U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has confirmed one of the 10 recently released wolves has been found dead in Larimer County of apparent natural causes. Found on April 18, the USFWS is investigating and has sent the carcass for a necropsy to determine the cause of death. According to a spokesman, USFWS is working cooperatively with Colorado Parks and Wildlife in an investigation and a final determination on the animal’s death will be made following the necropsy. USFWS said that a mountain lion could be at fault as a natural cause. Colorado Parks and Wildlife released five gray wolves onto public ..read more

Agriculture Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Alexis Taylor arrived in New Delhi on Monday to launch a USDA-sponsored agribusiness trade mission composed of 47 U.S. agribusiness and farm organizations and 11 state departments of agriculture, seeking to develop and expand business opportunities with importers in India, USDA said in a news release Separately, USDA said it is now accepting applications from current and potential U.S. exporters to participate in trade mission to Bogotá, Colombia from Aug. 13-15 that Taylor will lead. “Colombia represents a top-tier food and ..read more

The United States and Mexico on Monday announced a course of remediation to address denials of rights at the RV Fresh Foods facility, which produces guacamole in the state of Michoacán, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced. “This case is the first time the United States has used the mechanism in the food manufacturing sector,” USTR said. “It is also the first time both the United States and Mexico have identified violations related to the conduct of the petitioning union. The remediation plan will provide a holistic solution to the issues at the facility, ensuring both the uni ..read more

Doug McKalip, the chief agricultural negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Adrian Smith, R-Neb., each spoke at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization’s 2014 Agriculture and Environment Summit last week, and then met with a few reporters. McKalip and Smith took what might be considered partisan positions on trade in the Biden and Trump administrations. McKalip said he believed that Trade Representative Katherine Tai “did a fantastic job” in responding to questions at the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Financ ..read more

Are you interested in learning more about annual forage systems? Cattle and Coffee is an upcoming early morning webinar series about this very topic.   Annual forages offer cattle producers a way to increase the amount of feed their land produces. In this series of eight webinars, participants will hear about the latest research and techniques for adding an annual forage rotation to their operation. Topics will start with the basics of developing a grazing chain for cattle from spring through fall and what yield and grazing carrying capacities to expect. Subsequent web ..read more

At the North American Agricultural Journalists meeting in Washington last week, three panels discussed regulation, innovation and sustainability. Helena Bottemiller Evich also discussed Food and Drug Administration Deputy Commissioner for Foods Jim Jones’s comments on applesauce in the Friday edition of Food Fix. Panel 1: “Reignite Your Regulatory Watch” Rod Snyder, senior adviser for agriculture at the Environmental Protection Agency, noted that the final decision on the release of the Biden administration’s GREET model for evaluating fuels under the Sustainable Aviation Fuel tax credit ..read more

France has succeeded in vaccinating its important commercial duck population against high path avian influenza (HPAI), Emananuelle Soubeyran, the country’s chief veterinary officer said at a conference at the French Embassy in Washington last week. Raising ducks is an important agribusiness in France, but there had been such major outbreaks of high path avian influenza that the government and the industry decided that a solution other than culling and compensating farmers had to be found, Soubeyran explained to an audience of U.S. governmental officials, pharmaceutical executives and veteri ..read more

The Agriculture Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development will spend $1 billion from the Commodity Credit Corporation to purchase U.S.-grown commodities to provide emergency food assistance to people in need throughout the world, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and USAID Administrator Samantha Power announced Thursday. The money is part of an agreement that Vilsack announced in October after Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and ranking member Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., asked USDA to use the CCC, USDA’s line $30 billion per year line of cred ..read more

The Environmental Protection Agency on April 19 issued an emergency fuel waiver to allow E15 gasoline — gasoline blended with 15% ethanol — to be sold during the summer driving season.  Midwestern governors had requested the waiver and the announcement came in the form of a letter to the governors. EPA said the waiver would support agriculture and manufacturing but also offer price relief to consumers because “current estimates indicate that on average, E15 is about $0.25 a gallon cheaper than E10,” the normal level of ethanol in gasoline. “Currently, in approximately two-thirds of the coun ..read more

April 6, 1950 – April 2, 2024 Kay was born to C.W. (Bill) and Nancy Brennan on April 6th, 1950, and departed from this life at her home just 4 days before her 74th birthday. Kay fought a 6 month battle with Cancer, and the Cancer demon had to fight one Hell of a battle before inevitably overcoming. Kay grew up in a ranching family on Piceance Creek, and it was immediately apparent she was cut out for the life as an excellent Stockman and Horseman. She would follow and excel in her chosen career, feeding her animals even on the day of her passing. Kay married Harold Bumguardner and they moved o ..read more