Under a national wildlife disease management program, Keirn said researchers will collect and test wild pigs in up to 25 states to look for the presence of classical swine fever. The rooting and wallowing activities of the creatures, which tear apart the earth to search for food, have also forced some farmers to repeatedly replant fields. While feral swine have plagued warmer states for years, they are a recent problem in Iowa, with wildlife officials working to eradicate them since 2004....

Although pork tenderloin cannot be used, entrants are encouraged to consider using less common cuts of pork and may use more than one kind in their entrees. The 12 chefs who compete, as well as the members of the public who pay to attend the event and taste the pork dishes, will help provide a scholarship for a Northampton Community College culinary student. Chefs have to submit a completed entry form which can be mailed, emailed or faxed, along with a typed recipe for a pork entree. The...

What appears to be missing to allow many communal and resettled farmers an excellent source of cash are the markets and back-up the smaller farmers often lack. Pigs have been described as the greatest asset a smallholder can imagine, being fast breeding animals that can produce large litters and which can be fed on almost anything. Emphasis has been placed on cattle, which is fine, but more attention needs to be given to goats, pigs and sheep for several reasons. Pig farming has some...

Local authorities were urged to effectively quarantine epidemic areas and ban the slaughtering, marketing, transport and consumption of pork meat harvested from such pigs. The ministry urged veterinary departments to stay on alert, having a full grasp of the severity of the highly pathogenic disease and using all possible means to curb its spread. Huang Hai, assistant Minister of Commerce, said on Saturday that the price of pork would hover on a high level in the latter half of the year,...

Workers hold signs criticizing Smithfield Foods Edwards has not talked to the company specifically but he did send a letter and he's looking for federal legislation to help the problem. Edwards supports workers Union activists trying to organize employees at the world's largest hog processing plant now have a powerful ally -- presidential candidate John Edwards -- in their corner. Keith Ludlum says employee issues at the world's largest pig slaughterhouse are nothing new. Smithfield Foods...

Future profits in the pork industry look bright, which is leading pork producers to develop new areas where they can construct and operate large scale hog farms. A Broadcaster investigation taking into account about a dozen studies, news reports and independent interviews in both the states of Iowa and North Carolina, where there are more than 10 million hogs, found that citizens, who had hog farming operations crop up near their residences, became miserable -- many to the point where they...

The technology can cost $300,000 or more, prompting policy group Environmental Defense to call for the General Assembly to pay for construction on farms across the state. Super Soils is marketing a system that separates the solids from pig manure and converts it into a range of products, including potting soil, fertilizer, a money-saving additive for coal and even plastic. Unless the ban is extended, or a more environmentally friendly solution is found, more hog lagoons could be added as...

By failing to provide either interim guidelines or permanent regulations on odors both of which should have been in place by now the Commission has created a free ride for factory farms, with no regulations at all. A recent study revealed that children living on factory farms have an increased risk for asthma, with increasing prevalence of asthma outcomes associated with the increased size of the farm. The neighbors of these farms have nowhere to turn for relief, and their health and...

ANALYSIS: China overtakes Germany as world's third-largest economy. Green said that China appeared to be still underestimating its GDP by up to 20 per cent, meaning that surpassing Germany "probably happened a long time ago, in reality. Beijing - China has already overtaken Germany to become the world's third-largest economy and is likely to post more robust growth of about 11 per cent during the first half of 2007, a top regional economist said on Tuesday. The commerce ministry says it...