Stupid USDA

[ranch hand]

http://www.northernag.net/AGNews/AgNewsStories/TabId/657/artmid/2927/articleid/4769/USDA-to-Allow-Beef-Importation-from-Argentina-Brazil.aspx

 

[Steve]

Vilsack stated in both proposed rules that he expected the increased imports of fresh beef associated with the two rules to reduce producer welfare, lower U.S. beef prices, and lower U.S. beef production.

is the article satire?

"Finalizing rules that the Secretary knows will lower U.S. cattle prices, lower U.S. beef production, and increase the risk of infecting the U.S. cow herd with FMD demonstrates the Secretary's blatant disregard for USDA's mission,"

"The effect of these rules will be to further erode the economic condition of Rural America and reduce economic opportunities for independent ranchers, which is exactly the opposite of what the Secretary should be doing."

is obama using the ag department to punish another enemy?

 

[mrj]

Specifically, how has it hurt US beef producers to have some imported very lean beef while we are exporting some very high dollar, top quality beef along with the internal organs and other parts which very few US citizens will eat?

A healthy balance of trade seems to have been good for us, judging by the prices we have been getting. Now, if our government will only get serious about getting rid of the unfair tariffs on our beef exported to Japan, among other places, prices will get even better.

mrj

 

[canadian angus]

No one every accused them of being smart, except Oldtimer!

 

[Traveler]

Specifically, how has it hurt US beef producers to have some imported very lean beef while we are exporting some very high dollar, top quality beef along with the internal organs and other parts which very few US citizens will eat?

A healthy balance of trade seems to have been good for us, judging by the prices we have been getting. Now, if our government will only get serious about getting rid of the unfair tariffs on our beef exported to Japan, among other places, prices will get even better.

mrj

Do you know if the reporting of Foot and Mouth Disease in the article is accurate, and do you feel it should be cause for concern or not? I feel that the Obama Administration views domestic beef production with the same contempt as coal production.

Transmission[edit]
The FMD virus can be transmitted in a number of ways, including close-contact animal-to-animal spread, long-distance aerosol spread and fomites, or inanimate objects, typically fodder and motor vehicles. The clothes and skin of animal handlers such as farmers, standing water, and uncooked food scraps and feed supplements containing infected animal products can harbor the virus, as well. Cows can also catch FMD from the semen of infected bulls. Control measures include quarantine and destruction of infected livestock, and export bans for meat and other animal products to countries not infected with the disease.

Just as humans may spread the disease by carrying the virus on their clothes and bodies, animals that are not susceptible to the disease may still aid in spreading it. This was the case in Canada in 1952, when an outbreak flared up again after dogs had carried off bones from dead animals.[3] Wolves are thought to play a similar role in the former Soviet Union.[20]

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

The "Old Bone" was a ham bone brought from the old country. Caused lots of grief so I have heard . Price of cattle really dropped.

 

[Faster horses]

Specifically, how has it hurt US beef producers to have some imported very lean beef while we are exporting some very high dollar, top quality beef along with the internal organs and other parts which very few US citizens will eat?

A healthy balance of trade seems to have been good for us, judging by the prices we have been getting. Now, if our government will only get serious about getting rid of the unfair tariffs on our beef exported to Japan, among other places, prices will get even better.

mrj

Perception is everything. :?

 

[SMN Herf]

Specifically, how has it hurt US beef producers to have some imported very lean beef while we are exporting some very high dollar, top quality beef along with the internal organs and other parts which very few US citizens will eat?

A healthy balance of trade seems to have been good for us, judging by the prices we have been getting. Now, if our government will only get serious about getting rid of the unfair tariffs on our beef exported to Japan, among other places, prices will get even better.

mrj

So am I reading this right and you support this new rule? I am pretty sure that if we bring in foot and mouth disease into the US you can kiss ALL the export market good bye for a long long time. I am all for trade and I realize it is a two way street, but I have yet to see any scientific evidence that shows Argentina and Brazil can guarantee that they have foot and mouth under control any more than they have for the past 50 years.

 

[ranch hand]

SMN Herf...I agree. We need to stop and rethink this one. But MRJ ,I do not believe Foot and Mouth is worth any export business it will get us.

Producers of Brazilian beef anticipate a big boost in their sales to the U.S. as well as Canada and Mexico in the coming months, according to a local news story. It has some U.S. producers concerned.

"It is something spectacular to open a huge market such as the U.S. for Brazilian beef," said Antonio Carmadelli, president of the Brazilian Association of the Beef exporting industry, Abiec in a Dec., 20, Merco Press story. The U.S. is the world's largest consumer of beef, using 11.6 million tons annually of which 1.02 million tons are imported, said the story.

"Besides if we make it to the U.S we have prospects of other openings in NAFTA members, Canada and Mexico, plus Central America which follows U.S. sanitary rules," added the Brazilian businessman.

 

[ranch hand]

http://www.agweek.com/event/article/id/27286/

 

[Mike]

Specifically, how has it hurt US beef producers to have some imported very lean beef while we are exporting some very high dollar, top quality beef along with the internal organs and other parts which very few US citizens will eat?

A healthy balance of trade seems to have been good for us, judging by the prices we have been getting. Now, if our government will only get serious about getting rid of the unfair tariffs on our beef exported to Japan, among other places, prices will get even better.

mrj

Totally illogical........Exporting the "high dollar" beef to the wealthy in other countries is denying the middle class here the affordable option of a good beef eating experience which has led to less beef sold here.

It was only about a year ago that chicken passed beef in the U.S. as the most sold meat.......... A direct result of your misguided economic fallacy.

 

[Mike]

Scores of Americans are in an uproar since Food Safety News revealed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will soon allow U.S. chickens to be sent to China for processing before being shipped back to the states for human consumption.

This arrangement is especially disturbing given China's subpar food safety record and the fact that there are no plans to station on-site USDA inspectors at Chinese plants.

Also, American consumers won't know which brands of chicken are processed in China because there's no requirement to label it as such.

 

[Faster horses]

Maybe they should stop eating chicken. :? (Just a thought.)