Beef Backer Award – In the coming months, the Mississippi Beef Council will recognize producer-nominated restaurants in the state which promote and feature beef in their menus. If you have a favorite restaurant that deserves recognition for their beef items, contact the Beef Council office for entry forms.

Drought Continues in Many Areas – Despite scattered showers, much of the Southeast is currently classified in the D3 (Extreme) and D4 (Exceptional) categories. If you have hay for sale, remember to list it on the Missisippi Hay Directory (http://msucares.com/livestock/beef/mshay.html) or in the Mississippi Market Bulletin (www.msmarketbulletin.org)
Copies of the Drought Guide are available from the MCA office or MSU Extension offices. 

Texas Firm Buys Beef Plant - Houston-based Windsor Quality Food Co. has purchased the former Mississippi Beef Processors plant in Oakland.
The Clarion Ledger reported that Windsor, a frozen foods firm that operates nine manufacturing plants in six states, eventually could bring 400 jobs to Oakland, Miss. The company bought the facility from Community Bank, though neither entity disclosed details.
"We feel good about [Windsor's] viability and the jobs it will produce for the area," said Wyman Jones, president of the Rankin-Hinds division of Community Bank.
Windsor has said it will hire 150 to 200 workers when the first phase of building renovations is completed. It will immediately begin overhauling the plant, which was constructed in 2003 to process cull cattle. from Meatingplace.com  

Cattle-Fax Market Highlights - June 22, 2007 - Fed cattle was active in the North with live values $2 to $3 lower at $86 to $87 live. At press time, trade in the South was limited to a light to moderate volume at mostly $87 live with instances of $87.50 in the Panhandle. Feeder cattle values ended mixed for the week, ranging from $1 higher to $2 lower amid volatile corn prices. Calf prices were generally steady. Market cow prices were mixed from $2 higher to $2 lower. Boxed beef values worked lower on moderate to heavy offerings. Through Thursday, Choice was down $4.90 at $141.21 and Select was down $4.63 at $135.31.

Third Beef Shipment Rejected - Last week marked another South Korean export blunder. Two hundred and ninety pounds of U.S. beef marked for “domestic use only” was rejected by South Korean officials. The beef was initially produced by Tyson but Iowa-based Midamar Corporation shipped the product overseas on June 2.

South Korea Cattle Slaughter Surges - Expecting a dip in prices for domestic beef after U.S. beef imports resume under the South Korea-U.S. free-trade agreement, Korean cattle farmers have begun to sell livestock in order to cut supply, prompting a spike in the slaughter of domestic beef cattle, the Chosun Ilbo reported.
The Korean news agency cited recent statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, showing the number of Korean beef cattle slaughtered between January and May increased nearly 16 percent over the same period last year.
The number of slaughtered cows rose some 25 percent, more than doubling the 10.8 percent increase in the number of slaughtered bulls. As such, the prices of cows and female calves fell from the previous year.
As of June 15, Chosun reported, the average price for a 1,300-pound cow dropped almost 8 percent from last year to roughly $5,200. The average price for a female calf also fell by 18 percent to about $2,500. from Meatingplace.com  

Tyson Drops Antibiotics - Tyson Foods announced last week that it is now producing all of its brand name fresh chicken from birds raised without antibiotics. The company says that the move was prompted by consumer demand. Tyson president and CEO Richard Bond said “According to our research, 91% of consumers agree it’s important to have fresh chicken produced and labeled as ‘raised without antibiotics.’” Although raising chicken without antibiotics is more costly, Tyson says their market research shows that consumers are willing to pay more for the product.

Microsoft Pushes Agriculture Alliance's Buttons - Arlington, Va.-based Animal Agriculture Alliance is expressing concern that software giant Microsoft intends to donate $100,000 to animal rights behemoth Humane Society of the United States.
"The Animal Agriculture Alliance is highly concerned about Microsoft teaming with an organization whose leaders have such a radical agenda," said Kay Johnson, the organization's executive vice president. "Clearly someone at Microsoft has not done their homework. Otherwise, they would know that HSUS is just like PETA, but in a nice suit."
The alliance is urging "everyone involved in America's food chain" to contact Microsoft and demand that it cut off HSUS.

Lawsuit Accuses Canadian Government of Mishandling BSE - A class-action lawsuit by beef farmers accusing the Canadian government of mishandling bovine spongiform encephalopathy has received the green light from a Quebec court.
The suit was filed in 2005 on behalf of 20,000 Quebec farmers who allege government officials lost track of 80 British cattle with a high BSE risk. It also accuses the Canadian subsidiary of multinational feed company Ridley Inc. of selling feed in Canada that contained bovine protein.
Separate class-action suits have been filed in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta. The suits seek compensation for losses farmers claim have reached more than $9 billion across Canada since 2003. from Meatingplace.com  

Potential Renewable Fuels Standard Increase - The Clean Energy Act of 2007, which was previously passed by the House, was approved by the Senate last week and now awaits President Bush’s signature. The Act included a Senate Amendment that increased the Renewable Fuels Standard through 2022.
MCA and NCBA opposed much of the language in the bill and worked to defeat it. We appreciate Senators Lott and Cochran who voted against the final bill. We were pleased that a Senate Finance Committee amendment to extend the ethanol import tariff from January 2009 to January 2011 was NOT included as part of the bill that passed. 
The existing Renewable Fuels Standard called for ethanol and biodiesel to replace a small, but growing percentage of the U.S. fuel supply. This mandate called for 5.4 billion gallons of renewable fuel usage by 2008, rising to 7.5 billion in 2012. The new RFS cals for usage of 8.5 billion gallons in 2008, rising to 15.0 billion by 2015 and 36.0 billion gallons by 2022.

 Private Property Rights – Last Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives considered 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.) offered 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.

Nutrition in Farm Bill - June 14, the House Ag Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition, and Forestry marked-up the Nutrition Title of the 2007 Farm Bill. Issues of greatest concern were nutrition topics, including obesity and hunger, children and the elderly. Many hunger programs, such as the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TFAP), use domestic ag commodities to provide food security, and NCBA is interested in cooperating with food aid programs to promote adequate and healthy diets. Beef is an integral part of that balanced diet, providing protein, iron, zinc and B vitamins, particularly necessary for the at-risk populations served by these programs. The subcommittee also debated on how best to address the adjustments needed with the Food Stamp Program (FSP). The Food Stamp Program is the largest expenditure in the Farm Bill totaling about 57 percent of Farm Bill spending. NCBA will continue to monitor action regarding the Nutrition Title.

 Don't Miss NCBA’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen - Tune into NCBA’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen on RFD-TV Tuesday, June 26th, 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 25–27              Making Tracks Camp
June 26                   Beef Cookout Contest, Winona
June 27                   Beef Cookout Contest, Gallman
June 28                   Lauderdale CCA
June 28                   Stone CCA
June 28                   Copiah CCA
June 28                   Madison CCA
June 28-29              Cattlemen’s Cooler College