Weekly Livestock-Equine News: September 21, 2026

Rood & Riddle, Equine Care Group form trans-Atlantic alliance

Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital and Equine Care Group announced they are entering into a “long-term strategic partnership” in which Rood & Riddle’s current partners will become shareholders in the larger Equine Care Group, maintaining an ownership stake and becoming long-term partners in the future of the combined organization. Rood & Riddle is a provider of advanced equine care in hospitals in Kentucky, Florida and New York. It will continue to operate under its own name. ECG was founded in Belgium in 2021 and operates as a veterinarian-led network connecting equine hospitals, ambulatory practices and equine health specialists across Europe and the U.S.

Can biomarkers identify skeletal stress in racehorses?

Researchers from Perth, Australia-based TeleMedVET report that concentrations of serum osteocalcin were higher in lame horses than those who were clinically sound. A recent peer-reviewed study was published in the Equine Veterinary Journal. The group said it will now focus on following individual horses through training and competition to better comprehend the relationships between osteocalcin, workload, skeletal adaptation, lameness and injury.

Camera/AI system helps predict turkey body weight

Researchers at Penn State found that a camera paired with artificial intelligence could monitor individual turkeys and make reasonably accurate bodyweight predictions up to three weeks into the future. Body weight monitoring is one of the most important tools for poultry farmers. It provides valuable information about growth, uniformity, feed conversion efficiency — how well birds turn feed into meat — and the occurrence of diseases in a flock.

Can far-ultraviolet light prevent HPAI in commercial poultry houses?

Researchers from the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are preparing to test a form of ultraviolet light called far-UVC to see whether it can kill highly pathogenic avian influenza without harming birds on poultry farms. Air-sampling equipment will be used to measure indicator organisms, including aerobic bacteria, coliforms and Staphylococcus aureus, before and after far-UVC exposure. The study is expected to span two years.

Researchers looking for successor to Ivermectin in battle against roundworms in cattle

Ivermectin has anchored roundworm control in cattle for more than 50 years, but the worms are catching up to it, according to researchers at the University of Calgary. Parasites cost the Canadian livestock industry about $2 billion a year, much of it in performance losses producers never see. The Calgary research project secured a $1.4 million Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Alliance grant. The project brings together collaborators from the university’s faculties of veterinary medicine and science, and is supported by industry partners including Alberta Beef Producers and Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health.

Vet-led approach leads to quicker bluetongue diagnoses in UK

The UK government announced measures to reduce waiting times for test results and allow farmers to take action sooner to protect their livestock against bluetongue. Under the new measures, when signs of bluetongue are clear, private vets will be able to diagnose after examining affected animals, with cases formally confirmed by the Animal and Plant Health Agency. The government says that fewer cases will need to wait for laboratory results, giving farmers faster answers. There have been more than 1,100 confirmed UK cases of bluetongue serotype 3 (BTV-3) during the 2026-27 season, mostly in the Southwest.