Photo: File

Bird flu spreads to California dairy cows

Cows at three dairy farms in California tested positive for H5N1 bird flu at the end of August, marking an expansion of the virus into the largest dairy producing region of the United States, according to an announcement from the state’s agriculture department. More than 190 herds have been infected across the U.S. since March,


(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Appeals court blocks California warning labels for glyphosate

Decision important in ongoing lawsuits, Bayer says

Reuters — A divided U.S. federal appeals court on Tuesday said California cannot require businesses to warn consumers about the potential dangers of glyphosate, an ingredient in Roundup herbicide that has been linked to cancer. Upholding a permanent injunction, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco found it unconstitutional to force Bayer’s

File photo of immature peaches on a tree in California’s San Joaquin Valley. (GomezDavid/iStock/Getty Images)

Major U.S. peach producer files for bankruptcy to pursue sale

Setbacks have included salmonella, fires, heavy debts

New York | Reuters — Prima, a private-equity backed farmer that is the largest producer of peaches and other stone fruit in North America, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware on Friday. The company, owned by private equity firm Paine Schwartz Partners, has about $679 million in debt, and plans to sell its

I expect this will result in a patchwork of laws that are likely to make U.S. meat producers very uncomfortable. Ultimately, it could push Congress to set federal standards.

Comment: Court ruling could catalyze new wave of U.S. animal welfare laws

The precedent could leave pork trade to navigate an eventual legislative patchwork

Should California be able to require higher welfare standards for farm animals raised outside its borders if products from those animals are to be sold in California? On May 11, the U.S. Supreme Court decided the answer is yes. The result was determined by a 5-4 vote in the court case, National Pork Producers Council


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California animal housing law spells trouble for local trade

Prop 12 stipulates out-of-state farms must meet specific housing standards to sell in California -- and Canadian regulations may not meet them

Pork groups say a recently upheld U.S. law, which could reduce the flow of Manitoba-born weanlings to the United States, will contribute to breakdowns in an integrated Canada-U.S. market. If individual states can introduce non-tariff trade barriers, “it will change the fundamental dynamic of how we can handle international trade negotiations,” said Stephen Heckbert, executive


(Keith Weller photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. Supreme Court upholds California’s pig confinement law

Dissent suggests 'substantial burden against interstate commerce'

Reuters — The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday preserved a California law banning the sale of pork in America’s most-populous state from pigs kept in tightly confined spaces, rejecting an industry challenge claiming that the voter-backed animal welfare measure impermissibly regulates out-of-state farmers. The justices voted 5-4 to uphold a lower court’s dismissal of a


(Saputo Cheese USA video screengrab via YouTube)

Saputo to consolidate U.S. cheesemaking, shut three plants

Plans include one new plant, one repurposed

The Canadian company ranked among the three biggest cheesemakers in the U.S. is preparing to consolidate five of its cheese plants in that country down to two. Montreal-based Saputo announced last Thursday it has construction underway on a new $240 million cut-and-wrap cheese plant in the Milwaukee suburb of Franklin, to be up and running

File photo overlooking the marina and sea wall at Half Moon Bay, about 30 km south of San Francisco. (JasonDoiy/E+/Getty Images)

Suspect in California farm worker shootings appears in court

Early evidence suggests workplace grievance, authorities say

Redwood City, Calif. | Reuters — A California farm worker accused of shooting seven people to death near San Francisco, some of them his co-workers, made his first court appearance on Wednesday after he was charged with murder in the state’s second deadly gun rampage in recent days. Chunli Zhao, 66, the lone suspect in