• If you are having problems logging in please use the Contact Us in the lower right hand corner of the forum page for assistance.

Mexico takes young U.S. dairy heifers

HAY MAKER

Well-known member
Mexico takes young U.S. dairy heifers
Thursday, October 5, 2006, 8:52 AM

by Peter Shinn

U.S. Ag Secretary Mike Johanns announced Wednesday afternoon that Mexico will again accept U.S. dairy heifers less than 24 months of age.

The heifers must also be registered with a purebred dairy breed association or the Dairy Herd Improvement Association. And U.S. dairy heifers must be individually identified when they leave the U.S. so that they can be tracked through Mexico’s animal ID system.

Johanns said in a statement he’s pleased, but that he’s still committed to a more wide scale opening of Mexico's market to U.S. beef. "My goal is to restore the once-vibrant live cattle commerce between the United States and Mexico," Johanns said, "and to do so in accordance with science-based international guidelines."

According to USDA, the U.S. exported $103 million dollars worth of dairy heifers to Mexico in 2003. Mexico has been gradually opening its market to a broader range of U.S. beef products since it initially banned U.S. beef in December of 2003 after America's first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

In March of 2004, Mexico re-opened its market to boneless U.S. beef from cattle under 30 months of age, one of the first markets to do so. It re-opened its market to bone-in U.S. beef from cattle under 30 months of age in February of this year.
 
Top