Rodeo Scholarships – Two outstanding seniors in the High School Rodeo Association received $1000 scholarships at this year’s State Finals. Joe Magee presented the awards to Amber Brooke McCaughn of Morton and Cody Burton Eakes of Philadelphia. These Mississippi Cattlemen’s Foundation scholarships are funded through sales of the Cattlemen’s Foundation car tags.

Last Chance - Five places are still available for the Mississippi Cattlemen's Cooler College, to be hosted at the MSU Meats Lab on June 28 and 29. This will be a very hands-on program for beef producers interested in carcass merit and end product. 
Cost for entire course, including all course materials, meals, and breaks is $100.
Click here for registration brochure.

Steak Sale – Panola County Cattlemen’s Association completed another successful Steak Sandwich Sale in Batesville, raising over $2400 for the county’s scholarship fund and other activities.

Drought Assistance – Drought conditions persist in much of the state, with the situation in many areas classified in the D3 (Extreme) and D4 (Exceptional) categories on the drought monitor. This is having a tragic impact on livestock producers in these areas. Producers increasingly are unable to feed their herds, and core herds with high-quality breeding stock are moving through auction markets.
NCBA and state cattlemen's associations are helping to spread the word about these distress sales in an effort to notify potential buyers in other regions of the country who have grass and need cattle.
Copies of the Drought Guide are available from the MCA office or MSU Extension office.  Also, the hay directory is online at Mississippi State University’s web site.  See the latest listings at: http://msucares.com/livestock/beef/mshay.html

Cattle Market Notes, Friday, June 15, 2007, Dr. John Anderson, Mississippi State University – Cash fed cattle continue their seasonal decline, helped along this week by still-weakening boxed beef cutout values.  Last week’s 5-Area average price was $91.04.  This was a decline of $1.85 from the prior week.  Wednesday’s prices were off another couple of bucks from last week at mostly $89.   
Feeder cattle prices were mostly lower this week.  Soaring grain futures on Monday got the week off to a bit of a rocky start.  Considering the sharp gains in corn practically all week and the continued pressure on fed cattle prices, stocker and feeder prices didn’t do too badly this week. 
At Mississippi auctions this week, prices on steers and heifers were $5 lower.  For the week, feeder steer prices in Mississippi were as follows: 250-300 pounds, $130-$140; 300-400 pounds, $120-$130; 400-500 pounds, $110-$120; 500-600 pounds, $100-$110; 600-700 pounds, $90-$100; 700-800 pounds, $80-$90.  Prices on slaughter cows were $1 to $6 lower this week.  For the week: breakers, not reported; boners (850-1,200#), $42-$48; lean (850-1,200#), $38-$48. 
Live Cattle futures closing prices on Friday (with change from last Friday’s close in parentheses) were as follows: June $90.55 (+0.83); August $90.95 (+1.35); October $94.67 (+1.45); December $95.80 (+1.20); February $97.05 (+1.13) 
Feeder Cattle futures suffered all week from the effects of runaway grain futures.  Feeder Cattle futures closing prices on Friday (with change from last Friday’s close in parentheses): August $106.95 (-1.25); September $107.35 (-0.82); October $107.35 (-0.85); November $107.42 (-0.88).
As noted above, corn futures rose sharply this week.  July Corn closed on Friday at $4.19, up 37 cents from last week’s close.  Nearby corn futures are now back to about where they were in mid-March right before the Prospective Plantings report.  Incidentally, nearby wheat futures were up over 70 cents this week.  Soybean futures have already posted large gains over the last couple of weeks.  They didn’t really get into this week’s
action until Friday, with several contracts rising almost 20 cents on hot, dry weekend weather forecasts for the eastern Midwest.  July soybeans closed on Friday at $8.47 ¼, up 25 ¾ cents from last Friday’s close. Dr. Anderson’s complete report can be accessed from www.mscattlemen.org  

Slaughterhouse Revived - A federal judge on Thursday said a DeKalb, Ill., horse-slaughter facility could remain operational while it challenges a state law that would force it to close.
Cavel International Inc. slaughters horses for human consumption overseas, but in late May, Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed a bill banning such practices.
Soon after the bill was signed, a U.S. district court judge allowed the plant to remain operational while Cavel's challenge was considered, but that order was set to expire at midnight Thursday. After a hearing, however, the company was allowed to stay open for 10 more business days, Associated Press reported.
Cavel contends the Illinois law violates the U.S. Constitution's interstate and foreign commerce clauses. from meatingplace.com

Beef Recalled for Water Contamination - Washington Beef LLC in Toppenish, Wash. has voluntarily recalled 82,286 pounds of whole-muscle beef products due to potential contamination of the water supply at the plant.
On Wednesday last week, the Washington State Department of Health issued a mandatory boil-water advisory to the plant because lab tests identified coliform bacteria in its water system. Upon learning of the test results, Washington Beef immediately suspended operations. According to the Department of Health, coliform bacteria are commonly found in soil and vegetation and generally are harmless.
In its news release, Washington Beef says the recall is a “precautionary measure” since extensive testing revealed no product contamination and there have been no reports of illness. The recalled products – most of which never reached consumers – were produced on June 11 and shipped to wholesalers, processors and retailers in California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
It is important to note that although E. coli is a type of coliform bacteria, not all coliform are E. coli and most coliform (and E. coli) are not pathogenic. Initial tests showed E. coli present in the plant’s water supply, but follow-up tests were unable to detect it. O157:H7 is a specific, pathogenic strain of E. coli that has not been identified as a concern in this instance. 

Progress Afoot On Animal ID - A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) official told attendees at the World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Iowa, last week that livestock producers are voluntarily registering with the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) - about 400,000, or 25 percent of American farms, to date.
Bruce Knight, undersecretary for USDA's marketing and regulatory programs, said the voluntary American system has more participants than mandatory programs in Australia and Canada, Farm Progress reported.
"The NAIS is one of the tougher programs to administer, but we are making progress with the voluntary approach," Knight said. "It doesn't cost anything, it's confidential, it's simple to do and, most importantly, it's the right thing to do."  from meatingplace.com

Private Property Rights - The U.S. House of Representatives is considering the Fiscal Year 2008 Military Construction Appropriations bill, and within the context of this bill comes a fight for cattle producers’ property rights. The U.S. Department of Defense is planning a controversial takeover of hundreds of thousands of acres of Colorado ranching lands to expand the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site. 
Representatives John Salazar (D-Col.) and Marilyn Musgrave (R-Col.) will be offering an amendment to prevent the U.S. Army from using eminent domain to take control of these 418,000 acres of productive ranchland in southeastern Colorado. NCBA STRONGLY supports this amendment.
Protecting private property rights is one of the founding principles of NCBA - dating back to 1898.  Our industry also has a long tradition of supporting the U.S. military’s hardworking men and women; however, we do not believe taking this private land away from Colorado families is warranted. This expansion plan would allow the government to take over hundreds of thousands of acres of productive, private ranch land. The U.S. Army’s Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site already covers 236,000 acres.  

Japan Beef Trade Improvements - On June 13, Japan announced that after its recent audit tour of U.S. packing plants, it will eliminate the practice of 100 percent re-inspection of U.S. beef going into Japan. Inspectors will now be operating on a sampling-based protocol. USDA Secretary Johanns says the U.S. is “eager to refocus our discussions with Japan on beef trade based on OIE standards.”
"Science provides us with clear data upon which international trading standards were built,” says Johanns. “All of our trading partners must be mindful of these guidelines and work toward complying with them. We are pressing for clear, aggressive timelines from our trading partners that demonstrate their commitment to internationally-agreed upon OIE standards."

Malaysia Re-Opens to All Beef - On June 13, Malaysia became the first Asian nation fully re-opened to U.S. beef since late December 2003. Malaysia announced that it will resume import of U.S. beef, consistent with World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) guidelines, permitting bone-in beef and variety meats from cattle of all ages. USDA Secretary Johanns said “we applaud this decision and look forward to confirming the details with the Malaysian government.” This is good news for U.S. cattle producers. Historically, Malaysia was about a $2 million market for US beef. We urge other Asian nations to follow Malaysia’s lead, and finally and fully re-open to all U.S. beef.

Korea Trade Update - South Korea has lifted its temporary quarantine on U.S. beef shipments.  South Korea quarantined all U.S. beef arriving in the country June 4 after two shipments mistakenly contained bone-in product, not meant for that market. "Recently, South Korea agreed to resume imports of U.S. boneless beef,” said Secretary Johanns, “and we continue to press them to implement import requirements for U.S. beef and beef products consistent with OIE guidelines on BSE.”
In related news, the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade held a hearing June 13 to discuss foreign policy implications of the United States-South Korea FTA.  Both NCBA and the U.S. government have urged that this FTA is not getting through Congress unless Korea fully reopens its market to all U.S. beef – including boneless, bone-in, offals, and variety meats from cattle of all ages.

Farm Bill Letter to Chairman Peterson - NCBA and fellow agricultural producer groups sent a letter to House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) to express appreciation for the subcommittee’s effort in the development of the conservation title of the farm bill, as passed by the Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research subcommittee on May 23, 2007.
As the full House Ag committee considers this measure, we are specifically urging the committee to increase producers’ access to technical service providers (TSPs) to help them undertake certain critical environmental practices and measures. “This could be achieved in part by allowing the U.S. Department of Agriculture to use conservation financial assistance funds to contract directly with TSPs when that is the wish of the producer or a group of producers who are eligible to receive those funds,” said the letter. “The subcommittee mark did not include this provision, and therefore, we look forward to working with the full committee to address this area of interest.”

NCBA, Food Groups Send Letter to Senate Majority Leader - NCBA, along with 14 other food and agriculture groups, sent a letter on June 8 to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) regarding renewable and alternative sources of energy. “We are concerned that the aggressive increase in biofuels mandates contained in the Senate legislation raises fundamental concerns and questions about the impact that an increased federal government mandate for corn-based ethanol will have on the livestock and food industry’s ability to produce competitively available, affordable food.” 
The letter continued: “The use of cellulosic feedstocks for ethanol production holds great promise. In addition, other means of producing biofuels, such as the co-processing of renewable feedstocks into fuel that is compatible with the existing fuel distribution infrastructure, offer great opportunity. We would submit that focus should be placed on advancing these longer term solutions.”

Don't Miss NCBA’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen - Tune into NCBA’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen on RFD-TV Tuesday, June 19th, at 7:30 p.m. to hear from animal health experts and Fort Dodge officials who discuss de-worming, horse health and reproduction management. Also, check out or special feature on a young female rancher from Arizona.
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 19                Kemper CCA
June 21                Covington CCA
June 25–27           Making Tracks Camp
June 28                Lauderdale CCA
June 28                Stone CCA
June 28                Copiah CCA
June 25 – 27         Making Tracks Camp
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