Tam said:
Hundreds of Energetic and Enthusiastic Cattle Producers Turn Out for Regional Meeting in Reno, Nev.
RENO, NEVADA (July 26, 2005) An R-CALF USA regional meeting here last week, open to all U.S. cattle –producers, was a rousing success, according to participants who quickly became part of a standing room only crowd.
R-CALF USA President and Co-Founder Leo McDonnell of Columbus, Mont., wrapped up the meeting with a discussion about the organization's goals for the U.S. cattle industry.
Yada Yada Yada
I gagged down the whole press release about the Reno Meeting and I never saw anything about Leo saying his good byes. I thought he said he was stepping down and Reno was his farewell. What happen? :yeah: :sure: :? Haven't they found anyone that can tell a lie with a straight face to replace him yet. :wink:
I think you are a broom closet R CALFER Miss Tam,you read R CALF's press releases more than I do,why dont you just admitt it ,you think R CALF is the best thing since sliced bread,since you are posting R CALF's press releases we might as well tell the whole story ????????
Hundreds of Energetic and Enthusiastic Cattle Producers Turn Out for Regional Meeting in Reno, Nev.
RENO, NEVADA (July 26, 2005) An R-CALF USA regional meeting here last week, open to all U.S. cattle –producers, was a rousing success, according to participants who quickly became part of a standing room only crowd.
R-CALF USA President and Co-Founder Leo McDonnell of Columbus, Mont., wrapped up the meeting with a discussion about the organization's goals for the U.S. cattle industry. (Note: News releases covering the content of speeches by three other individuals on the agenda will be issued soon.)
McDonnell started out by explaining that he believes it is wrong for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to override the scientific protocols established to protect against bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). He indicated USDA was motivated by politics and a desire to help meatpackers and processors gain additional economic benefits.
"While packer interest groups have continuously pushed to open the borders to help fill packers' pockets, R-CALF USA has been the only cattle organization working to uphold the historically conservative import firewalls used to keep BSE from being imported into the United States," said McDonnell. "R-CALF's legal battle is not against Canadian ranchers. They're families just like yours and mine, who share the same love of the land and way of life.
"Instead, our fight is against USDA and its irresponsible handling of this whole BSE issue," McDonnell continued. "It's unfortunate because there are good, responsible people within USDA whose scientific expertise on BSE is being ignored."
McDonnell also explained that R-CALF USA is asking for nothing more than what both the U.S. and Canada have traditionally required of every other country affected by BSE, and that is an immediate halt to imports of cattle and beef products from such countries.
"I fear that if U.S. ranchers are not successful in maintaining those traditional firewalls, the U.S. may very well become a dumping ground for cattle and beef products that other major beef-consuming countries have banned," he said. "Who benefits if that happens?"
McDonnell noted groups like the National Meat Association (NMA), the American Meat Institute (AMI), the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA), and the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) have shown clear and unwavering support for packers with their 'friend-of-the-court' briefs asking for the immediate reopening of the Canadian border to imports of live cattle and additional beef products.
"Interestingly, these are the same groups, along with USDA, that are aggressively opposing Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL)," McDonnell said.
McDonnell also expressed his disappointment in Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns for his failure at a recent BSE roundtable in Minnesota to provide irrefutable science supporting the agency's position on BSE, as had been promised. Instead, and in the absence of any factual debate, representatives of USDA and industry groups opposed to R-CALF USA reverted to name-calling.
"Also interesting is that it appears USDA stated its real reason for wanting the border open," McDonnell pointed out. "With American Farm Bureau sitting on his left, and NCBA sitting on his right, Secretary Johanns announced that U.S. beef and cattle prices were too high, and that we needed to get the Canadian border open. Statements like that only reinforce that USDA's efforts to open the Canadian border are more about filling packers' pockets and ratcheting down cattle prices, than focusing on the science of BSE."
McDonnell said in comparison to retail beef prices today, one could hardly say that fed-cattle prices are too high. He also emphasized that only one cattle producer organization stood up in defense of the prices ranchers were getting this year, and that, of course, was R-CALF USA.
"If USDA was truly concerned about packer margin, then why apply obstructionist policies such as blocking BSE testing so packers could meet Japanese requests, which in turn, would improve by-product and beef values," McDonnell asked. "Maybe the problem is simply that opening up Japanese export markets would increase U.S. cattle and beef prices, and obviously that's a problem for the Ag Secretary and certain beef industry groups."
Asked about Johanns' allegations that R-CALF USA's success in stopping the implementation of USDA's Final Rule caused cutbacks and shutdowns at various packer locations in the United States, McDonnell said that, "AMI, NCBA and others have grossly misled the public on this issue."
He advised the crowd to research the facts before assuming statements by those groups are correct, and he proposed this formula to do that: 1) Remember that USDA's Final Rule allows into the U.S. cattle only under 30 months of age; 2) Subtract the amount of cattle under 30 months of age that the U.S. exports to Canada; 3) Add in the increased number of U.S. imports of Mexican feeder cattle under 30 months of age.
"When you're all done – using USDA's own numbers – on a net import basis with Canada and Mexico, the U.S. packing industry is only shorted 150,000 to 200,000 of those cattle," McDonnell explained. "The real problem is that we are in that part of the cycle when U.S. cattle numbers are down, and packer margins are tight. These are the times within our cattle cycle when packers need to tighten their belts and become more efficient, and hopefully they have properly budgeted for these leaner times."
McDonnell also made several points to clearly differentiate the U.S. cow herd from the Canadian cow herd, as well as differences in BSE risk mitigation practices and BSE prevalence in both countries, noting that the United States – with more than 400,000 tests conducted thus far – has had one case of domestic BSE "under very suspicious circumstances . . . with a lot of unknowns surrounding this case," while Canada has had four cases of BSE in approximately 50,000 tests.
"But it doesn't stop there," McDonnell explained, "because all four cases trace back to Alberta, and in the BSE science circle, they call that a cluster effect."
McDonnell went on to note that Alberta has a huge BSE problem with a much higher prevalence rate than all of the rest of the Canadian herd combined, and that USDA has no business bringing in Canadian beef, let alone cattle from an area with so much BSE infectivity.
When asked, McDonnell said the recent domestic BSE case in a 12-year-old Texas cow should not affect R-CALF USA's litigation against USDA.
"While there are a lot of unknowns surrounding this case, one thing we do know is that she was born before our meat-and-bone-meal (MBM) ban," he explained. "But more importantly, we have never taken the approach that it is OK to increase exposure to a disease just because we have it. Instead what we have sought in the food sector and animal health sector is to take those steps that reduce exposure to contamination.
"This is the time to tighten up our safeguards and firewalls, not relax them," McDonnell emphasized.
He also pointed out that the U.S. cattle industry has lost billions of dollars due to Canada's BSE problem and the closing of our export markets.
"Interestingly, while U.S. beef exports have all but collapsed, Canadian boxed beef imports to the U.S. have increased, and I would say U.S. cattle ranchers have shouldered a huge portion of the Canadian problem without even a thank you," he said.
"If you're not careful, the trade liberalizations being promoted today are not only going to compromise your international image, but also take the highs out of your markets, exposing you only to the lows," McDonald concluded.
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R-CALF USA (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America) represents thousands of U.S. cattle producers on domestic and international trade and marketing issues. R-CALF USA, a national, non-profit organization, is dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle industry. R-CALF USA's membership consists primarily of cow-calf operators, cattle backgrounders, and feedlot owners. Its members – over 18,000 strong – are located in 47 states, and the organization has over 60 local and state association affiliates, from both cattle and farm organizations. Various main street businesses are associate members of R-CALF USA. For more information, visit www.r-calfusa.com or, call 406-252-2516.]................................good luck
................good luck
