Master Stockman - Over 80 Mississippi producers were in Starkville on Friday and Saturday to participate in the Master Stockman program. The objective of the program is to enhance the profitability of beef operations and educate beef cattle producers by equipping them with vital information on all aspects of beef production, risk management and marketing. Topics covered in the classes include pasture management, breeding, reproduction, animal health, animal handling, nutrition, and end product. One of the highlights of the program was Curt Pate from Helena, MT who held a cattle handling demonstration on both horseback and foot. Upon completion of the program, producers received their certification as Master Stockman.
Scholarship Applications Online – Forms for convention scholarships are now available online at www.mscattlemen.org . At this year's convention, $48,000 in college scholarships was presented to the children and grandchildren of MCA members. The Wax Company, Mississippi CattleWomen’s Association, and Mississippi Cattlemen’s Foundation each sponsor scholarships.
Field Day - Everyone is invited to Saturday’s field day in Kosciusko sponsored by the Attala County Cattlemen’s Association. Topics and speakers include: Fall Grazing, Dr. Rocky Lemus; Heifer Development, Dr. Justin Rhinehart; Herd Health, Dr. Carla Huston; and Bull Selection, Lance Newman. For more information, call 662-289-5431.
Sale – Glenwild Stockyard in Grenada will hold a complete dispersal of registered Angus cattle on October 1st. Bred cows, heifers, and herd bulls will be included in the 120-head offering.
Crazy Day - The Simpson County Cattlemen’s Association sold hundreds of ribeye steak sandwiches and hamburgers at Saturday’s Crazy Days Street Festival in Magee to support their scholarship fund.
Cattle Market Notes, Friday, September 14, 2007, Dr. John Anderson,
Mississippi State University – Last week’s 5-Area average live steer price
came in at $94.48 – basically steady with the week before. This week, the
cash market was also very quiet. While packers stood on bids around $92,
feeders held on to asking prices of about $97. Through mid-day Friday, USDA
reported too few trades to call a trend; however, the tone of the market was
notably lower. According to mandatory price reporting, live prices on the
few sales reported averaged right at $92. For the week, cattle slaughter
totaled 643,000 head – down from 667,000 a year ago.
Calf prices were mixed this week. Fall runs (such as they are this year)
appear to be getting underway in many locations. The unexpected mid-week
run-up in corn futures also likely took some starch out of the market later
in the week. At Oklahoma City, prices were about steady with the last sale
two weeks ago, but prices were noted to be $1 to $3 lower compared to other
sales in the region last week.
At Mississippi auctions this week, feeder steer prices were $2 to $5 higher,
and prices on heifers were steady. Steer prices at Mississippi auctions
this week were reported as follows: 250-300 pounds, $140-$150; 300-400
pounds, $130-$140; 400-500 pounds, $120-$130; 500-600 pounds, $110-$120;
600-700 pounds, $105-$110; 700-800 pounds, $95-$105. Slaughter cow prices
were steady this week.
Live Cattle futures closing prices on Friday (with change from last Friday’s
close in parentheses) were as follows: October $95.25 (-0.85); December
$99.15 (-0.30); February $100.70 (+0.30); April $100.52 (-0.30); June $96.10
(-0.65).
Feeder cattle futures fell this week, pressured sharply lower on Wednesday
by corn’s sizable gains. Feeder cattle stabilized in the latter half of the
week, with all contracts beyond the nearby making slight gains on Friday.
For the week, all contracts were down, mainly due to Wednesday’s losses.
Feeder Cattle futures closing prices on Friday (with change from last
Friday’s close in parentheses): September $116.82 (-1.98); October $116.85
(-1.47); November $117.12 (-1.45); January $115.35 (-1.20).
Corn futures took a somewhat unexpected turn higher this week on Wednesday
after the release of the September Crop Production report. December Corn
closed on Friday at $3.49, up 1 ½ cents from last week’s close. Soybean
futures moved up this week, supported by reduced production and carryover
figures in Wednesday’s report. November beans closed on Friday at $9.54 ¾,
up 49 ½ cents from last Friday’s close. Dr. Anderson’s complete report can
be accessed from
www.mscattlemen.org
Johanns May Run for
Senate - Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman said he expects USDA Secretary
Mike Johanns to run for the Senate seat that will be vacated by Sen.
Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), who announced last Tuesday that he will not seek
reelection in 2008.
Heineman made the comment while speaking to reporters by telephone from
Taiwan, a stop on his 11-day trip through Asia to promote trade
opportunities for the state. Johanns is the former Nebraska governor
and former mayor of Lincoln, Neb. from meatingplace.com
New Foot-and-Mouth in
U.K. - British officials on Friday confirmed a new case of foot and
mouth disease in Surrey at a farm adjacent to the farm where the disease was
again discovered earlier in the week.
The cattle herd had already been slaughtered as a precaution on Thursday
because of its proximity to the previous case, according to a statement by
the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
U.K. Chief Veterinary Officer Debby Reynolds said in a statement that a
protection zone has been put in place and footpaths into the zone have been
closed. The animal movement ban has been imposed in England, with parallel
arrangements being made by Scottish and Welsh authorities.
The news comes just days after Reynolds had declared the outbreak first
discovered in August to be over and had lifted earlier surveillance zones.
These most recent two outbreaks are the same strain of the disease that was
discovered in early August. They are believed to have originated from a
drain leak at a nearby laboratory that handled the virus to manufacture
vaccines. from meatingplace.com
USDA Harmonizes
Cattle Trade With Canada - APHIS announced Sept. 14 that it will allow
imports from countries recognized as presenting minimal risk of introducing
BSE into the United States. At this time, Canada is the only minimal-risk
country recognized by the United States. This move is a step to normalize
trade relations for the United States with northern and southern neighboring
countries.
“This is an integral part of our efforts to promote fair trade practices,
consistent with international guidelines,” said Cindy Smith, APHIS
administrator. “We will continue to encourage other countries to also align
their trade requirements with these science-based international standards.”
Age-verified, live cattle and other bovines, such as bison, for any use
including breeding born on or after March 1, 1999, the effective enforcement
date of Canada’s feed ban, can be imported into the United States. Blood and
blood products in addition to casings and part of the small intestines are
also allowed under this rule, which is effective Nov. 19.
This ruling is expected to have negligible impact on the domestic herd since
the number of age verified cattle in Canada is approximately 25 percent of
its culled herd. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency determines whether
exported cattle meet the age requirement and each animal must be identified
by a brand or tattoo identifying it is from Canada.
U.S. Beef Returned
To More Retail Stores In August - U.S. beef returned to more supermarket
stores in Japan during August as US Meat Export Federation (USMEF) efforts
with meat importers, buyers and store owners continue to pay dividends.
Daiei, one of the largest supermarket chains in Japan with more than 3,000
outlets, celebrated the return of U.S. beef with a one-day sales promotion
Aug. 18. At the meat counter, the company supplied information explaining
U.S. beef products were strictly inspected and cleared Daiei’s standards.
USMEF also supplied “We Care” materials to inform consumers of the stringent
beef production practices in the United States and how U.S. producers care a
great deal about the products they produce for their families and the
consumers they serve. from USMEF
NCBA Offers Thoughts
to U.S. Officials on Import Safety - As part of an interagency effort to
improve the safety of imports, NCBA President John Queen and NCBA Executive
Director of Beef Safety Research Dr. Mandy Carr met with U.S. Agriculture
Secretary Mike Johanns and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike
Leavitt in Kansas City on September 12th.
Johanns and Leavitt met with industry stakeholders to discuss how the U.S.
import safety systems can be strengthened. In his remarks, Queen told the
secretaries the U.S. Government must do the following:
- Ensure equivalency.
Importing countries must meet U.S. domestic food safety standards.
- Impose criteria which are science-based in order to ensure safety and
prevent trade discrimination.
- Protect animal health, as well as product and ingredient safety. Animal
health is an important part of food safety. Keeping out both foreign animal
diseases and products that pose a potential threat to an animal’s health or
our food safety – including ingredients for feed and medicines – must be a
top priority.
- Effectively coordinate intergovernmental responsibility. FDA, USDA’s
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and Food Safety and
Inspection Service (FSIS) all play different and important roles to ensure
overall import safety. These efforts should be coordinated instead of
working against each other.
“We know the safeguards and import protocols we currently have in place are working at USDA,” said Queen. “The United States is proud to offer our consumers the safest and most reliable food supply in the world. But we need to continually enhance and improve these existing systems, as well as be open to aggressively addressing any weaknesses.”
NCBA Outlines Support
for Peru Trade Agreement - NCBA submitted a written statement last week
to the Senate Finance Committee in support of the U.S. - Peru Trade
Promotion Agreement (PTPA).
“We support international trade policies that aggressively pursue expanded
market access for U.S. beef. Additionally, we support the enforcement of
trade agreements that are based on internationally recognized standards and
guidelines,” said NCBA in its statement. “Provisions contained within the
PTPA are precisely the type of market access provisions that allow U.S. beef
to compete on a level playing field.”
NCBA is working with more than 40 other food and agriculture groups as part
of an Ag Trade Coalition in support of the Peru, Panama and Colombia Trade
Promotion Agreements.
“The PTPA is one of the best negotiated free trade agreements for U.S. beef
to date,” said NCBA. “In addition to immediate duty-free access for U.S.
prime and choice beef, other beef products will have duty-free access on day
one of this agreement, and all tariff rate quotas will be eliminated within
12 years. In 2003, Peru was a $6 million export market for U.S. beef, beef
variety meats and beef products. This improved access could amount to
roughly $15 million a year, about half the value of Peru's current total
beef imports.”
Political Volatility Impedes Movement on Trade - NCBA and the U.S. government have worked tirelessly to reopen and expand U.S. beef export markets. While we have seen progress, challenges still remain. Currently, major political developments in four important markets for U.S. beef are impeding movement toward fully re-establishing beef trade within these markets.
- Japan: After less than a year in office, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resigned his post on September 12th. Over the past year, Abe was plagued by domestic scandals and low approval ratings. In July, his party suffered defeat in the elections of Japan's Upper House of parliament. Four of his cabinet ministers have been forced to step down, while another minister committed suicide over a financial scandal. Of specific concern to cattlemen is the fact that there have been five Japanese ag ministers over the past six months; with Abe’s resignation there will likely soon be a sixth ag minister.
- Russia: Russian President Vladimir Putin announced September 12th the dissolution of his government, and named little known Victor Zubkov as Russia’s new prime minister. While restructuring was not unexpected, the timing – more than three months before the December 2nd parliamentary elections – came as a surprise. Russia’s presidential election is scheduled for March 9, 2008.
- South Korea: The country's current president is stepping down and an election for the new president will be held in late December. Added to these developments is a resolution from members of the Korean parliament released this week calling for an outright ban on U.S. beef imports. This ban is also being supported by one of the candidates for President.
- China: Next month, China will hold its People's Party Congress and key positions within China’s political leadership will be reshuffled. Every five years, the Communist Party convenes to complete a selection process for the new lineup of top party posts. Shuffling of current Chinese officials who have been negotiating with the U.S. government for the past several months (or years) are likely. Resolving outstanding trade issues will have to wait until the new players are announced and firmly in place.
“From a U.S. trade standpoint, these changes in leadership are incredibly frustrating to the process of fully re-establishing beef trade,” says NCBA Chief Economist Gregg Doud. “As soon as you get to a working point between the interested parties, one of the parties changes causing further delays in the process.”
Don't Miss NCBA’s
Cattlemen to Cattlemen - On this week’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen,
beginning at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, September 18th, Tim Biela, a founding
member of the Beef Industry Food Safety Council (BIFSCo), discusses the many
advances made by the beef industry in preventing E. coli and other pathogens
from entering the beef supply; we’ll head to the Alexander Ranch in Kansas
to meet the Region VII Environmental Stewardship Award winners; and some
Chicago-area kids sample new beef products at the Beef and Veal Culinary
Center, and provide important consumer feedback. Also, the Cattle Learning
Center travels to Minnesota for a look at prevention and treatment of calf
scours.
The show will be rebroadcast Wednesday at 3:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., and
Saturdays at 9 a.m. Make sure YOU tune into NCBA’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen on
RFD-TV. For more information or to check out past episodes, visit
www.cattlementocattlemen.org.
Sept
17 Monroe CCA
Sept 18 Kemper CCA
Sept 18 Smith CCA
Sept 20 Webster CCA
Sept 20 Neshoba CCA
Sept 20 Covington CCA
Sept 20 Tate CCA
Sept 22 Attala CCA Field Day
Sept 25 Nutrition Shortcourse, Distance Ed Sites
Sept 27 Lauderdale CCA
Sept 27 Jeff Davis CCA
Oct 3-14 Mississippi State Fair
Mississippi Cattlemen's Association
680 Monroe Street, Suite A
Jackson, MS 39202
(601) 354-8951
missca1@bellsouth.net