1. Federal Tick Fight Puts U.S. Cattle Producers on Biosecurity Alert
Washington is escalating its fight against ticks as new federal action targets diseases threatening cattle health, ranch workers and U.S. beef demand.
By Marco Díaz Collins
On Sept. 30, 2026, President Donald Trump signed the Kay Hagan Tick Reauthorization Act, S. 2398, extending federal support for vector-borne disease research and surveillance through 2030, while the White House separately directed agencies to accelerate new pest-control technologies. The combined actions matter to U.S. cattle producers because ticks increasingly intersect livestock mortality, reproductive losses, pasture management, farmworker health and even consumer demand for beef, turning vector control from a seasonal management issue into a broader agricultural biosecurity concern.
The legislation reauthorizes the National Strategy and Regional Centers of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases under the Public Health Service Act, maintaining a federal framework for surveillance, research and coordination. For livestock operations, improved monitoring could provide a clearer picture of how tick populations and the pathogens they carry are moving into cattle-producing regions. Earlier identification of emerging hotspots could become increasingly important for grazing operations, where livestock exposure can be difficult to control and treatment adds another layer to already elevated input costs.
2. Bovine Colostrum Emerges as a Bioactive Powerhouse for Immunity, Gut Health and Recovery
Bioengineer.org
October 4, 2026
The first milk that a cow produces after giving birth has long been treated as little more than a calf's survival kit, but a comprehensive new review argues that this thick, yellowish secretion deserves a far more prominent place in human nutrition and medicine. Published in Food Science of Animal Resources, the review synthesizes decades of research on bovine colostrum, a fluid so densely packed with antibodies, growth factors and antimicrobial molecules that it has no true equivalent in mature milk. Because cattle cannot pass immunoglobulins across the placenta, colostrum is the sole source of passive immunity for the newborn calf, which explains why evolution has loaded it with an extraordinary concentration of bioactive compounds. That same molecular arsenal, the authors contend, is now finding applications that stretch from sports recovery drinks to clinical nutrition for patients with inflammatory bowel disease.
The chemistry behind this promise is striking. Immunoglobulins, chiefly IgG, make up roughly 70 to 80 percent of the total protein in first-day colostrum, and their concentration can reach 50 to 100 milligrams per milliliter in the first days after delivery, orders of magnitude above the levels found in mature milk. Total protein in day-one colostrum approaches 15 percent by weight before falling to around 3 percent within days. Alongside the antibodies sit lactoferrin, an iron-binding glycoprotein with antibacterial, antiviral and anti-inflammatory activity; lactoperoxidase, an enzyme that generates reactive compounds lethal to a broad range of bacteria; and growth factors such as IGF-1 and TGF-beta that drive epithelial repair and tissue regeneration. Proline-rich polypeptides add a further layer of immune regulation, capable of damping down overactive responses of the kind seen in allergy and autoimmunity.
3. FFAR Invests To Reduce Swine Mortality
Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research
October 5, 2026
The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR), the Pork Checkoff and industry stakeholders are investing $1,643,357 in the Pig Livability Project. The Pork Checkoff and other industry stakeholders are providing an additional $893,357 on top of FFAR's $750,000 contribution. Led by Iowa State University (ISU) in collaboration with Kansas State University (K-State), the project seeks practical ways to reduce pig deaths in the U.S. pork industry.
Reducing pig mortality is a complex challenge influenced by animal health, management, environment and other factors throughout production. Identifying practical ways to address those factors can improve pig welfare while helping producers protect herd health and productivity.
This collaborative project combines research, education and Extension at ISU and K-State. To complement that work and address key questions about pig deaths, the project also issued a competitive call for research. Today, the Pig Livability Project announced $250,000 in funding for seven projects selected through that process:
Dr. Alyssa Betlach, Swine Vet Center: Association of periodic whole-herd antimicrobial administration and risk and time to sow mortality, removal, and clinical treatment events
Dr. Katelyn Gaffield, K-State: Can a simplified, fiber-rich transition diet reduce stillborns and improve pre-weaning livability?
Dr. Jordan Gebhardt, K-State: Barn Sanitation to Enhance Pig Livability: What do we know and what are we doing?
Dr. Chris Puls, United Animal Health: Effects of sow and piglet blood hemoglobin and anemia levels on sow and pig performance
Haley Schwecke and Dr. Alyssa Betlach, Swine Vet Center: Determinants of transport-related mortality in swine production: A multi-system meta-analysis of health, management, and transport-associated risk factors
Dr. Eric Weaver, South Dakota State University (SDSU): Evaluation of Piglet Skeletal Development in Response to Late-Gestation Maternal Nutrition
Dr. Eric Weaver, SDSU: Improving Sow and Piglet Resilience Through Multi-Cycle, Biomarker-Guided Optimization of Late-Gestation Nutrition
Full text: https://foundationfar.org/news/ffar-invests-to-reduce-swine-mortality/
4. New World screwworm cases climb to 53; new case confirmed in Brewster County dog
TPR Staff
HoustonPublicMedia.org
October 4, 2026
There have now been 53 confirmed New World screwworm animal cases in the United States since June, including 51 in Texas and two in New Mexico.
The latest case was confirmed Oct. 2 in a dog in Brewster County, Texas. It is one of three animal cases currently considered active.
The other active cases are goats in Crockett County, Texas, confirmed Sept. 26, and a horse in Grant County, New Mexico, confirmed Sept. 17.
A horse in Presidio County, Texas, confirmed Sept. 9 and previously listed as active, is now considered inactive.
Officials have also recorded one wild screwworm fly detection during the current U.S. outbreak. The fly was found in a surveillance trap in Brewster County on Sept. 25. Fly trap detections are tracked separately and are not included in the 53 animal cases.
5. Judge Weighs USDA's Need for Congressional Approval to Reorganize, Vaden Prepares for Appeal
By Jake Zajkowski
DTNPF.com
October 5, 2026
WASHINGTON (DTN) -- The USDA reorganization has been temporarily paused until Oct. 13 as a federal judge considers an injunction that could prevent the relocation of about 2,600 USDA employees to regional hubs.
U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria of the Northern District of California is the newest court handling the USDA reorganization challenge. According to court documents, he is currently evaluating whether USDA must comply with statutory language in Congress' appropriations law requiring congressional committee approval for certain agency reorganizations.
By Oct. 7, both parties must submit proposed language outlining the impacts of an injunction if Chhabria grants one.
This marks the third court challenge to the USDA reorganization, which has already relocated one USDA agency into another office, the Food and Nutrition Service, and has 200 employees currently in the process of moving with relocation notices.
Full text: https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/news/article/2026/10/05/judge-weighs-usdas-need-approval
6. Avian influenza detected again in Manitoba
During the past month, the province has had eight flocks struck by the virus.
By Roy Graber
WATTAgNet.com
October 5, 2026
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) continues to be found in commercial poultry in Manitoba.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) reported that the latest case in Manitoba was confirmed Oct. 2 in the municipality of Pembina. Further information about that flock infection has not yet been disclosed by CFIA.
During the past month, 10 commercial poultry flocks in Canada have been struck by HPAI. Of those, eight have been in Manitoba, while the remaining two were in Alberta. This is the first case in Pembina during 2026. Until September, Manitoba had not had any instances of HPAI in poultry since December 2025.