Amazing Cows Hold Promise in Pioneering Sustainable Food Systems of the Future

In today’s climate change narrative, animal-based agriculture often endures criticism for its alleged contributions to the global problem. With some naysayers ranking the industry second only to the population explosion as a root contributor to global warming and other weather-related devastation, the concern for how food is – and can be – produced has become even more pressing.

Stopping Disease in its Tracks: How Geospatial Mapping Protects Pennsylvania’s Producers

Tell a swine or poultry producer that their animals are sick and the first question they ask is, “How?”

Thanks to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet), producers can now get an answer to that pressing question fast – or even stop disease from encroaching past their property lines altogether.

Electronic sow feeding shows promise, despite challenges

It’s feeding time at the University of Pennsylvania’s Swine Teaching and Research Center in Chester County’s horse country.

Actually, it’s always feeding time in this loose pig environment. Sow gestation stalls are gone, free-roaming pig pens are in. The sow decides when she wants to eat, not the other way around.

Vets Talk Treatment for ‘Mother of All Head Colds’

[STATE COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA] — A Pennsylvania poultry farmer got an unwelcome Christmas present from his laying hens last year. Egg production dropped by a quarter, and some of his 36,000 chickens died.

Penn Vet Avian Expert to Share Infectious Coryza Insights at Annual Conference Focusing on Poultry, Diseases

The 2019 Pennsylvania Poultry Sales and Service Conference and the 91st Northeastern Conference on Avian Diseases (NECAD) will be held Sept. 11 and 12 in State College.

Dr. Gary Althouse Named Penn Vet’s Associate Dean of Sustainable Agriculture and Veterinary Practices

The University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet) announced the appointment of Gary Althouse, PhD, DVM, to associate dean of Sustainable Agricultural and Veterinary Practices. The appointment was effective April 1, 2019.

Enhancing Dairy ‘Farm Health’ for Economic Viability, Success

As the bar for keeping a farm out of financial stress nudges higher and higher, experts like Dr. Joseph Bender, Assistant Professor of Clinical Dairy Production at the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School (Penn Vet), seek innovative solutions to not only stabilize the viability of the family dairy, but help it to flourish. Through their work at Penn Vet’s Center for Animal Health and Productivity (CAHP), he and his colleagues combine expertise in dairy nutrition, reproduction, health economics, and conventional veterinary medicine, to boost economic productivity within animal agriculture.

Penn Vet Swine Group Discusses Global Challenges Arising from China’s African Swine Fever Outbreak

In China, a country that is home to more than half of the world’s swine population, the spread of deadly infectious disease - such as the current African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreak - can carry tremendous implications for food supply and pricing across the globe.

How to avoid food poisoning from E. coli and salmonella

Customers shopping at the supermarket lately may have felt a swell of anxiety while passing by heads of romaine lettuce or the egg case—the former, recalled due to an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak, and the latter linked to an outbreak of salmonella brandaerup infections.

Agricultural Sustainability Project Reached 20.9 Million Smallholder Farmers Across China

Smallholder farmers who cultivate perhaps only a few hectares of land dominate the agricultural landscape in places like China, India, and sub-Saharan Africa. Increasing their efficiency while reducing their environmental impact are critical steps to ensuring a sustainable food source for the world’s growing population.

Penn and Chinese pork producers swap ideas to share and learn

Pork is the world’s most consumed meat, thanks in large part to the Chinese. China consumes half of the planet’s pork and, accordingly, is home to roughly 50 percent of the world’s pigs.

On the farm with Penn Vet’s Field Service

The School of Veterinary Medicine’s Field Service offers both routine and emergency care for equine and food animal clients within a 30-mile radius of the New Bolton Center Hospital. This service treats more than 24,000 patients at local farms annually.

Penn Vet expertise serves and supports Pennsylvania farmers

When Bob Ruth of Clemens Food Group set up two swine farms in Pennsylvania in the mid-1990s, one of the first things he did was call Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine.

Penn Vet-CHOP partnership probes link between cattle and Crohn’s disease

Researchers still have a lot to learn about Crohn’s disease, a chronic form of inflammatory bowel disorder that affects as many as 700,000 Americans. It’s unknown, for example, precisely how heredity, environment, diet, and stress all interact to influence the risk of developing Crohn’s. But new insights into a possible cause of the disease are emerging from a surprising source: cattle researchers at Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine.

Author Maryn McKenna to Discuss Antibiotic Use in Livestock During 3rd Annual Microbiome Symposium

In the late 1940s, pharmaceutical companies seeking an additional market for newly achieved antibiotics happened on “growth promoters” – microdoses of antibiotics given to livestock that boosted the animals’ weight, got them to market faster, and jumpstarted profits for both pharma and agriculture. Today, many recognize the growth-promoter effect as a deliberate perturbation of the gut microbiome.

Penn Vet Professor Assists in Effort to Empower Smallholder Farmers

To ensure the global population is food secure, it’s estimated that food production must increase at least 50 percent by 2050. One of the best means to achieve that increase is by boosting yield, that is, producing more food on existing cropland with fewer resources.

Salmonella: Keeping People and Poultry Safe

With an outbreak of Salmonella illness attributed to backyard poultry flocks in the United States, Penn Vet offers 12 important tips to keep people and their poultry safe this summer.

Hot-Weather Tips to Keep Dairy Cows Healthy

Heat and humidity can be dangerous for dairy cows, threatening their health and lowering their milk production, said Dr. Meggan Hain from the Marshak Dairy at New Bolton Center.

A Conference in Cuba Results in Collaboration

Oriol Sunyer, a professor of immunology and pathobiology, shared his research on fish immunology and vaccine development as well as his keen interest in marine conservation.

Sherrill Davison Receives Distinguished Service Award

PennAg Industries Association honored Penn Vet’s Dr. Sherrill Davison, Associate Professor of Avian Medicine and Pathology, with the PennAg Distinguished Service Award.