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Montana will get Montana All Natural Program

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Anonymous

Guest
House agrees on natural-beef bill



By GWEN FLORIO

Great Falls Tribune Capitol Bureau

March 27, 2007

Montana (MT), US



HELENA — Holy cow! (Well, beef.)



The Montana House of Representatives, which has been fighting for weeks over the state budget, found bipartisan harmony Monday over Sen. Kim Hansen's move to create a marketing program for natural Montana beef.



"The consumer wants natural beef," said Rep. Llew Jones. "They are searching for it and willing to pay a premium."



Jones, a Conrad Republican, carried the bill in the House for Hansen, a Harlem Democrat.

Under provisions of the bill, the Department of Livestock would administer the program that qualifies beef as natural.



Natural beef comes from cattle that are grass-fed, or eat natural feed, Jones said. Growth hormones and certain antibiotics are forbidden. The requirements are not as stringent as for organic beef.



To qualify for the program, the cattle also must have been born, raised and finished in Montana.



Jones estimated that about 50 producers will participate in the program at first, a number that is expected to double every year until it reaches about 200. The program's cost would come from fees assessed those producers, according to the bill.



The bill, approved unanimously last month in the Senate, received initial approval in the House on Monday, 98-2. Two of the most fiscally conservative members of the House — Rep. Rick Jore, C-Ronan, and Rep. Roger Koopman, R-Bozeman — voted against it.



"I do believe these kinds of things should be promoted," Koopman said, "but through private organizations such as the cattlemen and the stock growers. ... We need to look for something other than government."

But Rep. Sue Dickenson, D-Great Falls, said she was happy to support the bill.

"I think anything we can do to encourage our local agricultural producers" is good, Dickenson said. "The more natural food is better. I'm very much in favor of this bill."



The bill faces a final vote today in the House before going to Gov. Brian Schweitzer.



To read the full text of Senate Bill 544, view

http://data.opi.mt.gov/bills/2007/billhtml/SB0544.htm
 

Bill

Well-known member
Natural beef comes from cattle that are grass-fed, or eat natural feed, Jones said. Growth hormones and certain antibiotics are forbidden. The requirements are not as stringent as for organic beef.

What antibiotics are accepted in the Montana Natural Beef Program?
 
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Anonymous

Guest
Bill said:
Natural beef comes from cattle that are grass-fed, or eat natural feed, Jones said. Growth hormones and certain antibiotics are forbidden. The requirements are not as stringent as for organic beef.

What antibiotics are accepted in the Montana Natural Beef Program?

(2) To qualify as Montana-certified natural beef CATTLE, the beef cattle MUST have been born, AND raised, in Montana FOLLOWING NATURALLY RAISED PROTOCOLS AND FINISHED FOLLOWING NATURALLY RAISED PROTOCOLS. The BEEF cattle must be:

(a) raised in an environmentally prudent manner that is consistent with Montana's best grazing standards;

(b) raised pursuant to beef quality assurance standards or similar guidelines;

(c) raised without subtherapeutic antibiotics, synthetic hormones, synthetic growth promotants, and ionophores; and

(d) fed only natural feeds that contain no drugs, chemicals, OR animal byproducts.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
PORKER said:
How are they going to record the NATURALLY RAISED PROTOCOLS ????

That will be set up by the Montana Depts of Agriculture and Dept of Livestock....
 

Mike

Well-known member
Natural beef
The official USDA definition of natural refers only to meat products and does not refer to the
method of raising the beef animals. The definition describes beef products that have been
minimally processed and contain no additives, which means no artificial flavors, colors or
preservatives. This definition applies to all meat that does not have an ingredient label (a label isadded if the product includes a marinade or solution). If there is no ingredient label, it can be
assumed as natural.
The USDA definition doesn’t mention the production techniques for the natural beef which can
be misleading for consumers. Some producers are aware of this and try to explain to consumers
the problem that comes from the lack of an official definition on the growing side for the
natural beef. For example, the Dakota Beef Company stresses the idea of “no restrictions [for
natural beef production] on feed, veterinary care, or growth stimulants. If a natural producer
decides to promote the fact that his or her cattle were raised without antibiotics or growth
hormones, an additional label is added to the package.3 For the Maverick Ranch, “the natural
beef definition allows almost any pure protein to be labeled as ‘natural.’ While it precludes the
addition of chemicals or additives after the animal has been harvested, it does not make
reference to raising practices during the life of the animal, such as what the animal was fed or
whether antibiotics or pesticides were ever administered.”
4
In general, and through the efforts of ranchers and natural beef marketers, natural beef has
come to be defined as raised without antibiotics or growth hormones5 and ionophores and
implants6 are not used in the production process.
 

Sandhusker

Well-known member
You realize, of course, that if people buy the product because it it is safer your are guilty of fraud and the USDA will not allow fraud. :wink: :roll: :lol: :lol:
 

Tam

Well-known member
Well I hope the Montana Producers comply to the Natural Beef rules better than they do the BSE testing rules for their state. :wink:
 
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Anonymous

Guest
Tam said:
Well I hope the Montana Producers comply to the Natural Beef rules better than they do the BSE testing rules for their state. :wink:

Did some guy stand you up for the 7th grade snowmans ball in Outlook- for this deep resentment of Montana to build and fester so badly -EH Tam :???:

Have you renouced your citizenship, yet- or are you one of those that plays the programs on both sides the line?
 

PORKER

Well-known member
Rule No.5 Montana Grass Fed Law.

(5) To ensure compliance, the department and the board DEPARTMENT of livestock shall jointly adopt rules requiring at least one inspection of the ranch of origin of the BEEF cattle as well as development of the necessary protocols for recordkeeping and verification for the certification of natural and natural grass-fed beef CATTLE.

Oldtimer, PM me on who to contact in the Montana Gov. THIS type of recordkeeping by third party is DONE by www.ScoringAg.com
 
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Anonymous

Guest
PORKER said:
Rule No.5 Montana Grass Fed Law.

(5) To ensure compliance, the department and the board DEPARTMENT of livestock shall jointly adopt rules requiring at least one inspection of the ranch of origin of the BEEF cattle as well as development of the necessary protocols for recordkeeping and verification for the certification of natural and natural grass-fed beef CATTLE.

Oldtimer, PM me on who to contact in the Montana Gov. THIS type of recordkeeping by third party is DONE by www.ScoringAg.com

Porker- Nancy Peterson is the Director of the Dept of Agriculture:
http://agr.state.mt.us/

We don't have a new Director of the Department of Livestock appointed yet- but William Hedstrom is the board Chairman:

http://mt.gov/liv/

But I would imagine they are setting this up thru the Montana Beef Network- Beef Council- which already has an ID system set up and is the registrar for the National ID program- they provide the tags and you can record the data with several different data bases they have to offer...I can't remember if ScoringAg was on the list or not..( I lost my list after the buyers said they wouldn't pay anymore for tagged calves, than branded ones with affidavits :roll: )

http://www.mtbeefnetwork.org/
 

PORKER

Well-known member
Thanks for the links, I do know that Mr. Kanitz (ScoringAg)said they were doing the State of Michigan mandatory RFID Bovine database loading for the Bangs Disease outbreak ,even for the fair grounds and exibitions.
 

rkaiser

Well-known member
Hope you are all over this one Oldtimer. I can't wait for the day that our Celtic Beef with the big Maple leaf on the label sits on the shelf beside yours in Billings or Massoula (sp). I only need a little corner of that shelf to make a profit. God Bless America!!!!!
 
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Anonymous

Guest
rkaiser said:
Hope you are all over this one Oldtimer. I can't wait for the day that our Celtic Beef with the big Maple leaf on the label sits on the shelf beside yours in Billings or Massoula (sp). I only need a little corner of that shelf to make a profit. God Bless America!!!!!

And here I was going to offer up my life savings for an investment in your new plant- and now you want to talk about competing against me... :p

After I dug thru both pockets and my rathole I had $103.75 which comes out to about $120.10 Canuck to put toward that $150 million.... (But thats before my trip to town this morning- might have to have breakfast at the coffee shop) :wink: :lol:

I don't care- as long as its marked "Product of Canada", so the folks can have an honest and informed choice- bring it on....

Its just the Tams of Canada that upset me- thinking they're deserved a right to participate in lying to, cheating, and defrauding consumers to market their product- and ride on the backs of the US cattlemans industry just because of some little treaty paper :( :mad:
 

RobertMac

Well-known member
OT- you will need to call your product something other than natural beef. As Mike pointed out, USDA considers all meat 'natural' unless something is added or further processed POST HARVEST. You need a 'brand name' such as 'Montana Ranch Raised Beef'. You will need a documented protocol and each producer selling into the program will have to have a signed and notarized copy on file with FSIS. Producer integrity will be paramount. Spot checking ranch and carcasses for abuse with permanent expulsion.

This gives me an idea for my plant...easy sell to politicians...more tax dollars!
 

PORKER

Well-known member
Better Yet ,how about a label that says how it was raised,who raised it with the Ranch picture included with breed ,tag number etc.
 
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