Sandhusker
Well-known member
Grapevine, Texas (Oct. 17, 2005) - At a gathering of more than 500 Texas cattle feeders, National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) President Jim McAdams told cattlemen the road map to success for the industry is a proven one: increasing beef demand by producing the highest quality, grain-fed beef more efficiently than anyone in the world. McAdams was a featured speaker today at the Texas Cattle Feeders Association Annual Convention in Grapevine.
{OK, that sounds good. I'm with him so far}
He called on all participants of the beef industry to be part of this successful solution, stating, "We are going to beat the competition because we do it right and we do it better."
{Why is Mike John saying we're not going to compete with the Aussies in Japan?}
McAdams noted there have been very few bad days over the past three years as cattlemen have enjoyed the best of the cattle cycle, which has contributed to record prices and record profits. But, he warned, "We all know that the good times as far as profitability won't continue forever."
There is a truth that all cattlemen know—high cattle prices don't last forever and the cattle cycle will always be dependable. "It will turn," says McAdams, "just when enough of us are certain we will never see another bad day."
All cattle producers want to extend this profitable period for as long as possible, the Adkins, Texas, rancher said. "Success will depend upon how effective we are in continuing to build demand. Only by growing demand faster than we grow supplies will we be able to flatten the boom and bust cycle."
Building beef demand and enhancing our business climate is exactly what NCBA was created to do, he said.
Some are concerned that U.S. cattlemen will be able to compete in the international market, he said. "The fear is we cannot produce beef as cheaply as other countries such as Brazil. This is not dissimilar to the fear we had regarding poultry in the past."
However, McAdams told cattle feeders the goal isn't to produce a protein that is as cheap as poultry or as cheap as other countries' beef, but to produce the protein that has the highest value in the world, the most efficiently.
{ If we produce the protein with the highest value, how can we reap the rewards of our efforts if we continue to have our checkoff dollars promote our competitor's lesser value product along with ours and allow that same product to be mingled with ours with no means if identifying it? }
But to achieve the highest value for their products, U.S. cattlemen must be able to sell it to the world's consumers.
{Look at how much of our cattle that we can't sell to Japan because of the USDA's( & NCBA approved) "anything but testing" negotiations.}
"We need international trade so our industry can reach its full potential. A strong domestic and global marketplace for our beef is critical to our ability to grow our profits and to grow our ranches and feedyards so that our sons and daughters can have a future in this business," he said. "But let me be clear. Some confuse our faith in our ability to compete globally with a belief that we support unfettered access to our domestic market. That is not the case."
{I haven't seen much opposition to allowing foreign access to our markets. I hear "You have to give access to get access"}
NCBA has been and will continue to be ever-vigilant in ensuring that whatever enters this country is safe, he promised cattle feeders, and that cattle are protected and America's cattle producers are never placed at a competitive disadvantage.
{R-CALF says there is a safety issue, why not support at least letting them have their day in court so they can state their case?
The OIE GIPSA report provided non-disputed examples of packers putting cattle producers at a competitive disadvantage. NCBA didn't seem concerned at all.}
"Trade must be fair, whether it is here at home or anywhere else in the world," McAdams said.
Without integrity in markets, he noted, people lose trust. And once trust is lost, loss of freedoms usually follows.
{Jim, read the papers. We lost trust in Japan and NCBA is against the very tool that would regain the Japanese' trust.}
{OK, that sounds good. I'm with him so far}
He called on all participants of the beef industry to be part of this successful solution, stating, "We are going to beat the competition because we do it right and we do it better."
{Why is Mike John saying we're not going to compete with the Aussies in Japan?}
McAdams noted there have been very few bad days over the past three years as cattlemen have enjoyed the best of the cattle cycle, which has contributed to record prices and record profits. But, he warned, "We all know that the good times as far as profitability won't continue forever."
There is a truth that all cattlemen know—high cattle prices don't last forever and the cattle cycle will always be dependable. "It will turn," says McAdams, "just when enough of us are certain we will never see another bad day."
All cattle producers want to extend this profitable period for as long as possible, the Adkins, Texas, rancher said. "Success will depend upon how effective we are in continuing to build demand. Only by growing demand faster than we grow supplies will we be able to flatten the boom and bust cycle."
Building beef demand and enhancing our business climate is exactly what NCBA was created to do, he said.
Some are concerned that U.S. cattlemen will be able to compete in the international market, he said. "The fear is we cannot produce beef as cheaply as other countries such as Brazil. This is not dissimilar to the fear we had regarding poultry in the past."
However, McAdams told cattle feeders the goal isn't to produce a protein that is as cheap as poultry or as cheap as other countries' beef, but to produce the protein that has the highest value in the world, the most efficiently.
{ If we produce the protein with the highest value, how can we reap the rewards of our efforts if we continue to have our checkoff dollars promote our competitor's lesser value product along with ours and allow that same product to be mingled with ours with no means if identifying it? }
But to achieve the highest value for their products, U.S. cattlemen must be able to sell it to the world's consumers.
{Look at how much of our cattle that we can't sell to Japan because of the USDA's( & NCBA approved) "anything but testing" negotiations.}
"We need international trade so our industry can reach its full potential. A strong domestic and global marketplace for our beef is critical to our ability to grow our profits and to grow our ranches and feedyards so that our sons and daughters can have a future in this business," he said. "But let me be clear. Some confuse our faith in our ability to compete globally with a belief that we support unfettered access to our domestic market. That is not the case."
{I haven't seen much opposition to allowing foreign access to our markets. I hear "You have to give access to get access"}
NCBA has been and will continue to be ever-vigilant in ensuring that whatever enters this country is safe, he promised cattle feeders, and that cattle are protected and America's cattle producers are never placed at a competitive disadvantage.
{R-CALF says there is a safety issue, why not support at least letting them have their day in court so they can state their case?
The OIE GIPSA report provided non-disputed examples of packers putting cattle producers at a competitive disadvantage. NCBA didn't seem concerned at all.}
"Trade must be fair, whether it is here at home or anywhere else in the world," McAdams said.
Without integrity in markets, he noted, people lose trust. And once trust is lost, loss of freedoms usually follows.
{Jim, read the papers. We lost trust in Japan and NCBA is against the very tool that would regain the Japanese' trust.}