CAST webinar on food animal veterinarians
The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology will host a webinar on the “Impact of Recruitment and Retention of Food Animal Veterinarians on the U.S. Food Supply,” on Tuesday, April 7, at 1 PM EST/10 AM PST. The webinar will feature Christine Navarre, DVM, MS, DACVIM, presenting highlights of CAST’s new issue paper on that subject, followed by Q&A. Join the free webinar by clicking this link on April 7.
FSIS responds to petition
USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service responded to a petition by Organization for Competitive Markets, with essentially the same plan the agency laid out in response to a petition by R-CALF: That it will propose a voluntary labeling option for country-of –origin labeling.
NMPAN schedules DTC logistics webinar
The Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network has scheduled a free webinar on “Farm to Freezer: The Logistics of Online Sales & Shipping Meat,” for Thursday, April 2, at 9 AM PST/12 PM EST. The panel features three processors that sell and ship direct-to-consumer, which is a business opportunity that more meat companies are tapping into as COVID-19 spreads across the country. Topics will include setting up an online store, different web platforms, accepting payments, updating inventory, meat selection, subscriptions vs. a la carte orders, boxes, insulation, dry ice, maintaining cold chain, shipping carriers, costs and regulations. Interested parties should pre-register at least 10 minutes before the webinar here.
The webinar will be archived to NMPAN’s YouTube channel for later viewing, as well.
USPOULTRY grants $7,000 to U of North Georgia
The USPOULTRY Foundation awarded a $7,000 student recruiting grant to the University of North Georgia. A portion of the funds will be used to support the university’s poultry science program efforts. Funds will also be used by the Poultry Science Club to host several outreach events on campus, including a “Poultry 101” event that is open to local students, grades 5-12.
Seaboard Corp. moves annual shareholders’ meeting
Seaboard Corp. announced that the location of the annual meeting of stockholders to be held on Monday, April 27, 2020 will be changed to the Seaboard Corporation offices at 9000 West 67th Street, Merriam, Kansas, instead of the Weston Waltham in Waltham, Massachusetts, due to the cancelation by the Weston Waltham of event space rentals through the end of April as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
There are no changes to the matters to be voted on at the annual meeting and the form of proxy and process for stockholders to vote their shares remains the same.
IFT 2020 goes online
The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) announced that it will transition the IFT20 Annual Event and Food Expo, slated for July 12-15 at McCormick Place in Chicago, to a virtual event experience. The move comes in an effort to prioritize the health and safety of participants and the broader community throughout current and anticipated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic.
More details regarding the virtual format will be shared in the coming weeks through a variety of communications and on iftevent.org. Frequently asked questions regarding this transition are also provided at ift.org/ift20faq.
NPPC cancels 2020 World Pork Expo
The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) announced that its board of directors has decided to cancel the 2020 World Pork Expo in June due to COVID-19 human health concerns. World Pork Expo 2021 is scheduled for June 9-11 at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.