Latest news with #HeatherSchlitz
Mint
08-08-2025
- Business
- Mint
Cattle futures retreat in a technical selloff
CHICAGO, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Chicago Mercantile Exchange feeder cattle futures hit the limit down and live cattle futures fell on Friday, as traders booked profits after both markets reached contract highs during the previous two sessions. Resilient consumer demand for beef and a tight cattle supply have fueled recent gains in cattle futures. Retail buying ahead of Labor Day, a traditional grilling holiday, has also added a boost to futures. October live cattle futures fell 6.25 cents to 225.975 cents per pound. September feeder futures lost 9.25 cents to end at 349.625 cents per pound. October hogs ended 0.25 cent lower at 90.675 cents per pound. "There's no specific big news, we just got wildly overbought," Matthew Wiegand, broker at FuturesOne, said. "It's big volume in a once-in-a-lifetime market." Meanwhile, a rally in wholesale beef prices has slowed, though meatpackers have continued to lower slaughter rates. The choice boxed beef cutout declined by 10 cents to $378.84 per hundredweight (cwt), while the select cutout rose $1.34 to $355.09 per cwt, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data on Friday afternoon. Packers are seeking to reduce losses as margins remain deep in the red, with the USDA's daily slaughter figures down sharply from the same time period a year ago. Though producers are in the early stages of rebuilding their cattle herds after years of drought forced them to cull cattle, industry players are still awaiting concrete signs of the shift to reflect in USDA data. (Reporting by Heather Schlitz; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi)
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Experts doubt FBI's claim that crop fungus smuggled by Chinese students is a threat
By Heather Schlitz CHICAGO (Reuters) -A biological sample that a Chinese researcher was accused of smuggling into the United States and that prosecutors cast as a "dangerous biological pathogen" is a common type of fungus already widespread in U.S. crop fields that likely poses little risk to food safety, experts said. On Tuesday, U.S. federal prosecutors accused two Chinese researchers of smuggling samples of the fungus Fusarium graminearum into the U.S., describing it as a potential agricultural terrorism weapon. Yunqing Jian, 33, a researcher at the University of Michigan's Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology has been charged in connection with allegations that she helped her boyfriend, Zunyong Liu, 34, smuggle the pathogen into the U.S. However, agriculture experts interviewed by Reuters this week said the fungus has been in the U.S. for more than a century, can be prevented by spraying pesticides, and is only dangerous if ingested regularly and in large quantities. "As a weapon, it would be a pretty ineffective one," said Jessica Rutkoski, a crop sciences professor, wheat breeder and geneticist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Rutkoski and other researchers said extensive testing for the fungus' toxin, widespread use of fungicides and the difficulty of intentionally creating an infection with the pathogen would make it a clumsy weapon. The U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI declined Reuters' request for comment. Since the 1900s, U.S. farmers have been battling the fungus, which causes Fusarium head blight, usually known as "scab," which often infects wheat, barley and other grains on farms during rainy years. The telltale pink streaks on the grain heads contain a toxic byproduct called vomitoxin, which is tested for and tightly controlled by grain elevators where farmers sell their crops. Constant testing and monitoring means that only negligible amounts of vomitoxin ever make it into the bread, pasta and cookies Americans eat, far below levels that would sicken a human, experts said. "We have a long history of managing epidemics of scab," said Andrew Friskop, professor and plant pathologist at North Dakota State University, noting that farmers have access to many tools to prevent and control the disease. Farmers began regularly spraying their fields with fungicide as early as the 1990s, and researchers have since developed multiple strains of fungus-resistant wheat. Plant experts said that it would be difficult to fully assess the risks posed by the samples without more information on the particular strain. But Rutkoski, whose research involves intentionally contaminating wheat with the fungus, said that she isn't always successful at infecting her test field's wheat with scab. She said the pathogen is difficult to control, and her lab has to strike the right balance of temperature and humidity to create an infection. In federal court in Detroit on Tuesday, Jian was charged with conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud the U.S., smuggling goods into the U.S., false statements and visa fraud. Jian did not comment on the charges, and the lawyer who represented her in court was not immediately available for comment. Liu could not be immediately reached for comment. The court scheduled Jian's bail hearing for June 13.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Explainer-How flesh-eating screwworms in cattle could raise US beef prices
By Heather Schlitz CHICAGO (Reuters) - New World Screwworm, a devastating parasite that eats cattle and other wild animals alive, is traveling north from Central America to Mexico and has crept past biological barriers that kept the pest contained for decades, experts said. Washington halted cattle imports from Mexico in May, citing the insect's spread further into Mexico, about 700 miles from the Texas border. With the U.S. cattle herd already at a multi-decade low, the closure could further elevate record-high beef prices by keeping more calves out of the U.S. cattle supply. What is New World Screwworm? Screwworms are parasitic flies whose females lay eggs in wounds on any warm-blooded animal. Livestock and wild animals are usually the victims. Once the eggs hatch, hundreds of screwworm larvae use their sharp mouths to burrow through living flesh -- feeding, enlarging the wound and eventually killing their host if left untreated. When screwworms infect a cow, a tiny scrape, a recent brand or a healing ear tag can quickly become a gaping wound, carpeted with wriggling maggots that put the entire herd at risk of infestation. Screwworms were eradicated from the U.S. in the 1960s when researchers began releasing massive numbers of sterilized male screwworm flies who mate with wild female screwworms to produce infertile eggs. Why does this matter to U.S. consumers? The U.S. typically imports over a million cattle from Mexico every year. The import suspension will likely contribute to rising beef prices by tightening the supply of beef cattle, which dwindled after drought forced ranchers to slash herds. U.S. beef prices likely also got a boost from a separate import suspension from Mexico over screwworms that lasted from November to February, experts said, and upward pressure on prices should persist through summer grilling season. Mexican cattle are usually fed and fattened on U.S. farms for five to six months before slaughter, and a diminished slaughter rate can elevate beef prices. Though the fly is hundreds of miles away from the border, any outbreak in the U.S. would further tighten the cattle supply and put other livestock and household pets at risk. Screwworms will even feed on humans if they can, said Dr. Timothy Goldsmith, a veterinary medicine professor at the University of Minnesota. Homeless people would be especially vulnerable to infestation because they sleep outside and have less access to hygiene products and medical care, Goldsmith said. What is being done to control the outbreak? A factory designed to breed and sterilize screwworms in Panama is releasing 100 million sterile flies every week, but experts say more factories need to come online quickly to choke off the fly's spread north. Screwworms cannot fly more than 12 miles on their own, but they can cover large distances while burrowed inside their hosts, said Sonja Swiger, entomologist at Texas A&M University. The flies have already passed through the narrowest stretches of land in Panama and Mexico, meaning exponentially more sterile flies need to be released to control the outbreak. On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it would invest $21 million to convert a fruit fly factory in Mexico to produce sterile screwworms. The agency said the border will likely re-open to cattle imports by the end of the year. How could this impact American cattle ranchers? The USDA estimated a screwworm outbreak would cost the Texas economy $1.8 billion in livestock deaths, labor costs and medication expenses. After decades of eradication, most cattle ranchers no longer have the experience or tools to diagnose and treat screwworm. Infestations can be cured, but treatment involves removing hundreds of larvae and thoroughly disinfecting wounds, a time-consuming, pricey and labor-intensive process. 'This is a pest we don't want back. This is a bad thing," said David Anderson, livestock economist at Texas A&M University. "I can't imagine having to deal with that. It's gross."
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Explainer-How flesh-eating screwworms in cattle could raise US beef prices
By Heather Schlitz CHICAGO (Reuters) - New World Screwworm, a devastating parasite that eats cattle and other wild animals alive, is traveling north from Central America to Mexico and has crept past biological barriers that kept the pest contained for decades, experts said. Washington halted cattle imports from Mexico in May, citing the insect's spread further into Mexico, about 700 miles from the Texas border. With the U.S. cattle herd already at a multi-decade low, the closure could further elevate record-high beef prices by keeping more calves out of the U.S. cattle supply. What is New World Screwworm? Screwworms are parasitic flies whose females lay eggs in wounds on any warm-blooded animal. Livestock and wild animals are usually the victims. Once the eggs hatch, hundreds of screwworm larvae use their sharp mouths to burrow through living flesh -- feeding, enlarging the wound and eventually killing their host if left untreated. When screwworms infect a cow, a tiny scrape, a recent brand or a healing ear tag can quickly become a gaping wound, carpeted with wriggling maggots that put the entire herd at risk of infestation. Screwworms were eradicated from the U.S. in the 1960s when researchers began releasing massive numbers of sterilized male screwworm flies who mate with wild female screwworms to produce infertile eggs. Why does this matter to U.S. consumers? The U.S. typically imports over a million cattle from Mexico every year. The import suspension will likely contribute to rising beef prices by tightening the supply of beef cattle, which dwindled after drought forced ranchers to slash herds. U.S. beef prices likely also got a boost from a separate import suspension from Mexico over screwworms that lasted from November to February, experts said, and upward pressure on prices should persist through summer grilling season. Mexican cattle are usually fed and fattened on U.S. farms for five to six months before slaughter, and a diminished slaughter rate can elevate beef prices. Though the fly is hundreds of miles away from the border, any outbreak in the U.S. would further tighten the cattle supply and put other livestock and household pets at risk. Screwworms will even feed on humans if they can, said Dr. Timothy Goldsmith, a veterinary medicine professor at the University of Minnesota. Homeless people would be especially vulnerable to infestation because they sleep outside and have less access to hygiene products and medical care, Goldsmith said. What is being done to control the outbreak? A factory designed to breed and sterilize screwworms in Panama is releasing 100 million sterile flies every week, but experts say more factories need to come online quickly to choke off the fly's spread north. Screwworms cannot fly more than 12 miles on their own, but they can cover large distances while burrowed inside their hosts, said Sonja Swiger, entomologist at Texas A&M University. The flies have already passed through the narrowest stretches of land in Panama and Mexico, meaning exponentially more sterile flies need to be released to control the outbreak. On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it would invest $21 million to convert a fruit fly factory in Mexico to produce sterile screwworms. The agency said the border will likely re-open to cattle imports by the end of the year. How could this impact American cattle ranchers? The USDA estimated a screwworm outbreak would cost the Texas economy $1.8 billion in livestock deaths, labor costs and medication expenses. After decades of eradication, most cattle ranchers no longer have the experience or tools to diagnose and treat screwworm. Infestations can be cured, but treatment involves removing hundreds of larvae and thoroughly disinfecting wounds, a time-consuming, pricey and labor-intensive process. 'This is a pest we don't want back. This is a bad thing," said David Anderson, livestock economist at Texas A&M University. "I can't imagine having to deal with that. It's gross."
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pigs can't fly: US high-end livestock breeders lose millions in China tariff fallout
By Heather Schlitz CHICAGO (Reuters) - Dr. Mike Lemmon's pigs, each valued between $2,500 and $5,000, were supposed to be on a plane bound for Hangzhou, China, from St. Louis in April, where'd they spend the flight snoring, play fighting and snacking on oats and husked corn before taking up residence at Chinese hog farms. Instead, many went to a local Indiana slaughterhouse for less than $200 each after the Chinese buyer canceled the order within a week of China implementing retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. in April. China is one of the biggest importers of American breeding pigs and other livestock genetic material such as cattle semen. These lucrative niche export markets had been growing, but dried up since U.S. President Donald Trump started a trade war with Beijing. U.S. farmers and exporters said the dispute has already cost them millions of dollars and jeopardized prized trade relationships that took years to develop. Though Washington and Beijing agreed to pause tariffs last week, exporters said Trump's unpredictable trade policy has caused their companies long-term damage and could encourage China and other major buyers to turn to foreign rivals like Denmark. "We've got brand damage now. There's not a week that goes by without clients asking what's happening with the U.S.," said Tony Clayton, owner of Clayton Agri-Marketing, a Missouri-based livestock exporting company. "I don't know how we can put this back together. This is long-term damage," he said. White House spokesperson Kush Desai said the administration was "working around the clock to secure billions of dollars in even more opportunities with our other trading partners." Some farmers raise pigs specifically for breeding, a niche business within the $37 billion U.S. hog industry. Farmers pay top dollar for these specialty pigs, which have favorable genetics to produce lots of healthy piglets that can eventually be processed into tasty, high-quality pork. Lemmon, an Indiana veterinarian and farm owner, has been selling pigs worldwide for over 30 years. He said he spent more than a year working on the $2.4 million sale of the pedigreed pigs to China. He noted they were carefully bred for good health, litter size and high fat content that leads to richly marbled, tender meat when cooked. "It's devastating when it happens," Lemmon said, referencing the sale he lost. He said he plans to stay in the breeding business, and is working to rekindle the deal with his Chinese buyer during the tariff pause. Roughly half of the world's pigs live on Chinese farms. The country has purchased large quantities of breeding pigs from the U.S. since an outbreak of African swine fever, a virus with a near-total fatality rate, wiped out millions of the country's hogs in 2018. Shipping livestock is lucrative but time-consuming. Shippers must personally fly with the animals or hire an on-board attendant who can make the rounds to keep their pricey passengers well-hydrated and comfortable during a long flight. When not working, the attendants chat with the flight crew or sometimes lie in sleeping bags next to the animals in the chilly cargo bay, exporters and farmers said. China has also been the biggest importer of semen from U.S. dairy cows, known for producing large amounts of protein-rich milk. But 'Not one unit of semen is going to China right now,' Jay Weiker, president of the National Association of Animal Breeders, said, noting China had been importing one-quarter of all U.S. cattle semen, which they use to artificially inseminate their dairy cows. The Chinese milk industry began importing large amounts of cattle semen to improve the genetics of domestic dairy cows after a deadly scandal over contaminated milk in 2008, Weiker said. At least six children in China died and nearly 300,000 fell ill after a Chinese manufacturer added melamine, a dangerous chemical, to milk powder to make the protein levels appear higher. Brittany Scott, owner of SMART Reproduction Services, a sheep and goat genetics company, said several foreign customers had also pulled out of deals. This left many vials of semen sitting in her Arkansas facility, frozen in tanks of liquid nitrogen and waiting for buyers. 'They are eager to do their jobs,' Scott said of her male goats and sheep. 'They understand the assignment and they do really well.' However, the work of selling their product has proven harder after Trump announced sweeping tariffs in April, and China retaliated. The lost sales have been "a punch in the gut,' Scott said.
