Happy Cowloween!

From Emma Garner, Chickasaw County 4-H

Reminder – Counties must reach their membership goal by December 14^th in order to compete for one of four $500 prizes in the Fall Membership Drive. New members and recruiters will be entered in a drawing for a Big Tex Utility Trailer to be given away at the convention.

Coming Tomorrow - Watch for pictures from the Mississippi State Fair in the MCA website’s Photo Gallery at www.mscattlemen.org

Bull Sale – The Fall 2007 Mississippi Beef Cattle Improvement Association Bull Sale is scheduled for Thursday, November 8, 2007 at noon at the Hinds Community College bull sale facility in Raymond.
For those unable to attend, interactive video bidding sites will once again be offered in Verona and Batesville for the BCIA sale. More information is available on the sale website: http://msucares.com/livestock/beef/mbcia/bcia_bullsale.html

The Beef Council’s Beef Backer program for restaurants that excel in beef promotion and merchandising is still open to producers wishing to recognize a superior food service establishment in their area. Nomination forms and complete information is available from the Beef Council office.

Cattle Market Notes, Friday, October 26, 2007, Dr. John Anderson, Mississippi State University – Last week’s 5-Area average live steer price worked out to $93.02 – up about $1.20 from the prior week.  This week’s slaughter is estimated at 670,000 head, off 4,000 head from a week ago but up from 649,000 head a year ago. 
For the most part, calf prices around the country did well to hold steady in the face of uncertainty in the fed cattle market.  At Oklahoma City, feeder steer and heifer prices were mostly steady to $2 lower in a light test.  Stocker steer and heifer prices were mostly steady in uneven trade.  At Lexington, Kentucky, feeder steer and heifer prices were steady.  Stocker steer prices were steady to $3 lower.  At Arkansas auctions this week, steer prices were steady to $2 lower, and heifer prices were weak to $3 lower.
At Mississippi auctions this week, feeder steer prices were $5 to $10 lower, and heifer prices were $5 lower.  Steer prices at Mississippi auctions this week were reported as follows: 250-300 pounds, $130-$135; 300-400 pounds, $118-$130; 400-500 pounds, $110-$118; 500-600 pounds, $100-$110; 600-700 pounds, $90-$100; 700-800 pounds, not reported. Slaughter cow prices were $1 lower this week.  For the week: breakers, not reported; boners, $40-$45; lean (850-1,200 pounds), $35-$43.
Live Cattle futures dropped sharply this week, with significant losses on Wednesday and Friday.  Live Cattle futures closing prices on Friday (with change from last Friday’s close in parentheses) were as follows: October $94.37 (-0.93); December $95.12 (-2.18); February $97.32 (-1.65); April $97.30 (-1.37); June $94.00 (-1.10).
Feeder cattle futures fell this week, pressured by higher grain prices and receiving little support from deferred live cattle contracts.  Feeder Cattle futures closing prices on Friday (with change from last Friday’s close in parentheses): November $109.05 (-2.25); January $108.20 (-2.95); March $108.77 (-2.88); April $110.90 (-1.60).
Corn futures slid lower through Wednesday, with the Dec contract losing about 15 cents in the first half of the week.  December Corn closed on Friday at $3.72, up 1 ¾ cents from last week’s close.  Soybean futures behaved a lot like corn this week: down early, up late.  November beans closed on Friday at $9.95 ½, up 12 ¼ cents from last Friday’s close. Dr. Anderson’s complete report can be accessed from www.mscattlemen.org

TB in Minnesota - The Minnesota Board of Animal Health today announced last Thursday that a heifer from a farm in Beltrami County tested positive for bovine tuberculosis (TB). Minnesota has now detected bovine TB in eight beef herds in Roseau and Beltrami counties.
The Beltrami County beef cattle herd was quarantined last year after the TB investigation revealed the owner had purchased animals from a TB infected farm. A whole-herd test was conducted and at that time, all animals tested negative. During the second, follow-up herd test conducted this fall, two animals tested suspect for bovine TB. Tissue samples were submitted to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa and a diagnosis of bovine TB was confirmed in a 12-month-old beef heifer on Tuesday. The second animal was negative. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is coordinating the details of indemnification and depopulation. State and federal officials have already begun tracking the movement of animal into and out of this operation.
In addition to traces and area testing, the state is conducting TB testing in cattle herds statewide. This statewide TB surveillance began prior to the discovery of this infected herd and is expected to be completed by the end of the year. So far, the state has tested approximately 1200 herds, with a goal of 1500. Thus far, all statewide surveillance herds have tested negative for bovine TB.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) plans to continue testing hunter-harvested white-tailed deer in the affected area of northwest Minnesota this fall. Over 2,000 deer have been tested in this area since 2005 and 13 deer have tested positive for the disease. 

Exports to Japan Grow - Without an import policy change, Japan is expected to import about 71,400 metric tons of U.S. beef in 2008, up from a projected 57,000 metric tons in 2007, according to a report from USDA's Foreign Agriculture Service attaché in Japan.
U.S. beef sales to Japan in 2007 will be roughly six times larger than last year, but still only about one eighth of 2001 volumes.
U.S. beef exports to Japan are constrained by the available supply of U.S. beef that can be verified under USDA's Export Verification program, used to identify animals that meet Japan's 20-months or younger restriction implemented when Japan reopened its market to U.S. beef in July 2006.
"Several major Japanese retail chains now sell U.S. beef but are also bumping up against the limited availability of verified animals," he wrote.
While U.S. grain-fed beef has contributed to resumed sales by beef bowl and Korean-style barbecue chains, limited supply and high prices for popular specific cuts such as short plate, chuck eye role and some offal items has hampered some major foodservice end users from expanding their U.S. beef use. from meatingplace.com

Senate Committee Deals Cattlemen a Disappointing Farm Bill - The Senate Ag Committee wrapped up its mark-up of the 2007 Farm Bill last Thursday afternoon lining up the Senate bill for floor consideration in the coming weeks.  For cattlemen, the bill contains a number of disappointing provisions which would undermine the competitive marketplace and fail to adequately fund important cost-share conservation programs. 
- Livestock Policies:  NCBA was successful in preventing attempts to insert language into the livestock title dealing with competitive injury.  As an alternative, NCBA worked with Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) and Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) to prepare an amendment that would further study these concerns and offer potential solutions.  The Senate retained the House compromise language on country-of-origin labeling (COOL) with some slight modifications.  Of chief concern to cattlemen is an accepted amendment that would ban packer ownership of cattle and place limits on producers’ ability to market their cattle as they see fit.
“Thanks to the hard work and commitment to the cattle industry shown by Senators Lincoln and Coleman, we avoided some damaging amendments that would have destroyed the value-added marketing opportunities that cattle producers have worked so hard to put in place,” says Colin Woodall, NCBA’s executive director of legislative affairs. 
- Energy:  In the Senate’s energy title, programs were included aimed at investments in farm-based energy such as biomass crops and cellulosic ethanol.  NCBA supports increased funding for alternative energy research.  
- Conservation:  The Senate’s conservation title has an estimated $4 billion in new budget authority, but this has primarily been directed to the Conservation Security Program (CSP) now renamed the Conservation Stewardship Program, and the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP).  The Senate included some improvements to the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and Grasslands Reserve Program (GRP).  NCBA was successful in working with Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) to remove restrictions on payments for EQIP projects.  Nevertheless, increased funding for these and other cost-share programs will remain a top priority for NCBA as the Farm Bill process continues.
“Cattlemen need to be confident that their elected members of Congress are looking out for their best interests.  With several of these provisions, however, the Senate has indicated that cattlemen are not top of mind in these Farm Bill discussions,” says Woodall.  “We intend to continue this fight.  As the full Senate prepares to take up consideration of the Farm Bill, cattlemen now need to come together and work for some desperately needed fixes in the livestock title as well as increases in conservation program funding.” 

Cattlemen Speak out Against Packer Ban Language - In its mark-up of the 2007 Farm Bill, the Senate Agriculture Committee included language that would place a ban on packer ownership of livestock. The amendment would prohibit packers from owning or feeding livestock directly, except for 14 days before slaughter.
NCBA member policy has for nearly ten years opposed legislation that would alter the competitive structure of the cattle industry or limit cattlemen’s marketing options. 
“This amendment hurts cattle ranchers by limiting their marketing options and their ability to negotiate the best price for their cattle,” says NCBA Vice President of Government Affairs Jay Truitt.  “NCBA’s cattle-producing members believe they should be able to sell cattle to whomever they want, whenever they want and when it’s in their best interest.  Instead, this amendment puts the government in control of these decisions and has the undesirable effect of driving consolidation, decreasing competition for our cattle and creating average-based pricing across the board.”
In communications to Capitol Hill this week, NCBA cattle producer-members voiced their strong opposition to the amendment.  “As a producer, I find it highly offensive that I should be told by any big government bureaucrat who I may sell my cattle to and when,” wrote one NCBA member.  “If the beef industry is to be prosperous, we need the freedom to pursue business relationships, to experiment, to establish mutually beneficial partnerships, and to develop cooperative initiatives.  What we do not need is centralized control of our industry by politicians and bureaucrats who are woefully unprepared and unqualified to do so.”

International Trade Update - Last week, NCBA Chief Economist Gregg Doud attended the ANUGA international food show in Cologne, Germany.  Products from 6,000 companies and 95 countries were on display to more than 163,000 visitors from 175 countries.
In addition to foods from the United States, booths selling beef, pork and lamb from all around the world including beef from Ireland, Scotland, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.  Indian water buffalo and even Australian kangaroo meat were on display. 
U.S. beef was on display and a hot topic at this show.  U.S. beef exports to the EU so far in 2007 (through August) are at 10 million pounds (4,554 metric tons) worth $26 million.  This is up 120 percent compared with the same period last year. The EU consumes about 18 billion pounds of beef per year and will import 1.1 billion pounds this year, making it one of the top five beef importing nations in the world.
“The second thing that became obvious was the number of Russians looking for meat,” said Doud.  Russia is expected to import roughly 2 billion pounds of beef alone this year making it the second largest beef importing nation in the world and the top market for Brazil and practically all of South America.
Brazil is expected to export more than 750 million pounds of beef to the EU this year. “The EU and Russia have become giant sponges soaking up South American beef and you could clearly see this interaction at ANUGA,” said Doud.  By simply looking at the numbers and the trade flows, you can quickly conclude there is potential, but after days of conversations with Europeans on the topic, it became obvious that the market for grain-fed beef in Europe hasn’t been tested in roughly 20 years. Now that Europe has switched from a major exporter to a major importer of beef during just the past five years, it is time to pursue this opportunity. Weakness in the U.S. dollar against the Euro is a big plus as well.

NCBA is Growing - Membership in the nation's oldest and largest cattlemen's organization continues to grow.  As of Sept. 30, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association counted 29,029 members - an 8 percent increase over the same time last year.

Mark Your Calendars For Annual Convention! - The 2008 Cattle Industry Annual Convention and Trade Show will be held February 6-9 in Reno, Nevada.  The meeting will feature joint and individual meetings by NCBA, Cattlemen's Beef Promotion & Research Board, American National CattleWomen, Inc., Cattle-Fax and the National Cattlemen's Foundation.
At the NCBA Trade Show, more than 250 companies will offer attendees a chance to see the latest products and services while networking with other cattle producers. In addition, many booths will feature giveaways, games and prize drawings. Whether you are looking for farm vehicles, fencing, feed supplies, animal health products or the latest in technology, you'll find it right here under one roof.
Education, information and networking are the cornerstones of Convention.  But it's not all business, there will be lots of time to kick back, relax and enjoy your mini-vacation in Reno. Bring your family along!  Additional details and schedule updates are posted at http://www.beefusa.org/convcattleindustryannualconventionandncbatradeshow.aspx.

 Don't Miss NCBA’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen - On this week’s show, beginning at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, October 30th, Cattlemen to Cattlemen provides an update on the Senate Farm Bill and profiles Montana Rancher Bill Donald, vice president of NCBA’s policy division.  Jim Kelley of Superior Livestock discusses the growing appeal of video cattle auctions, and Dr. Lee Dickerson of Purina Mills’ LongView Animal Nutrition Center explains the importance of body condition scoring.    
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 channel RFD-TV. For more information or to check out past episodes, visit www.cattlementocattlemen.org.

Oct 30                                    Nutrition Shortcourse, Distance Ed Sites
Nov 8                                     BCIA Sale, Raymond
Nov 15                                   Webster CCA
Nov 15                                   MAFES Sale, Starkville
Nov 19                                   Claiborne/Jefferson/Warren CCA
Nov 20                                   Adams/Wilkinson/Franklin CCA

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