Merck Announces SenseHub for Cow-Calf Herds
Merck Animal Health recently introduced SenseHub Cow Calf, remote monitoring technology designed to help optimize breeding results with less labor for cow-calf producers, including seedstock and club calf producers, who use artificial insemination (AI) or embryo transfer (ET).
SenseHub Cow Calf monitors behaviors that help to detect estrus, determine ideal insemination windows, and uncover potential reproductive issues faster than human observation alone. The technology continuously analyzes data being collected and delivers convenient alerts to smartphones, tablets, or desktop computers, saving producers time typically required for visually observing heats.
“For producers using AI or ET, SenseHub Cow Calf takes the guesswork out of identifying the breeding window,” said Lauren Wottlin, research and development field trials manager, Merck Animal Health. “Reproductive efficiency is critical, especially in high-value animals. Automated heat detection helps to determine when an individual cow or heifer is in estrus, so you can inseminate her at the best time to optimize conception rates and minimize calving intervals.”
The technology, which features a new algorithm, also improves the ability to address reproductive issues. It helps to identify a heifer or cow that does not conceive earlier than ultrasound or traditional pregnancy checks. Animals not having regular cycles are identified, and a report can be generated for animals suspected of aborting.
An additional benefit to the technology is the ability to continuously keep an eye on herd and individual animal well-being. “By tracking activity and rumination with an ear-mounted accelerometer in real-time, the system can alert you early when a cow or heifer needs attention,” Wottlin said. “Early detection and intervention can improve treatment outcomes, plus give you peace of mind knowing your animals are being monitored.”
SenseHub Cow Calf integrates with several cattle management platforms and will be available directly via online ordering through the Merck Animal Health website.
Minimal hardware is needed, and the system is easy to install. Data recorded and analyzed by SenseHub Cow Calf is used to create simple-to-read, understandable dashboards. It is backed up and stored in a secure, cloud-based system. SenseHub Cow Calf ear tags also illuminate and flash, making it easier for caregivers to find animals flagged by the system.
“Merck Animal Health is committed to advancing the health, productivity and well-being of cattle and contributing to the ongoing success of our customers’ operations,” said Kevin Mobley, executive director of cattle sales and marketing at Merck Animal Health.
Purdue University Researches Benefits of Fatty Acids Found in Meat
by Maggie Malson, Bovine Veterinarian
The impact of arachidonic acid, an omega-6 polyunsaturated fat found only in animal products, upon human health remains mostly misunderstood, according to an article released by Purdue University. Researchers aim to study the subject further.
Led by James Markworth, assistant professor of animal sciences, the team will carefully test the health effects of omega-6 in laboratory experiments. The US Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture will fund the research, and the experiments will clarify which omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil and seafood are responsible for yielding their health benefits.
“These polyunsaturated fatty acids are essential because you need to acquire them through the diet,” Markworth says. “They can’t be made in the body. And in particular it’s the long-chain versions, which are found in products of animal or marine origin, that are thought to potentially influence human health.”
Both omega-3 and omega-6 are long-chain, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and some of these fatty acids are also essential fatty acids. The long-chain omega-6 fat arachidonic acid is found only in meat, poultry, and eggs. “You can’t get it from vegetable sources, and you can’t get it from fish. We think that these nutrients found in meat and poultry products might have similar benefits as, say, fish oil or fish products. And that’s something you don’t hear very often,” Markworth says.
Previous research has well established that fish oil fatty acids have metabolic benefits. But which fatty acids convey those benefits and how remains unclear. The major ones are eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
Collaborating with Markworth on the project are: Tzu-Wen Cross in the College of Health and Human Sciences, along with Tim Johnson and Kolapo Ajuwon, both in the College of Agriculture’s Department of Animal Sciences.
“What we’re suggesting is when you eat these lipids in the diet or dietary supplements, the systemic response your body has might depend on the resident microbes first encountered in the gastrointestinal tract,” Markworth says. “And we’re proposing that the systemic response is largely mediated by the effect on the skeletal muscle.”
Markworth notes the skeletal muscle determines metabolic health, obesity, and diabetes as it is the largest site of glucose disposal and insulin sensitivity.
USDA Announces Actions to Lower Food Prices, Bring Fairness to Farmers, and Promote More Competitive Food Supply Chains
USDA Press Release
On October 8, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced multiple steps to deliver on President Biden’s Executive Order on “Promoting Competition in the American Economy” to promote fair and competitive markets for American farmers and ranchers, and lower food prices for American families. The following actions were announced by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack during a Farmers and Ranchers in Action event hosted by the White House.
First, through a multipart framework, USDA is leveraging its funding and research capacity, as well as interagency partnerships, to increase transparency and improve researcher access to seed germplasm, the starting materials plant breeders need to create diverse, resilient, and competitive seed varieties. These were key recommendations identified in USDA’s 2023 report,
“More and Better Choices for Farmers: Promoting Fair Competition and Innovation in Seeds and Other Agricultural Inputs.”
Second, the USDA published an interim report that assesses competitive conditions in the meat retail industry. The report draws on over 1,600 comments received from the public in response to USDA requests for information; interviews with small, medium, and large meatpackers; distributors, retailers, academics; and farmer or advocacy organizations. It identifies hidden fees and unjust/anti-competitive pricing strategies present in the beef market as a case study.
Third, the USDA announced the next steps in a new rulemaking effort under the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 to enhance price discovery and fairness in cattle markets. For years, the USDA has fielded complaints from producers around beef packers using reported regional cash or spot prices as base prices for fed cattle formula pricing agreements, commonly known as Alternative Marketing Agreements (AMAs). USDA is issuing an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) to seek comment on several possible interventions to develop new benchmarks as AMA base prices and approaches to trading when using benchmarks.
“Over these last four years, the Biden–Harris Administration has made historic investments in agriculture to help farmers, small businesses, and rural communities get a fair shake,” said Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. “Our work on competition is about opening up new markets for farmers and delivering fairer, more competitive choices. Today’s actions will help to deliver on more choice and lower costs for seeds used by farmers, more choice and lower food costs for consumers, and a fairer marketplace for ranchers.”
“With today’s announcements, the Biden–Harris Administration is taking action to lower food prices for working families by enabling small businesses and family farms to compete fairly,” said National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard. “For too long, consolidation in the agriculture industry has been swallowing up family farms, lowering incomes and choices for farmers, and raising prices at the grocery store. Today’s announcements build on our work to restore fair competition in farming and food markets and to lower grocery prices for working families.”
“USDA is taking smart, strategic steps to open up pathways for continued innovation and improved competition in seed markets, new retail choices for small businesses and working family consumers alike, and fairer, more competitive trading in America’s world-leading cattle market,” said Andy Green, USDA’s Senior Advisor for Fair and Competitive Markets. “These represent the first steps into these markets in a long time, and so we’re both listening to all while we’re doing so but we’re putting the relevant industries on notice that in the coming months, the USDA, alongside its federal partners, will be amping up our scrutiny of these markets closely to protect fair, open, and honest competition.”
As President Biden outlined in the Competition Executive Order, consolidation in the agricultural industry is making it too hard for small family farms to survive as they face concentrated market power in the channels for selling agricultural products. In part due to the Administration’s efforts to tackle predatory pricing throughout the American economy, grocery inflation has improved as have certain key agricultural inputs such as fertilizer, but meat prices remain too high and competition in seed markets remains highly constrained. .
