Latest News From Associated Press

Health officials say a Texas patient is the fourth person in the U.S. to die of a rare brain disorder that is believed to be caused by consumption of beef products contaminated with mad cow disease.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is using goats to prevent future wildfires in New Mexico.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback announced Tuesday that he is pushing the federal government to assume some costs for protecting the lesser prairie chicken.

A $2.1 million bankruptcy trial against a failed beef packing plant in Aberdeen, S.D., is expected to last through the rest of week.

DeKalb County sheriff's officials say two men accused of stealing dozens of cows from eastern Alabama farms have been arrested.

A college student sickened at a Detroit-area restaurant has sued a packing company that recalled 1.8 million pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli.

Pilgrim's Pride launched a takeover bid for Hillshire Brands on Tuesday that would expand its business beyond fresh and frozen chicken into a variety of packaged meats, including Ball Park hot dogs and Jimmy Dean sausages.

Federal food safety officials say ground beef recalled by a Detroit business may have been sent to stores in 10 states.

ABC's news anchor Diane Sawyer, two of the network's correspondents and other defendants in a $1.2 billion defamation lawsuit against the company related to its coverage of a meat product could be deposed following a ruling by the South Dakota Supreme Court.

A North Dakota meatpacking plant that began as a facility to process beef according to Islamic law is going on the auction block.

A new government report shows major Kansas feedlots are feeding the fewest number of cattle since 1999 for the month of May.

Officials say a Detroit-based business is recalling about 1.8 million pounds of ground beef products sold for restaurant use in four states that may be contaminated with the bacteria E. coli.

A relief fund for western South Dakota ranchers who lost tens of thousands of farm animals in an early October blizzard is set to disburse the last of $5.4 million in donations.

Cattlemen in North and South Dakota have been busy apply for federal aid that is helping cover losses from last fall's blizzard.

A Michigan farmer located in the Upper Peninsula has pleaded no contest in an animal cruelty case involving donkeys provided by state officials to protect his cattle from wolves.

Hunting groups in Montana are challenging a plan to reduce the spread of disease to cattle by allowing landowners to fence out and kill elk.

Cliven Bundy's neighbors don't appreciate all the attention that the rebellious rancher has brought to the area.

Cattles experts say weaning calves at an early age may help beef cows worn thin by the hard winter.

Farmers and brewers are still waiting to hear a final ruling from the FDA on the use of spent grains in cattle rations.

School program helps students learn about raising cattle and supplies beef to the cafeteria.

The federal government is backing off proposed regulations that brewers say would add to their costs without improving the safety of grain used to feed livestock.

Sen. Charles Schumer will be at a western New York brewery to call on the federal government to drop a proposal that has the nation's craft beer brewers up in arms.

Militia continues to support the Bundy Ranch in Nevada a week after the standoff with the BLM.

Northwest beer brewers have joined a national outcry over a proposed rule from the Food and Drug Administration which they say would make it prohibitively expensive for them to recycle spent grain by providing it to dairy farmers.

State from Iowa officials on Friday approved tax credits for developers to reopen a long-closed meatpacking plant in Tama that would eventually employ about 600 workers.

The state of South Dakota pitched in approximately $4.3 million to assists the idled Northern Beef packing plant.

Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy is going to spend some time prowling through his cattle to determine if any injuries were sustained during last weeks roundup by the Bureau of Land Management.

Ranchers in the Dakotas are starting to sign up for federal disaster aid to help them recover after an early October blizzard killed tens of thousands of animals, and government officials say they are ready.

A South Dakota State University adjunct economics professor says cattle feeding margins moved back into the black in the first quarter of 2014 after nearly three years of deep losses.

The Bureau of Land Management is trying to come to a resolution with Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy.

A rebuilding cattle herd and foreign demand have taken the beef industry to prices not seen since 1987.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is hosting livestock disaster program gatherings next week for South Dakota producers in Hermosa, Eagle Butte, Union Center and Interior.

Officials say cowhands rounded up more cattle from federally controlled range land where a southern Nevada rancher claims a longstanding right to graze his herd.

Breweries in Nebraska say a federal proposal would force them to stop giving spent grains to local farmers to use as cattle feed.

Applications are being accepted for the 2014 Nebraska Ranch Practicum.

A San Francisco company has finalized purchase of the failed Northern Beef Packers plant in Aberdeen, S.D.

Minnesota's beef producers have rejected a proposed increase in the check-off fees they pay for research and promotion.

A Milton, W. Va., man accused of stealing cattle from a slaughterhouse has been charged with grand larceny.

Rustling is as old as the Texas frontier, and it hasn't ridden off into the sunset.

A South Dakota judge on Thursday refused to throw out a defamation lawsuit against ABC related to its coverage of a meat product called lean, finely textured beef, which critics have dubbed "pink slime."

Federal officials have approved a Northern California company's plans to take over a shuttered slaughterhouse that was at the center of a major beef recall.

A manager of a Cabell County, W. Va., meat processing shop says 10 cattle belonging to customers have been stolen from the shop's livestock pens.

There are more cattle on feed in South Dakota now than last year.

Greeley, Colorado's JBS USA meat-packing plant has promised to take steps to prevent animal cruelty after a worker struggled to kill an injured cow.

The administrator of the agency that oversees federal farm programs, such as disaster aid after severe weather, is urging farmers and ranchers who plan to participate to register early.

Cattle ranchers discovered tens of thousands of dead animals in their fields last fall after an unexpected blizzard slammed western North and South Dakota, a devastating loss for their livelihood, but they're finding renewed hope as spring calving season contributes to their herds' recovery.

Officials in the central Iowa town of Tama are optimistic that an idle beef processing plant will reopen soon and add hundreds of jobs.

A steer that made a break for it while on the way to slaughter in North Dakota has been adopted by a Michigan farm animal sanctuary and spared from the butcher knife.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has renewed and expanded a partnership to provide expert advice to farmers and ranchers to help protect the habitat of the lesser prairie chicken.

A bankruptcy judge has set a closing date for the sale of a failed South Dakota beef packing plant.