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Daily Update: May 12,
2008 |
LMA EXPLAINS HORSE SLAUGHTER BAN
PROBLEMS TO CONGRESS—Members of Congress showed a growing understanding of
the unintended consequences of the closing of America’s three horse slaughter
plants, according to participants in Livestock Marketing Association’s fourth
annual Washington, D.C. Fly-In.
Since a series of legislative and judicial actions closed the three plants, LMA
President Jim Santomaso said the industry is seeing “more and more reports of
abandoned horses, and of horses turned out and left to starve, because owners
can’t afford their upkeep, or have the means to properly dispose of them.”
Santomaso, the operator of a Sterling, Colo., market, said LMA members are also
reporting that horses are being left at their facilities when they don’t sell,
“because their owners don’t want them back.”
Lawmakers, he said, “are ready to listen to the argument that banning slaughter
is creating huge problems. For example, the ban takes away individual property
rights, when you tell a horse owner what he can and cannot do with an animal
that may be at the end of its useful life.”
The LMA representatives made these points in meetings with the chairman or staff
members of key panels, including the House and Senate Agriculture Committees,
and lawmakers from the members’ home states.
The group, which was in Washington April 27-30, also met with the chair of the
House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) to
discuss the unintended consequences of using the appropriations process in
removing a humane method of disposal for tens of thousands of unwanted horses.
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USDA PRESSES ARGUMENT AGAINST
PRIVATE BSE TESTING—Creekstone Farms Premium Beef LLC, the Kansas-based meat
producer, shouldn't be allowed to test beef for mad-cow disease on its own
because it could hurt the U.S. cattle industry, a government lawyer told an
appeals court.
``They are creating a false assurance'' because the test Creekstone wants to use
can't show that meat is completely free of bovine spongiform encephalopathy
(BSE) Justice Department attorney Eric Fleisig-Greene told the court at a
hearing Friday in Washington.
``The test is not only unnecessary, but it has no value whatsoever,'' Fleisig-Greene
told the three-judge panel, adding that a "false positive'' from the company's
testing would hurt the entire U.S. cattle industry.
Japan, South Korea and dozens of other countries suspended or curbed imports of
U.S. beef after the U.S. found its first case of BSE in 2003. Creekstone, which
wants to assure customers in Asia and elsewhere that its beef is tested for BSE,
won a district court ruling last year overturning the ban. Implementation was
delayed pending the appeal.
The U.S. government asked the appeals court to reverse the lower court's ruling,
arguing that the test is "worthless'' for Creekstone's intended purpose. The
U.S. says its meat supply is protected by a 1997 regulation banning use of
cattle parts in animal feed, which is how scientists believe the disease is
spread among cattle. The government tests only a small percentage of slaughtered
cattle for the presence of BSE.
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FED CATTLE —Trading was inactive in all
feeding on Monday. Last week on Friday in the South
Plains live sales traded at 94.00 and dressed trade in Kansas sold from
148.50-149.00. In the Northern Plains live sales sold at 94.00 and dressed
sales traded from 147.00-149.00. In the Iowa/Minnesota lives sales traded
at 92.00 and dressed ranged from 147.00-149.00.
FEEDER CATTLE —Nationally last week, compared to the previous week,
Compared to last week, feeder cattle sold steady to 2.00 higher with the full
advance placed on 8 weight steers, while calves traded mostly steady.
Yearling feeders are always scarce as we enter the summer months but this year
the tightness of supplies has been exacerbated by the limited offerings of wheat
cattle and the near non-existence of those off graze-out wheat. Demand has
spiked for the few true yearlings available as buyers try to scrape loads
together. Discounts for odd singles that auctions usually start and end
sales with have become very minimal as bidding is aggressive for anything that’s
long-time weaned and has some weight to it, including off-colored cattle and
those that have not been processed (dehorned, castrated, vaccinated, etc).
This has resulted in many large volume sale barns across the Plains reporting an
increase in the number of Brahman X and Southeastern influenced cattle in their
mix. Western orders have been slow for these types of cattle with
skyrocketing fuel and freight fees, but the bulk of these cattle will end up in
Southern Plains feedlots and the trucking will be paid either directly or
indirectly.
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This Week's News:
May 12, 2008 |
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Sharp increases in food prices have many ethanol industry
opponents questioning the benefit of corn-based ethanol production. Last week,
members of Congress joined the fray, which could lead to an unravelling of the
industry.
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