Farm Bill Blueprint Begins to Materialise
US - The US Farm Bill came close to completion this week, as the principal negotiators announced that they have reached an agreement.

NFU Call for Support on UK Free Range
UK - British poultry farmers cannot meet the rapidly growing demand for free-range eggs because of over-strict RSPCA standards on stocking density, industry experts have warned.

Governor Bids to Improve Poultry Plant Conditions
US - North Carolina governor Mike Easley is to put forward $1 million to increase inspections of poultry plants and assure proper working conditions.

US Poultry Pressure Backfires in EU
EU - Recent pressure from the US urging the European Commission to allow American poultry back on the market came close to backfiring yesterday as European officials contradicted claims that the dispute was almost resolved.

UK Hen Rustlers on the Up
UK - The craze for keeping poultry, boosted by TV chefs such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver, has prompted a new rural crime wave – hen rustling.

An Insatiable Global Hunger for Grain
GLOBE - Wheat is by far the most traded grain as it is so adaptable to many uses, but production for the world market has so far been the privilege of a handful of countries.

Through the Looking Glass: WHO Plan for Pandemic
GLOBE - Experts from the World Health Organisation have this week revised their guidance measures that spell out how a country can prepare itself to tackle a bird flu epidemic on a scale yet unseen.

Feeding Animals to Animals: EU May Lift Ban
EU - It is believed that if the EU go ahead with contraversial plans to relax current safety measures on pig and poultry feeds, which outlaw animal proteins, then vast amounts of money could be saved by EU farmers.

EU Poultry Feed Plan Rejected
UK - According to a North East scientist, the EU's plans to allow the use of pig remains as poultry feed could stir up another BSE-style crisis.

Misr Arabian Poultry Sets Sights on Rival
EGYPT - Ismailiya Misr Arabian Poultry has tabled a EŁ426m ($80m) takeover bid for rival chicken producer Ismailiya Misr Poultry. The bidder is part of the Dallah el-Baraka group of companies, a Saudi Arabian conglomerate owned by Sheikh Saleh Kamel...

Breeding Companies Unite on Genomics Programme
GLOBE - In an unprecedented collaboration the leading poultry breeding companies Aviagen, Hy-Line International and Lohmann Tierzucht have committed to a combined initiative to evaluate and implement a new genetic technology - Genome Wide Selection...

N Korea Intensifying Anti-Epizootic Campaign
NORTH KOREA - As bird flu has spread through most of South Korea since early April, North Korea is intensifying its measures for prevention of the sickness, the North's news outlet said.

Bird Flu Fowl Bring Woe to Can Tho City
VIETNAM - The number of affected localitites in Vietnam rose to three this week with the discovery of stricken fowl in the Southern city of Can Tho, reported Vietnam's Department of Animal Health earlier today.

Weekly US Broiler Hatchery Report
US - Broiler Chicks Placed Down 2 per cent, report the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

A One-Health Concept for Animal Disease
US - Antimicrobial resistance, avian influenza, and climate change are among the topics that illustrate interconnections among human, animal, and environmental health.