Author: c001os

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is suspending efforts to improve testing for highly pathogenic avian influenza due to staffing cuts throughout the Department of Health and Human Services, according to a Reuters report.

The Interlaboratory Comparison Exercise for Detecting Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza was set to launch later this month but was suspended last week because of cuts to staff at the FDA’s Human Food Program that would have supported the scientific and testing needs of the program, according to an email seen by Reuters. 

The program would have included more than 40 laboratories across FDA’s and USDA’s (U.S. Department of Agriculture) laboratory network, as well as private industry.

In February, USDA inadvertently fired agency employees who were working on the federal government’s response to the HPAI outbreak and said it was working to quickly reverse the firings. It is unclear how many of those employees have returned to USDA.

HHS announced on March 27 that it would restructure, with the reduction of 10,000 full-time employees that it said would save US$1.8 billion per year. The cuts began the first week of April. Among those cuts were more than 140 leaders and staff members at FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), many of whom are veterinarians, according to reports.

“The offices impacted by this recent reduction-in-force work on issues such as drug availability, antimicrobial resistance, animal and human food safety, disease control (including, but not limited to, avian influenza), international trade, and much more,” said American Veterinary Medical Association President Dr. Sandra Faeh.

“The work done by our veterinarian colleagues in these offices is critical to the safe and effective practice of veterinary medicine, and – ultimately – the protection of animal and public health.”

Moves to turn coal-derived methanol into a more sustainable protein source for use in the animal feed sector have been boosted All this is supported by a $1.7 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The grant has gone to University of Alberta residents who are working with a start-up Cvictus to get an edible coal-derived protein into the marketplace, replacing less eco-friendly animal feed ingredients. Their goal is to improve the technology needed to make single cell protein (SCP). The project resurrects technology first developed and approved 4 decades ago in Europe.

SCP is a nutrient-rich, low-cost substitute for fish meal and soybean meal, and lead researcher David Bressler believes it could be a “game-changer” in several ways.

“Single cell protein technology has many benefits that could redefine the face of agriculture in Canada. It’s an opportunity to produce a much more sustainable ingredient that is less expensive to make, has a much smaller carbon footprint and is scalable to production.”

Using a patented process, Cvictus is focussed on extracting hydrogen from deep coal seams without mining, converting it to produce clean methanol and then, making SCP for use in livestock feed. The leftover carbon is then captured and sequestrated back underground.

Brett Wilcox, Cvictus chief executive officer, said: “Alberta has massive energy resources, so by turning those hydrocarbon resources into protein, the potential is there to supply most of the animal feed market in Canada and the world.”

The SCP is derived from methanol drawn from hydrogen and carbon in the coal. Bacteria are grown on the methanol that are then harvested, dried and processed into livestock feed.

Wilcox said that as well as being more nutrient rich, SCP was better for the environment than the intensive operations needed to produce soybean meal.

“The world has lost about half of its forest cover, almost all for agriculture, with 77% of that land being used to grow animal feed and forage, so using SCP reduces that footprint, with massive environmental benefits. The only way to remove a high amount of CO2 from the atmosphere relatively quickly and at a large scale is mass reforestation,” he added.

China is set to receive about 3 million tons of U.S. soybeans in April-May, Reuters reported according to trade sources and shipping data. This is despite the fact that new higher tariffs on American products that are poised to choke off flows of China’s largest U.S. farm import item.

Most of the cargoes were purchased by state stockpiler Sinograin, said four sources familiar with the matter, which, they said, is likely to pay the higher duties but may nonetheless have to sell at a discount locally amid competition from cheaper beans from Brazil, the world’s biggest grower.

“We don’t expect cancellations or any major issues with these cargoes since a government company has made these purchases,” said one of Reuters’ sources, a Singapore-based trader at an international trading company. “But they can, in no way sell U.S. beans with the duty. They will have to absorb the duty.”

With China the world’s largest soybean importer and the United States the second-largest grower of the oilseed, their escalating trade war threatens to disrupt global flows of crops as each side has ratcheted up trade levies.

In early March, China imposed a 10% duty on U.S. soybean imports after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a similar duty on Chinese goods. More than 30 cargoes set to arrive in the coming weeks, totalling around 2 million tons, will be subject to that tariff, according to Reuters calculations based on Kpler data.

On Friday, China slapped an additional 34% levy on all U.S. goods in response to U.S. duties imposed on April 2. The calculations based on Kpler data show 15 vessels, carrying about 800,000 tons, are expected to arrive after May 13 and will therefore be subject to total tariffs of 44%.

Nearly 600,000 tons of U.S. soybeans purchased during the marketing year ending in August 2025 had yet to be shipped as of March 27, according to analysts, and it remains unclear if those cargoes will be shipped or cancelled.

China imported a record 105 million tons of soybeans in 2024, and top supplier Brazil is expected to deliver record-high soybean exports to China in the second quarter. With an expected record crop in Brazil this year, China is likely to meet most of its demand from the South American country in coming months.

A group of researchers from the Tomsk State University, Russia, has claimed that it has developed a promising technology for improving the biological availability of feed nutrients by including them in feed as a biomass of invertebrates.

The scientists propose feeding invertebrates, including the marbled cockroach, the house cricket, the giant Achatina, and the Californian worm, with several vitamins, minerals, and valuable nutrients. After processing, the obtained enriched biomass of invertebrates has shown signs of higher biological availability, meaning that nutrients were digested better than when consumed in the original form.

During the studies, different species showed different potential to accumulate valuable nutrients.

“The results of the analysis showed that the change in mineral composition progresses differently. It is most clearly expressed in Achatina and worms. In cockroaches and crickets, only some elements demonstrate significant growth,” commented Anastasia Simakova, one of the authors of the study.

Several different strategies have been tried during the trials. Some invertebrates were fed with only one nutrient, which was described as the method of partial enrichment, while others had a complex of different nutrients.

“Interestingly, both with partial and complex enrichment, it was possible to stably increase the level of B vitamins, fat-soluble vitamins, and vitamin C. Moreover, cockroaches accumulate them faster than anyone else,” she added.

In the end, the scientists believe they managed to develop a formula for the optimal enrichment of invertebrates to gain the best biomass.

The scientists are confident in the potential of their research to improve animal health. By consuming feed with nutrient-rich invertebrate biomass, animals will not only receive the necessary substances in an accessible form but also get a significant share of animal protein, which is essential for growth. Vitamins and minerals found in the biomass of invertebrates in an active form will also provide increased immunity of animals and a balance of necessary macro- and microelements.

Cargill Animal Nutrition and Health’s latest research involved more than 400,000 analyses across more than 150 feed plants, farm and storage locations, and found that 78% of samples contained 3 or more mycotoxins, which remains a major challenge for the industry.

According to the research, distinct regional variations were observed. For example, this year’s European research found that in Northern and Eastern Europe, there were milder fluctuations in mycotoxins and significantly lower deoxynivalenol (DON) levels in 2024 compared to the previous year. However, the feed sector in Southern Europe saw a late-year surge in DON, fumonisin (FUM) and zearalenone (ZEN).

The company said that its database was the largest, allowing for more precise regional insights but said mycotoxin levels varied significantly by geography and time, making a broad dataset essential for accurate risk assessment and proactive management.

Clement Soulet, Category lead – Cargill Micronutrition and Health Solutions – said feed safety was a crucial part of optimising livestock productivity, stressing that healthy animals performed better. “This database provides producers with real-time, location-specific risk insights, helping them make proactive decisions to protect their animals and their bottom line.”

The firm has carried out a study on how DON disrupts microbiota maturation, looking at the impact it has on broiler gut microbiota. It found that DON-contaminated feed disrupts the natural development of beneficial bacteria, while promoting the persistence of harmful pathogens such as Campylobacter and Salmonella.

Some agriculture inputs will be exempt from the 10% across-the-board and higher reciprocal tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on April 2, according to a 37-page document from the White House.

On April 2, Trump signed an executive order declaring that foreign trade and economic practices have created a national economic emergency and imposed a 10% tariff on all countries, which were originally to take effect on April 5. Reciprocal higher tariffs on countries with which the U.S. has the highest trade deficits were scheduled to take effect on April 9.

According to the document from the White House the following items are exempt from tariffs: fatty acids of animal or vegetable origin; lysine; glutamic acid; choline; certain herbicides, pesticides, insecticides and fungicides; ethoxyquin; vitamins A, B1, B2, B5, B6, B12, C and E and their derivatives; antibiotics; vaccines for veterinary medicine; certain fertilizers.

Last week, American agriculture industry groups warned that new across-the-board and reciprocal tariffs will negatively affect U.S. agricultural producers.

In a letter sent to members of the administration ahead of the April 2 announcement, agribusiness groups emphasized the need “for a trade policy that supports the growth of American agricultural production and the prosperity of our farmers, ranchers, growers and rural Americans at this time of economic stress in agriculture.”

While the groups said they support the administration’s goal of achieving a fairer trade balance, additional tariffs on imports “run the risk of significant retaliatory measures against U.S. agricultural exports” and that the impacts of these measures on U.S. agribusiness “are critical when determining potential trade actions.”

On its website, the White House said non-tariff barriers – meant to limit the quantity of imports/exports and protect domestic industries – deprive U.S. manufacturers of reciprocal access to markets around the world.