In today’s roundup, get caught up on the news about the war in Ukraine, new cases of avian influenza, and the markets for cattle and lean hogs.
War in Ukraine
Iurii Mykhailov, Kyiv resident and Successful Farming contributor, shares an update from the country as the Russian invasion continues.
“The biggest problems are ruined roads and the safety of trucks. It is also impossible to supply food to the occupied or surrounded cities. Some producers and processing plants offer discounts for retailers who take goods from them using their own transport,” Mykhailov writes.
“Russian troops are now targeting oil depots and oil refineries to disrupt supply of fuel to the Ukrainian army and farmers. The government and businesses are establishing supply chains from abroad but, again, the main obstacle is the difference in the railway gauges.”
The largest U.S. farmers and ranchers say the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with its disruption of grain, oil, and fertilizer shipping, will drive up their costs of production, according to a Purdue University poll released on Tuesday.
Some 63% of participants in the Purdue survey answered “input costs” when asked, “In what aspect of U.S. agriculture do you expect the biggest change as a result of the war in Ukraine?” One third said “crop prices” and 3% chose “livestock prices.”
Avian Influenza
Editor Madelyn Ostendorf writes that 23 new cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza have been confirmed in the past two days across 10 states.
About 752,160 birds were affected and the flocks have been depopulated.
U.S. poultry producers have strengthened their safeguards against disease, and the nation may see “significantly less” damage from this year’s outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Monday.
The 2014-2015 bird flu epidemic killed more than 50 million birds, mostly chickens and turkeys, in domestic flocks and created spot shortages of eggs in grocery stores.
Wild ducks that are prominent carriers of a highly contagious avian influenza are migrating through Iowa in their greatest numbers this month, said Adam Janke, a wildlife Extension specialist at Iowa State University.
There are about 20 different duck species that number in the hundreds of thousands that travel through Iowa on their way to breeding grounds in the northern United States and Canada
Ducks, geese, and other waterfowl are well-known carriers of avian influenza and may show no symptoms of infection, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Cattle and Hogs Market
Analyst Terry Roggensack writes, “The technical chart pattern is quite bearish, but the live cattle market is likely to find at least a short-term low soon.”
Roggensack reports on market ideas for cattle, the lean hog market, and market ideas for hogs in today’s article.
