Meat & Poultry

The livestock industry is taking a direct hit by this summer’s drought, and that will impact consumers’ wallets next year, says a University of Missouri agricultural economist. …

Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced today that Ohio will be the first state to participate in USDA's Cooperative Interstate Shipment Program. Under this program, Ohio's small, state-inspected meat processors will be able to ship their products across state lines. The cooperative interstate shipment program will expand economic opportunities for America's small meat and poultry processors, strengthen state and local economies, and increase consumer access to safe, locally-produced food. …

One-third of a second. That's how long a federal inspector will have to examine slaughtered chickens for contaminants and disease under new rules proposed by the federal government. The proposal would speed up production lines as much as 25 percent. It also would pull most federal inspectors off the lines and replace them with plant workers. …

On a recent Saturday at Smorgasburg, the waterfront food market that has become an epicenter of Brooklyn's artisanal food movement, Scott Bridi, 36, was demonstrating his creativity at $5 a pop in front of a small crowd. His medium: a slider-size rye bun delicately stacked with spice-encrusted pastrami, which, as the founder of the five-employee, 2-year-old charcuterie firm Brooklyn Cured, Mr. Bridi prepared himself. …

The United States will wait to see how Taiwan implements the lifting of a ban on U.S. beef imports before deciding whether to resume trade talks, a senior official said Wednesday. …