Angus Field Day - 7L Farms rolled out the red carpet for a large crowd of Angus enthusiasts attending the junior show and field day at their operation near Wiggins. Jimmy Levens and the 7L crew provided participants with a memorable weekend of good food, excellent junior activities, and Southern Hospitality.

Drought-Stricken Producers Need Help – Despite scattered showers, most of the Southeast is currently classified in the D3 (Extreme) and D4 (Exceptional) categories (see http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html). This is having a devastating effect on livestock producers in these areas. States are seeing up to 300 percent more animals (as compared to last year) move through sales facilities throughout the Southeast. This year’s situation follows several years of cow culling because of historic drought conditions.
Producers increasingly are unable to feed their herds, and core herds with high-quality breeding stock are moving through auction markets.  Cattle-Fax reports that during the last two weeks of May, sale barn trade in the Southeast region was up 47 percent or 42,600 head compared to 2006 levels.
Many producers are seeking pasture land for lease to move, and potentially save, the core genetic base of individual herds. Where there is no other option, they’re looking to get word out to buyers that high-quality cows are becoming available in markets in increasing numbers.
This offers a unique opportunity to buy bred cows right from the core of the herd. For producers in other areas looking to rebuild herds, there will be hundreds of high-quality seedstock for sale in these states. Finally, producers are still looking for hay -- either for purchase or by donation. Contact the MCA office if you can help in any of these ways.

Gelbvieh Show - Breeders from seven states converged on Hattiesburg last weekend for the Eastern Regional Junior Gelbvieh Show. In addition to the cattle show, juniors competed in photography, advertising, speaking, sales talk, and poster contests.

Beef Commodity Meeting June 15th – Farm Bureau members are invited to Rogers Bar H-R in Collins for Friday’s beef meeting. Registration begins at 9:00 a.m. If you can attend, contact Jon Kilgore at (601) 278-3809.

Cattle Market Notes, Friday, June 8, 2007, Dr. John Anderson, Mississippi State University - Cash fed cattle prices have slipped significantly over the last couple of week, largely reflecting seasonal supply factors. This week, live prices in most regions were around $91 to $91.50. USDA reported a few sales on Friday in Nebraska at $90.
For the most part, feeder cattle prices have held up pretty well given the decline in beef and fed cattle prices. At Oklahoma City this week, prices on feeder steers and heifers over 800 pounds were mostly steady; prices on 600-800 pound feeders were steady to $1 lower; and prices on stocker calves were steady.
At West Plains, Missouri, feeder and stocker calf prices were $1 to $3 higher, with some instances of $3 to $5 higher on 400-600 pound calves. At Arkansas auctions this week, steer and heifer prices were mostly $1 to $3 lower.
At Mississippi auctions this week, prices on steers over 400 pounds were $5 higher; lighter weights were $5 lower. Heifer prices were called $5 lower. For the week, feeder steer prices in Mississippi were as follows: 200-300 pounds, $140-$153; 300-350 pounds, $125-$135; 350-400 pounds, $120-$125; 400-500 pounds, $115-$120; 500-600 pounds, $105-$115; 600-700 pounds, $95-$105; 700-800 pounds, $90-$95. Prices on slaughter cows were $1 to $2 higher this week. For the week: breakers, not reported; boners (850-1,200#), $44-$51; lean (850-1,200#), $40-$50.
Live Cattle futures closing prices on Friday (with change from last Friday’s close in parentheses) were as follows: June $89.72 (-1.08); August $89.60 (-1.07); October $93.22 (-1.10); December $94.60 (-0.87); February $95.92 (-0.50)
Feeder Cattle futures fell along with live cattle this week. Feeder Cattle futures closing prices on Friday (with change from last Friday’s close in parentheses): August $108.20 (-2.05); September $108.17 110.07 (-1.90); October $108.20 (-1.70); November $108.30 109.22 (-0.92).
Corn futures moved lower most of the week. July Corn closed on Friday at $3.82, down 4 ¾ cents from last week’s close. July soybeans closed on Friday at $8.21 ½, up less than 1 cent from last Friday’s close. Dr. Anderson’s complete report can be accessed from www.mscattlemen.org

5.7 Million Pounds of Beef Recalled - United Food Group, LLC, of Vernon, Calif., announced it is again expanding its original June 3 voluntary ground beef recall (first expanded June 7).
The company said that, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and based on new information regarding the purchase date of fresh ground beef in Arizona suspected of being contaminated, as a precautionary measure to protect consumers it is voluntarily expanding its recall to all ground beef products produced at its plant between April 6 and 20. This represents an estimated 5.3 million additional pounds that may have been contaminated with the E. coli O157:H7 bacteria. FSIS reported that the total amount of product recalled by United Food Group is 5.7 million pounds.
United Food Group said in a release that all reported health concerns have been related to fresh ground beef packed in chubs but, as a precautionary measure, the company is recalling all ground beef products produced during the April 6-20 time frame. Products included in the recall are fresh ground beef packed in chubs, tray packs and frozen patties.
The ground beef subject to this recall was distributed in 11 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

Tyson Recalls 40,000 Pounds - Tyson Fresh Meats Inc. on Friday recalled more than 40,000 pounds of ground beef shipped to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) stores in 12 states after samples tested at a Sherman, Texas, plant showed signs of E. coli contamination.
No illnesses had been reported. Springdale-based Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) said the recall is not related to contaminated ground beef distributed by California-based United Food Group LLC.
The recalled products were sent to Wal-Mart stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas, Tyson said.

Chinese Leadership Concerned Over Soaring Food Prices - USMEF reported a few weeks ago that pig disease mortalities were cited as a cause to the spring's run-up in pork prices, and that estimates of death losses over the past year run as high as 20 million head.
"In the last five days, the food price issue has overtaken the stock market as the hot news of the moment," said John Lam, USMEF China regional programs manager.
In some areas of China, pork prices have increased 20 percent in one month, and live hog prices have now reached 10-year highs. Price spikes during the last few weeks have captured the attention of senior policy makers, leading to a number of local measures designed to calm fears of further price increases than to tackle the source of the problem, a shortage of live hogs.

Johanns Speaks to Young Cattlemen Tour - Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns spoke with cattle producers from across the nation last week at USDA headquarters in Washington, D.C. Johanns gave candid insights regarding top political issues, including beef trade, the Farm Bill, and ethanol production. He told producers, "When it comes to beef trade issues, I am about as optimistic as I have ever been that we are on the right path to success." He listened to concerns about continued international market barriers to U.S. beef and said "I am pounding these countries to live by the international OIE standards for beef trade. We are making progress and we are moving beef, but we will continue to work toward full access for our beef." In regards to the writing of the 2007 Farm Bill, Johanns reviewed details in USDA's proposal and said that he is hoping the legislation will be finalized by September. Yazoo County cattleman Steve Coody represented Mississippi on the tour.

USDA – Not DHS – Must Regulate Animal Health Research Programs! - The House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and Technology held a mark-up June 6th of H.R. 1717, which seeks to amend the Homeland Security Act to establish a National Bio and Agro-defense Facility. It is expected that this facility would replace USDA’s Plum Island Animal Disease Center, but will be managed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), usurping the existing authority of USDA.
NCBA, along with other animal agriculture groups, staunchly opposes this bill as it currently stands because it gives DHS new authorities over animal disease research (both foreign animal diseases and endemic diseases) with only cursory cooperation with the USDA.  “DHS has neither the mandate nor expertise to provide national standards related to animal health, coordinate animal disease research or dictate resources regarding animal health,” says NCBA’s Chief Veterinarian Elizabeth Parker.  “USDA was created for the purpose of safeguarding the nation’s animal and plant health. This bill completely undermines a significant portion of USDA’s mission.”

Korea Trade Update - Last week's USDA export sales report estimated that through May 31st, the United States had sold 14,900 metric tons (33 million pounds) of beef to Korea but only 660,000 pounds had been shipped. A temporary stoppage in trade occurred on May 31st because of what USDA described as “human error” which allowed 66 tons of beef labeled “for domestic use only” to be exported to South Korea. This led the Korean government to put a temporary halt on clearing further shipments through its customs process until USDA could confirm that this was an isolated incident and that proper protocols had been followed with the balance of pending shipments.
America’s cattle producers are truly disappointed by this setback in our ongoing efforts to normalize beef trade with South Korea. When questioned by cattle producers, USDA Secretary Johanns stated, "This should have never passed through the inspection process for beef going to South Korea… there were two signatures, it was shipped, and that's just plain and simple our fault. These employees have been through extensive training and this never should have happened. We should be catching these things. We hope to get trade with South Korea resumed as soon as possible."
U.S. and South Korean officials developed a strict protocol for exporting U.S. beef to South Korea, and the U.S. cattle industry is insistent that this protocol be followed to the letter.  These shipments were standard U.S. bone-in beef products destined for our U.S. market or other export destinations. Instead, they found their way to South Korea. USDA has since indicated that that they have provided South Korea verification that all remaining shipments followed the appropriate protocols and that the paperwork on all but one (other) shipment checked out.

Japan Trade Update - Teams of Japanese auditors have concluded their inspections of U.S. beef processing plants and they are finalizing their reviews of processing and exporting procedures, scheduled for completion by June 16. Successful completion of this team’s visit is expected to facilitate an end to Japan’s requirement that every box of beef imported from the United States be inspected.
"They came here this past week and the audits went well, and we were pleased," USDA Secretary Johanns told cattlemen today. "But this is not the last step. We need to get Japan up and running in line with international standards. All beef, any age, bone-in, should be going into this market once again. The good news is that we've had pretty good trade with Japan so far this year. They have acknowledged our classification by the OIE and hopefully they will normalize beef trade."
According to the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), a more streamlined inspection protocol in Japan has the potential to double U.S. beef exports to Japan.

Death Tax Update – Permanently repealing the federal Death Tax is important to all cattle producers and small business owners, and NCBA has been a leader in this fight since it began. 
During the first five months of the 110th Congress, two bills have been introduced that focus on permanently repealing the Death Tax.
H.R. 2380 – the Death Tax Repeal Permanency Act of 2007, was introduced by Congressmen Kenny Hulshof (R-MO) and Robert Cramer (D-AL) and currently has 80 co-sponsors.
H.R. 1586 – the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2007, was introduced by Congressman Mac Thornberry (R-TX) and currently has 74 co-sponsors.
How you can help!:
PLEASE contact your members of Congress and ask them to co-sponsor these pieces of legislation.  A letter in support for H.R. 2380 is available on CAPWIZ by going to either www.beefusa.org and clicking on the “Call to Action” button or by visiting http://capwiz.com/beefusa.  Contact your Representatives by email, phone or fax and urge them to co-sponsor these important pieces of legislation.

Don't Miss NCBA’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen: Tune in to NCBA’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen on RFD-TV beginning Tuesday, June 12th when the Cattle Learning Center will talk about management of nuisance flies, take a look at the booming ethanol industry, and have a feature interview with current NCBA President and North Carolina cattle producer John Queen.
NCBA’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen on RFD-TV provides weekly news and features for cattle producers across the country. The show airs Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. and is rebroadcast Wednesdays at 3:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., and Saturdays at 9 a.m. For more information, visit www.cattlementocattlemen.org.

June 11                   Tate CCA
June 12                   Pike CCA
June 12                   Simpson CCA
June 14                   Greene CCA
June 25–27            Making Tracks Camp
June 28                   Lauderdale CCA
June 28                   Stone CCA
June 28-29             Cattlemen’s Cooler College
 

Mississippi Cattlemen's Association
680 Monroe Street, Suite A
Jackson, MS 39202
(601) 354-8951
missca1@bellsouth.net