition of the United Egg Producers' Animal Husbandry Guidelines for U.S. Egg-Laying Flocks...

CDFA Issues New Proposition 12 Guidance Document on Certificates

The California Department of Agriculture's (CDFA) Animal Care Program has issued a new guidance document to aid stakeholders in distinguishing between the various certificates issued for Proposition 12 compliance.

Proposition 12 (2018) went fully into effect on January 1, 2024. The law prohibits the sale of shell eggs, liquid eggs, whole pork meat, or whole veal meat in California from animals that fail to comply with specific standards for freedom of movement, cage-free design, and specified minimum floor space. 

The Supreme Court upheld Proposition 12...

Farmers Concerned About Effects of California's New Animal Welfare Law

A new animal welfare law going into effect in California Jan. 1 that mandates space requirements for pigs, cows and chickens has some livestock farmers on edge.

Proposition 12 prohibits sales in California of pork, veal and eggs from livestock whose confinement doesn't meet certain minimum space rules. Those rules mandate hog pens to be large enough for an animal to turn around.

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the law, ruling 5-4 that "while the Constitution addresses many weighty issues, the type of pork chops California merchants...

Prop 12 Enforcement Begins: Landmark Crate-Free Animal Welfare Law Fully Implemented in New Year

Beginning January 1, 2024, fresh pork sold in California and Massachusetts must be gestation-crate free as the two states’ historic animal welfare laws—Proposition 12 and Question 3—are fully implemented and enforceable. Humane animal care leader Niman Ranch is 100% audited, compliant and ready for implementation with available supply of crate-free, Certified Humane® fresh pork raised sustainably and without antibiotics by independent family farmers.

“The best resolution the pork industry and consumers can make this new year is to commit to...

duBreton Farms are Now Certified by the California Animal Care Program (Prop12)

As a leader in animal welfare, duBreton is proud to announce that they are one of the first companies to be certified and ready for the implementation of California's Proposition 12 which restricts gestation crate usage and requires 24 square feet of space per sow.

"Today, we take another step forward, since we are not just compliant, but fully audited and ready for California's Proposition 12, which goes into effect on January 1st, 2024," declared Vincent Breton, CEO...

NCBA Secures Senate Introduction of Legislation to Protect Producers from Black Vultures

This week, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) hailed the introduction of the Senate version of the Black Vulture Relief Act introduced by Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), a companion bill to legislation introduced in the House of Representatives earlier this year that protects cattle producers from the devastating impacts of black vulture depredation.

“Black vultures are particularly nasty predators, and their attacks can be financially devastating to small, family-owned cattle operations,” said NCBA Policy Division Chair Gene Copenhaver, a Virginia cattle producer...