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This is in today's, Thrus. Feb. 8, Rapid City Journal
Official: Cattle paper trail leads to Canada
By Kevin Woster, Journal staff
The South Dakota state veterinarian said Wednesday that eight Canadian cattle condemned at a packing plant in Nebraska for being improperly sold to a Wessington Springs farmer apparently were shipped directly from Canada to the plant.
Dr. Sam Holland of Pierre said an ongoing investigation into the incident by the U.S. Department of Agriculture has convinced him that a mix-up at the Swift and Co. plant in Grand Island led officials there to mistakenly believe the cattle had come in with a load that belonged to Jan Vandyke of Wessington Springs.
The cattle were condemned, and Vandyke initially was denied payment for eight Canadian fat cattle believed to have come into the plant in a load of 43 from his farm. Vandyke eventually was paid, however. And further investigation by USDA indicated that the Canadian cattle were never in Vandyke's pasture, Holland said.
"You go two ways. Either there was a mix-up at the plant, or they came in with Vandyke's shipment," Holland said. "The records that are available now surely indicate that these were indeed fat cattle from Canada delivered direct to the plant."
Those records include a health certificate from a private veterinarian in Canada, an endorsement by Canadian officials, verification at the border and sealed records shipped with the cattle to the Swift plant. Holland said the paper trail leading from Canada directly to the Nebraska plant "appears pretty irrefutable."
The USDA requires live cattle coming from Canada for slaughter in the United States to be younger than 30 months old. They must be shipped in sealed trucks directly to slaughterhouses or to specific feedlots until they are slaughtered.
When the initial reports indicated that the Canadian cattle had come through a South Dakota market and unknowingly been fed and sold to Swift by Vandyke, critics of USDA's Canadian import policies said it showed the system was porous. But Holland said strong evidence shows that the system worked in this case, except for the mix-up at the plant.
Vandyke said in a news release by the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association last week that he didn't know there was a problem until Swift officials notified him that Canadian cattle had been found in his load. Vandyke said he had bought feeders at a South Dakota market.
Vandyke said he was later contacted by a USDA inspector who told him that the investigation showed that the Canadian cattle were mixed with his load at the plant and had never been on his farm. Vandyke continues to question that conclusion, however, saying that when he later saw ear tags taken from the Canadian cattle they were the same as some he had seen on cattle at his place.
Holland said he wouldn't dispute Vandyke's statements or beliefs.
"They showed him pictures of the tags, and he said he believes he saw those tags on some of his cattle in his feedlot," Holland said. "I surely don't fault the farmer-feeder. He sincerely believes he saw those tags in his lot. But the records seem to indicate the mix-up occurred at the plant."
Holland said the investigation is continuing, and that USDA officials are unlikely to discuss it. But he hopes they issue a public report when the investigation concludes.
"It appears the paperwork on those cattle is valid. The only question is, if that's the case, how did they get mixed up at the plant?" Holland said.
"And will we someday see an explanation? I think the farmer-feeder and the industry deserve that report."
Contact Kevin Woster at 394-8413 or [email protected].
Official: Cattle paper trail leads to Canada
By Kevin Woster, Journal staff
The South Dakota state veterinarian said Wednesday that eight Canadian cattle condemned at a packing plant in Nebraska for being improperly sold to a Wessington Springs farmer apparently were shipped directly from Canada to the plant.
Dr. Sam Holland of Pierre said an ongoing investigation into the incident by the U.S. Department of Agriculture has convinced him that a mix-up at the Swift and Co. plant in Grand Island led officials there to mistakenly believe the cattle had come in with a load that belonged to Jan Vandyke of Wessington Springs.
The cattle were condemned, and Vandyke initially was denied payment for eight Canadian fat cattle believed to have come into the plant in a load of 43 from his farm. Vandyke eventually was paid, however. And further investigation by USDA indicated that the Canadian cattle were never in Vandyke's pasture, Holland said.
"You go two ways. Either there was a mix-up at the plant, or they came in with Vandyke's shipment," Holland said. "The records that are available now surely indicate that these were indeed fat cattle from Canada delivered direct to the plant."
Those records include a health certificate from a private veterinarian in Canada, an endorsement by Canadian officials, verification at the border and sealed records shipped with the cattle to the Swift plant. Holland said the paper trail leading from Canada directly to the Nebraska plant "appears pretty irrefutable."
The USDA requires live cattle coming from Canada for slaughter in the United States to be younger than 30 months old. They must be shipped in sealed trucks directly to slaughterhouses or to specific feedlots until they are slaughtered.
When the initial reports indicated that the Canadian cattle had come through a South Dakota market and unknowingly been fed and sold to Swift by Vandyke, critics of USDA's Canadian import policies said it showed the system was porous. But Holland said strong evidence shows that the system worked in this case, except for the mix-up at the plant.
Vandyke said in a news release by the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association last week that he didn't know there was a problem until Swift officials notified him that Canadian cattle had been found in his load. Vandyke said he had bought feeders at a South Dakota market.
Vandyke said he was later contacted by a USDA inspector who told him that the investigation showed that the Canadian cattle were mixed with his load at the plant and had never been on his farm. Vandyke continues to question that conclusion, however, saying that when he later saw ear tags taken from the Canadian cattle they were the same as some he had seen on cattle at his place.
Holland said he wouldn't dispute Vandyke's statements or beliefs.
"They showed him pictures of the tags, and he said he believes he saw those tags on some of his cattle in his feedlot," Holland said. "I surely don't fault the farmer-feeder. He sincerely believes he saw those tags in his lot. But the records seem to indicate the mix-up occurred at the plant."
Holland said the investigation is continuing, and that USDA officials are unlikely to discuss it. But he hopes they issue a public report when the investigation concludes.
"It appears the paperwork on those cattle is valid. The only question is, if that's the case, how did they get mixed up at the plant?" Holland said.
"And will we someday see an explanation? I think the farmer-feeder and the industry deserve that report."
Contact Kevin Woster at 394-8413 or [email protected].