- Industry: Government
- Number of terms: 41534
- Number of blossaries: 0
- Company Profile:
Renamed in 1997 as the Wildlife Services (WS) program, it is an Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service effort to protect agriculture, natural resources, property or endangered species from unwanted and potentially harmful effects of wildlife species, including predators. ADC also works to prevent wildlife/airplane collision hazards at civilian and military airports.
Industry:Agriculture
Drugs intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in animals. The Food and Drug Administration has the broad mandate under the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act to assure the safety and effectiveness of animal drugs and their use in all animals, including farm animals. Before FDA formally approves an animal drug, the sponsor or manufacturer of the drug must show in its premarket approval application that the drug is "safe and effective" in scientific testing. Such testing data, included with the application, must demonstrate a methodology to detect and measure any residue left in edible animal products and show that edible animal products when ready-to-eat are free from unsafe residues. Farmers and veterinarians treating farm animals must adhere to any restrictions about withdrawal times, or any warning or use constraints stated on the drug label.
Industry:Agriculture
Facilities where animals are kept and raised in confined situations; feed is brought to the animals. The General Accounting Office estimates that there are 450,000 such operations nationwide. When large enough, these facilities are designated as concentrated animal feeding operations and they become subject to regulatory requirements to prevent point source pollution. USDA and the Environmental Protection Agency issued a Unified National Strategy for Animal Feeding Operations on March 9, 1999. The goal is to minimize water pollution from confinement facilities and land application of manure through adoption of site-specific comprehensive nutrient management plans.
Industry:Agriculture
Currently, the private marketing system, assisted by computerization of records, generally can trace products back to their original suppliers, although not necessarily all the way to the farm. It has been suggested that a type of traceback program might be formalized to better monitor and contain outbreaks of food borne illness. USDA has called "animal identification" an important element of any traceback system. Livestock producers already frequently identify their animals using back-tags, ear tags, tatoos, and other devices, so that incorporating animal identification into a traceback program might not be difficult. While few dispute the usefulness of animal identification and traceback systems in general, whether they should be made regulatory requirements, or remain voluntary, is a contentious issue.
Industry:Agriculture
Protein used in livestock feed that is derived from meatpacking or rendering plants, surplus milk or milk products, and marine sources.
Industry:Agriculture
A standard measure, based on feed requirements, used to combine various classes of livestock according to size, weight, age, and use. For federal lands, an animal unit represents one mature cow, bull, steer, heifer, horse, mule, or five sheep, or five goats, all over six months of age.
Industry:Agriculture
An animal unit month (AUM) is the amount of forage needed to sustain one animal unit, or its equivalent, for one month. Grazing fees for federal lands are charged by animal unit months or head-months.
Industry:Agriculture
This Act is P.L. 89-544 (August 24, 1966) which was enacted to curb the theft and mistreatment of dogs and cats for experimental and research purposes. The principal federal animal protection law, it has been amended several times to address specific concerns such as the shipping of pets on public transportation, dog fighting, and using other warm-blooded animals in biomedical experiments. Although administered by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the law has always excluded farm animals from its coverage. Generally, USDA is authorized to "promulgate standards to govern the humane handling, care, treatment, and practices in experimental procedures to ensure that animal pain and distress are minimized...." The law excludes from the definition of animal "...horses not used for research purposes and other farm animals, such as, but not limited to livestock or poultry, used or intended for use as food or fiber, or livestock or poultry used or intended for use for improving animal nutrition, breeding, management, or production efficiency, or for improving the quality of food or fiber." Animal welfare has become more controversial in recent years as certain animal protection groups have argued for more extensive legal protections for animals. Some groups believe that any human uses of animals are inhumane, unethical and/or immoral, and should be prohibited. Among those who accept the premise that humans should and will use animals for food and other necessities, the debate over the meaning of animal welfare revolves around the most appropriate methods for taking care of animals, including farm animals. For example, legislation has been proposed (but not enacted) in recent years that would intervene in animal production operations by regulating confinement facilities; determining the diets of veal calves; specifying how poultry must be slaughtered; and prohibiting dealers from handling nonambulatory (downer) livestock unless they are humanely killed.
Industry:Agriculture
Before slaughter. As used in the meat and poultry inspection program, the term refers to the examination that USDA meat inspectors are required to conduct of all live animals just before they are killed.
Industry:Agriculture
Chemical substances produced by microorganisms or synthetically that inhibit the growth of, or destroy, bacteria. Antibiotics are used at therapeutic levels to fight disease in humans and animals. Since the 1950s they have been used at subtherapeutic levels in animal feeds to enhance growth and prevent disease in livestock and poultry. Rules guiding the use of veterinary drugs and medicated animal feeds, including tolerance levels for drug residues in meats for human consumption, are promulgated by the Center for Veterinary Medicine of the Food and Drug Administration. The Food Safety and Inspection Service enforces the FDA rules through a sampling and testing program that is part of its overall meat and poultry inspection program.
Industry:Agriculture
