Mexico One Step Closer To Full Resumption Of Beef Trade

Mexico One Step Closer To Full Resumption Of Beef Trade

WFRV-TV (WI)

Mexico closed its market following the first U.S. case of BSE in December of 2003, and has slowly been reopening its market to beef products since that time.

Mexico first opened its market to boneless beef from animals under 30 months of age in March of 2004. Then in February of this year, the country opened its market to bone-in beef from animals under 30 months of age. U.S. Ag Secretary Mike Johanns says he’s committed to restoring the once-vibrant live cattle commerce between the United States and Mexico.

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Police investigate modern day case of cattle rustling

Police investigate modern day case of cattle rustling

KARE-TV (MN)

Police in South St. Paul are investigating a high-tech case of cattle rustling involving hundreds of cattle from the Central Livestock Association.

Authorities believe a former veteran employee at the association used some modern tricks to carry out an old-fashioned crime. The man, who has not been charged, was fired last year and had been under investigation ever since.

Authorities believe he stole $2.5 million worth of cattle by using false invoices to perform more than 2,200 transactions with phantom customers he created over several years.

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Cattle Washing System Effective

Cattle Washing System Effective

Meatnews.com

A cattle-washing system developed by the U.S. Agricultural Research Service has been effective in reducing the likelihood that pathogens will be consumed by humans.

U.S. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in Clay Center, Neb., have developed a practical, effective cattle-washing system that reduces levels of pathogens, such as E. coli O157:H7, on cattle hides, lessening the likelihood they will get onto the meat and be consumed by humans.

In the hide-washing process, the hide-on carcass is cleaned in a high-pressure water washing cabinet to remove excess organic matter, then sprayed with an antibacterial compound. In field trials, the process significantly reduced the number of samples that tested positive for E. coli O157:H7.

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New Nebraska Beef Council exec knows the territory

New Nebraska Beef Council exec knows the territory

by Peter Shinn

Brownfield Network

Ann Marie Bosshamer has been on the job as executive director for the Nebraska Beef Council for little more than a week, but she’s no rookie. She’s worked for the Council as marketing director, promoter and spokesperson for the last decade.

“I think one of the advantages that I have is that I have been here at the Beef Council for 10 years, and so I have a lot of the background information,” Bosshamer said. “And so this new executive director position is just moving me into some different territories, but exciting ones that I am looking forward to getting involved in.”

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Colombian Trade Agreement Called Threat To U.S. Cattle

Colombian Trade Agreement Called Threat To U.S. Cattle

High Plains Journal

OMAHA (DTN) — U.S. cattle interests would not be well served by the free trade agreement being considered with Colombia, said a spokesman for the cattlemen’s group R-CALF USA.

According to a news release from the group, a U.S.-Colombian FTA would do little to open Colombia’s markets to U.S. beef exports and could “subject domestic cattle producers to substantial risks of increased beef imports,” the group’s International Trade Committee Chair told the International Trade Commission.

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Critics have beef with grass-fed label

Critics have beef with grass-fed label

CNN

WASHINGTON (AP) — Meat-eaters usually assume a grass-fed steak came from cattle contentedly grazing for most of their lives on lush pastures, not crowded into feedlots.

If the government has its way, the grass-fed label could be used to sell beef that didn’t roam the range and ate more than just grass.

The Agriculture Department has proposed a standard for grass-fed meat that doesn’t say animals need pasture and that broadly defines grass to include things like leftovers from harvested crops.

Critics say the proposal is so loose that it would let more conventional ranchers slap a grass-fed label on their beef, too.

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Veterinarians fleeing farms

Veterinarians fleeing farms

Legislators, vet officials search for solutions

By Jaclyn Houghton

The Daily Times (OK)

STILLWATER, Okla. — The broncs and the bulls are what Adam Byrd knows and loves.

The Gladewater, Texas, native tried his hand at law school, but the career pieces did not fit and farm life was calling.

Working “those long hours, I’d much rather be spending them outside than in an office,” Byrd, 25, said.

He works at Oklahoma State University’s Veterinary Medicine Ranch in Stillwater, Okla., and hopes for acceptance into the school’s veterinary program. His goal is to practice medicine serving large animals in his hometown.

But Byrd is one of a dwindling number of students willing to take a high-priced veterinary education out to the grazing pastures of the nation’s rural lands.

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Simmental Association Releases Sire Summary

Simmental Association Releases Sire Summary

Cattletoday.com

Bozeman, Mont. — The American Simmental Association (ASA) has released its Fall 2006 Sire Summary.

The ASA, in cooperation with the Animal Breeding Group at Cornell University and the Center for the Genetic Evaluation of Livestock at Colorado State University, evaluated the progeny of over 100,000 sires, representing in excess of four million individuals. Based on those evaluations, Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs) are published in the summary on over 900 of the most popular sires. Information on all other sires can be accessed at http://www.simmental.org.

The Fall 2006 Sire Summary represents the 19th official run of the innovative Multiple-Breed International Cattle Evaluation (MB-ICE) system. Developed jointly by ASA and Cornell University, MB-ICE was the industry’s first multi-breed genetic evaluation. It was developed to accommodate the needs of ASA members and their customers to better utilize breed complementarity in their crossbreeding programs. ASA EPDs are expressed on a single base regardless of breed makeup, thereby making cumbersome across-breed EPD adjustments unnecessary.

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Black Ink—Traditions of Value

Black Ink—Traditions of Value

by: Miranda Reiman

cattletoday.com

Tradition. It’s that salad you can count on Aunt Kari bringing to each and every family picnic. It’s the Christmas cookie recipe that great-grandma brought over from “the old country.” Tradition is the annual barn dance your neighbor holds after the last cutting of hay, or that classic pickup truck the high school always borrows to showcase the royal court in the homecoming parade.

Tradition can be good, bad or indifferent. Maybe you’ll keep up the traveling “over-the-hill” birthday gag gift or doing the chicken dance at every wedding dance. The egg toss at the county fair—you could take it or leave it.

Your farming and ranching enterprise might be based on tradition. Your dad always started calving the 15th of February, so do you. You were taught to get up with the sun and to feed the cattle before you take a stop for breakfast.

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Maintain Body Condition Between Calving & the Breeding Season

Maintain Body Condition Between Calving & the Breeding Season

Cattlenetwork.com

Body condition score at calving is the single most important trait determining when a cow resumes heat cycles and therefore when she is likely to re-conceive for the next calf crop. However, it is also very important to avoid condition loss between calving and the breeding season to maintain excellent rebreeding performance. Fall calving cows normally are in good body condition when they calve in September and October. This year, however, some of the fall-calvers were a little thinner than normal at calving and feed supplies are definitely sparse in many areas. During the fall of 2006, with some cows already in marginal body condition, ranchers need to use additional pounds of supplement to make certain that the cows do not lose valuable body condition between calving and re-breeding.

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Is Traceability Driving Consolidation?

Is Traceability Driving Consolidation?

Cow Calf Weekly

National ID has been a comedy of errors and there’s much concern in the countryside about what the program will mean for producers. But let’s set aside the larger controversy about national ID and talk specifically about the mega-trend of traceability/accountability.

Brands have become a driving force in beef marketing. Alliances and entire new production systems have been created to help marketers make and keep promises regarding their product. As end-users demand and increasingly expect traceability and accountability, it’s becoming a significant management trend.

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