1. Home
  2. News & Events

Bird Flu Cattle Update

OMAHA (DTN) -- A dairy in Colorado has tested positive for the H5N1 virus as federal officials stress the value of pasteurization for protecting consumers from the virus.

USDA's Animal and Health Plant Inspection Service added Colorado to its list of states with dairy herd infections -- the first herd with a reported infection in the past week. USDA now shows nine states with a total of 34 infected herds nationally.

Colorado Department of Agriculture did not respond to emails about the positive finding. Still, the finding comes just as a bill that would have expanded the sale of raw milk products died in the Colorado Senate on Thursday, Colorado Public Radio reported.

This week reflected more focus by federal officials in getting detailed information out to the public after the first initial reports that milk products had tested positive for dead fragments of the virus.

USDA implemented a federal order requiring all dairy cows be tested for H5N1 before moving across state lines. USDA also mandated that laboratories and state veterinarians report all positive influenza A tests in livestock to USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

The Food and Drug Administration then followed up Thursday and reported that 20% of commercial milk sampled tested for genetic fragments of the HPN1 virus across 38 states. The positive testing results in so many states suggest the virus could be more widespread than initially expected.

Pasteurization worked in killing the virus, but its genetic material remained. On Friday, FDA reaffirmed its testing and stated that the analysis continues. But tests also showed pasteurization is effective in inactivating HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza.

"This additional testing did not detect any live, infectious virus. These results reaffirm our assessment that the commercial milk supply is safe," FDA stated.

TRADE ISSUES

Trading partners have largely been restrained over the H5N1 cases in cattle.

With USDA requiring testing of milk for lactating dairy cattle before interstate movement, Canadian officials have asked USDA to conduct the same tests for dairy cattle entering Canada from the U.S.

Turkey and the Dominican Republic have banned imports of live cattle, and Colombia has banned imports of live cattle and also restricted imports of beef from slaughter establishments in states that have H5N1-infected cattle.

Also see, "Feds Increase Testing of Cows and Milk Products Due to H5N1 Flu," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

Follow him on social platform X @ChrisClaytonDTN

(c) Copyright 2024 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.

Bird Flu Cattle Update
USDA's Animal and Health Plant Inspection Service added Colorado to its list of states with dairy herd infections -- the first herd with a reported infection in the past week. USDA now shows nine states with a total of 34 infected herds nationally.
Cattle Traceability Rule Released
USDA's APHIS released its final ruling on cattle traceability, putting into place the requirement for certain classes of the cattle herd to have an electronic identification tag for interstate movement.
Taxlink
It is important to follow government and IRS reporting requirements. A little time and effort can prevent issues down the road.
Top 10 Illinois Farmland Sales in 2023
DTN identified the 10 highest sales of farmland in Illinois on a per-acre basis using the land analytics tool AcreValue. An institutional investor tops the list, but farmers and individual investors bought the rest.
USDA Issues Dairy Cow Testing Mandate
USDA is issuing an order Thursday that will go into effect April 29 requiring dairy farmers sending lactating cows across state lines to have those cows tested for H5N1 before they can move. FDA also announced it will conduct nationwide testing of dairy products while stressing that pasteurization kills the H5N1 virus.
Traits of Farms Paid to Produce Energy
A new study by USDA's Economic Research Service found that 3.5% of all U.S. farms received payments for energy production on their land from 2011 to 2020.
DTN Retail Fertilizer Trends
For the fourth consecutive week, average retail prices for all eight major fertilizers were higher compared to last month, though none were up significantly.
USDA Weekly Crop Progress Report
Nationwide, corn planting reached 12% complete and soybean planting reached 8% as of Sunday, April 21, both slightly ahead of the five-year averages. Winter wheat conditions were rated 50% good to excellent, down 5 points from the previous week.
Iowa Fertilizer Plant Sale Opposed
Iowa farmers oppose Netherlands-based Orascom Constructions Industries (OCI) selling a seven-year-old fertilizer plant on the Mississippi River near Wever, Iowa, in the state's southeast corner.