Friday, August 5, 2005
Ag News: Livestock
Schweitzer orders cattle inspection upon border opening; cattle market takes a dip
HELENA, Mont. - Despite the concerns and legal actions of many cattlemen and farm groups, the Canada-U.S. border opened to live cattle imports last week.
The first few semi-loads of cattle entered the United States on Wednesday, July 18, two years and two months after the border closed to live cattle imports in May 2003 as a result of the discovery of a Canadian cow diagnosed with bovine spongiform encelepathy.
Almost immediately after the border was opened to live cattle imports, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer issued an order for inspection of Canadian cattle destined for Montana feedlots. The order states the Canadian cattle will be inspected as they are unloaded from sealed trucks at their destination to insure they are less than 30 months of age, are branded with the Canada brand and are not pregnant, explained Karen Cooper, Montana Department of Livestock public information officer. "They will be inspected upon arrival at a Montana destination," she said. "The Montana Department of Livestock will be in charge of inspecting them, with a veterinarian."
R-CALF USA applauded Schweitzer's order, while the Cattlemen's Network belittled it and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association questioned its legality.
"We are pleased that Gov. Schweitzer is taking the initiative to strengthen the rule to protect the reputation and safety of the domestic herd," said Bill Bullard, R-CALF USA chief executive officer. "The oversight by the State of Montana is particularly important given that formal comments were filed with U.S. Department of Livestock during the rulemaking process by a USDA investigator, who stated that current regulations were ineffective at preventing the loss of seals from sealed trucks and trucks arriving at slaughter plants with missing cattle. The USDA inspector stated this has resulted in the possibility that cattle were diverted."
Furthermore, Montana officials said they plan to authenticate various documents that accompany each animal to make certain any identification tags match up with the paperwork.
"Because the USDA acted prematurely in implementing this rule without making needed improvements, the State of Montana's action is necessary to fill in some of the many gaps left by the USDA," said Leo McDonnell, R-CALF USA president, "essential to protecting our U.S. cattle industry from the introduction of BSE from known sources of the disease."
However, not everyone agrees the order is a positive move. The Cattlemen's Network editor implies, in a story filled with editor's notes on the Cattlemen's Network Web site, Schweitzer made the order because R-CALF USA members are among his main supporters and they lost a dispute with the USDA over the closed border. And then the National Cattlemen's Beef Association questioned the legality of Schweitzer's order, clearly disagreeing with it.
Nevertheless, Canadian cattle are entering the United States feedlots, packing plants and markets.
"We saw the price drop $5 to $6 lower for the slaughter cow and bull markets," reported field man Brian Perry of Western Livestock Auction in Great Falls, Mont. "I don't believe that price drop was solely caused by the border opening, because there was a lot of boxed beef coming across the border prior to the recent border opening to live cattle."
Instead, Perry said he believes the cattle cycle has had an affect on the market price. "During this time of year, there are a lot of cattle coming into the slaughter market," he explained. "The cattle numbers are higher, and historically, this has driven the price down. We always see low market prices around this time, but probably not as low as we saw it last week."
In addition, Perry said there are other factors influencing the cattle market, such as freight costs. "Diesel prices are extremely high, which makes freight high," he explained. "There are a lot of other factors that can attribute to the lower prices."
However, Lyle Allen of the Lewistown Livestock Auction in Lewistown, Mont., said he believes the border opening "had a psychological affect on buyers, causing some down pressure on the market. We're just waiting and wondering what's going to happen next."
Perry said the cattle market has been on a downward trend since the USDA announced it was re-testing the brain sample from a Texas cow. That combined with the fact that the nation has had virtually no export market since December 2003, Perry said he doesn't see how else to punish the cattle market. "We're not exporting beef and we're increasing imports," he said. "Other countries have already absorbed what we lost in the world trade. I don't believe they're going to give it back to us after we lost it, we're going to have to fight for it and that's going to take years."
Personally, Perry said he sees the market staying at about the current level in the future. "I'm not sure we'll see a rally in the future," he said. "There is a lot up in the air right now."
Ag News: Livestock
Schweitzer orders cattle inspection upon border opening; cattle market takes a dip
HELENA, Mont. - Despite the concerns and legal actions of many cattlemen and farm groups, the Canada-U.S. border opened to live cattle imports last week.
The first few semi-loads of cattle entered the United States on Wednesday, July 18, two years and two months after the border closed to live cattle imports in May 2003 as a result of the discovery of a Canadian cow diagnosed with bovine spongiform encelepathy.
Almost immediately after the border was opened to live cattle imports, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer issued an order for inspection of Canadian cattle destined for Montana feedlots. The order states the Canadian cattle will be inspected as they are unloaded from sealed trucks at their destination to insure they are less than 30 months of age, are branded with the Canada brand and are not pregnant, explained Karen Cooper, Montana Department of Livestock public information officer. "They will be inspected upon arrival at a Montana destination," she said. "The Montana Department of Livestock will be in charge of inspecting them, with a veterinarian."
R-CALF USA applauded Schweitzer's order, while the Cattlemen's Network belittled it and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association questioned its legality.
"We are pleased that Gov. Schweitzer is taking the initiative to strengthen the rule to protect the reputation and safety of the domestic herd," said Bill Bullard, R-CALF USA chief executive officer. "The oversight by the State of Montana is particularly important given that formal comments were filed with U.S. Department of Livestock during the rulemaking process by a USDA investigator, who stated that current regulations were ineffective at preventing the loss of seals from sealed trucks and trucks arriving at slaughter plants with missing cattle. The USDA inspector stated this has resulted in the possibility that cattle were diverted."
Furthermore, Montana officials said they plan to authenticate various documents that accompany each animal to make certain any identification tags match up with the paperwork.
"Because the USDA acted prematurely in implementing this rule without making needed improvements, the State of Montana's action is necessary to fill in some of the many gaps left by the USDA," said Leo McDonnell, R-CALF USA president, "essential to protecting our U.S. cattle industry from the introduction of BSE from known sources of the disease."
However, not everyone agrees the order is a positive move. The Cattlemen's Network editor implies, in a story filled with editor's notes on the Cattlemen's Network Web site, Schweitzer made the order because R-CALF USA members are among his main supporters and they lost a dispute with the USDA over the closed border. And then the National Cattlemen's Beef Association questioned the legality of Schweitzer's order, clearly disagreeing with it.
Nevertheless, Canadian cattle are entering the United States feedlots, packing plants and markets.
"We saw the price drop $5 to $6 lower for the slaughter cow and bull markets," reported field man Brian Perry of Western Livestock Auction in Great Falls, Mont. "I don't believe that price drop was solely caused by the border opening, because there was a lot of boxed beef coming across the border prior to the recent border opening to live cattle."
Instead, Perry said he believes the cattle cycle has had an affect on the market price. "During this time of year, there are a lot of cattle coming into the slaughter market," he explained. "The cattle numbers are higher, and historically, this has driven the price down. We always see low market prices around this time, but probably not as low as we saw it last week."
In addition, Perry said there are other factors influencing the cattle market, such as freight costs. "Diesel prices are extremely high, which makes freight high," he explained. "There are a lot of other factors that can attribute to the lower prices."
However, Lyle Allen of the Lewistown Livestock Auction in Lewistown, Mont., said he believes the border opening "had a psychological affect on buyers, causing some down pressure on the market. We're just waiting and wondering what's going to happen next."
Perry said the cattle market has been on a downward trend since the USDA announced it was re-testing the brain sample from a Texas cow. That combined with the fact that the nation has had virtually no export market since December 2003, Perry said he doesn't see how else to punish the cattle market. "We're not exporting beef and we're increasing imports," he said. "Other countries have already absorbed what we lost in the world trade. I don't believe they're going to give it back to us after we lost it, we're going to have to fight for it and that's going to take years."
Personally, Perry said he sees the market staying at about the current level in the future. "I'm not sure we'll see a rally in the future," he said. "There is a lot up in the air right now."
