Ventilation Shutdown PLUS, Veal Calf Rebranding, and a Chicken Crust Pizza Nobody Asked For: The Animal Ag Industry’s Week in Horrors | Rising Anxieties

The animal agriculture industry had a busy week proving it can always find new depths to plumb. From North Carolina State University researchers congratulating themselves on shaving four minutes off the time it takes to suffocate chickens, to the beef-on-dairy pipeline quietly turning male calves into a supply chain “opportunity,” to a USDA food safety apparatus held together with 9% fewer staff and apparently a prayer — there’s a lot to unpack. Oh, and plant-based food is quietly staging a comeback, which is the best reason to keep listening.

• Ventilation shutdown with humidity gets an endorsement — researchers found it kills broiler chickens about four minutes faster than heat alone, because apparently “slightly less horrific” is now a publishable finding
• Beef-on-dairy cattle are booming — and with them, a spike in bovine respiratory disease, because confining newborn calves in plastic hutches within days of birth has predictable consequences that take studies to notice
• USDA food safety complaints jumped nearly 40% after the Trump administration cut 9% of FSIS staff and shelved new salmonella standards for raw poultry — turns out fewer inspectors means more things slip through
• The Animal Agriculture Alliance is sounding the alarm about animal activists “posing as farmers” by supporting laws like Prop 12, a concern so elaborate it includes outrage over a goat yoga practitioner being counted in a farm coalition
• Plant-based food is returning to growth — a new Systemiq/ProVeg report says UK plant-based protein share could double by 2040, and retailers (not consumers) are the key lever; Tesco’s plant-based meat is already 33% cheaper than minced beef

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