US keen to re-enter Asian beef market

US keen to re-enter Asian beef market

May 16, 2006 – 8:49AM
Theage.com.au

US and Chinese government officials will meet again “in a week or two” to work out final details on restarting beef trade after making good progress in weekend talks, a US Agriculture Department spokesman said.

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Understanding cloning

Understanding cloning

USATODAY

Q: We do not understand cloning. How does it work? How is it done? Can you explain it? (Vernon, Walla Walla, Washington)

A: The basic idea of cloning is simple: copying biological stuff. Human identical twins, plants grown from a clipping and fresh-water sponges are all naturally occurring biological copies — clones.

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Vet medicine gets new hall

Vet medicine gets new hall

By ALEX TIEGEN
Florida Alligator Contributing Writer

Students and faculty members within UF’s Food Animal Reproduction and Medicine Services (FARMS) program will have a new building in which to do their research after treating local farm animals. Deriso Hall, part of the College of Veterinary Medicine, will open for the first time Wednesday to an audience of nearly 100 guests with a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house at 4 p.m.

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Diet trends gnaw at meat producers

Diet trends gnaw at meat producers

The Joplin Globe / The Associated Press

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Too much of a good thing isn’t good for anyone. That goes for protein, too. After years of people stuffing themselves with chicken, pork and beef while they were following low-carb diets like Atkins, the meat industry is looking at a glut as the diet trend turns toward a more balanced approach.

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National Animal Identification System Controversy

National Animal Identification System Controversy

National Animal Identification System
Erika Kurre, WTVY TV, Dothan, AL

New technology could make it easier to track animals, from household pets to livestock. It’s all part of a National Animal Identification System the United States Department of Agriculture is trying to put in place.

NAIS is intended to be a safeguard against diseased animals but the system is stirring up controversy; most are saying its more trouble than it’s worth.

Mad Cow Disease is just one reason officials feel the need to be able to track animals but some are worried the system will be too costly, destroy property rights and will be a technological nightmare.

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Farmers may become much more tech savvy

Farmers may become much more tech savvy

Physorg.com

“Right now, many farmers don’t individually identify their livestock at all,” said Bruce Greene, associate professor of agriculture at Tennessee Technological University. But, he notes, cattle move in and out of a state rapidly, to and from various locations across the nation.

“Because a calf can move through as many as six or seven different locations before it goes to slaughter, it makes sense — for a number of reasons — to have a federal tracking system in place,” Greene said.

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USDA: Need More Negotiation To Resume Beef Exports To China

USDA: Need More Negotiation To Resume Beef Exports To China

Cattlenetwork.com

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)–A U.S. delegation is returning from Beijing after two days of negotiations without a resolution to when China will ease its ban on U.S. beef, but negotiators will meet again soon, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday.

USDA Undersecretary J.B. Penn, who led the delegation to Beijing over the weekend, said in prepared statement that “considerable progress” was made during the negotiation, but didn’t give details.

Penn, who wasn’t immediately available for further comment beyond the written statement, said “we will meet again soon to conclude the talks.”

USDA spokesman Ed Loyd said USDA is counting on China not to overly restrict U.S. beef exports once trade resumes.

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Electronic Tagging of Cattle to Prevent Disease Outbreaks Tested

Electronic Tagging of Cattle to Prevent Disease Outbreaks Tested

Cattlenetwork.com

Newswise — Already, the ears of TTU’s cattle are being tagged with individually numbered electronic identifications that can be scanned in the field with a wand that uses wireless Bluetooth technology to transmit specific information about each animal to a personal computer, where that information can be read and updated.

“Right now, many farmers don’t individually identify their livestock at all,” said Bruce Greene, associate professor of agriculture at TTU.

Tennessee alone, however, has a cattle population of about 2 million, and those cattle move in and out of the state rapidly, to and from various locations across the country.

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The Right Seasoning

The Right Seasoning

by Troy Smith
Angusjournal.com

One of the biggest challenges facing feedlot managers is waste management. We won’t delve into the increasingly restrictive state and federal regulations with which concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) must comply — that’s another story. For now, just consider the challenge of managing the volume of manure produced by feedlot cattle.

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Do We Want Competition in the Packing Industry – or Concentration?

Do We Want Competition in the Packing Industry – or Concentration?

By John Queen
American Chianina Joural

It is rather ironic that those most committed to keeping the Canadian border closed to live cattle trade also tend to make the most noise about packer concentration. Concentration in the packing industry is often blamed in times of low cattle prices.

Today’s strong cattle prices tend to dispel any notion that cattlemen are currently victims of unfair or inadequate competition, and I am not one to blame packer concentration for every ill that affects the cattle industry. But I do feel that robust competition in the packing industry is ultimately very good for cattlemen, and helps ensure that we are selling our cattle in a fair and open market-place. Competition is especially critical for those raising cattle in regions that do not have an established history of supporting packing capacity. If cattlemen in the West and Northwest, for example, have to rely on a single packer as the destination for their cattle, they may very well face a price squeeze. An even more difficult scenario presents itself when these cattlemen have no packers in their regions whatsoever. In this case, they will most likely face a market price squeeze and will be forced to absorb significant freight costs.

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