Demand for both beef and pork increased noticeably through the first quarter of this year according to demand indexes calculated by the Livestock Marketing Information Center. The first quarter demand index for beef worked out to 79 in 2011 compared with 74 in 2010.Q1. Similarly, the pork demand index increased from 76 to 85 from 2010.Q1 to 2011.Q1. Improving domestic demand and strong exports have helped push retail beef and pork prices to historic highs. In fact, in April both all fresh beef retail and pork retail prices reported by USDA Economic Research Service hit new record levels: 445.3 cents/pound for beef and 337.7 cents/pound for pork.
Five years after the passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, which banned the processing of horses in the U.S., the debate over domestic horse slaughter remains a subject of controversy.
This past February, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) submitted a proposed strategy for the future management of America’s wild horses and burros, based on comments received from the public in 2010.
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