Ag News for America
What beef brings to the table is the focus of Beef Month…which is the month of May. Jill Johnson with the Illinois Beef Association talks about an important health study of the 29 cuts of lean beef available to consumers.
HEALTHY LIVING PROGRAM – What beef brings to the table (1:30 mp3)
Northern Beef Packers in Aberdeen, South Dakota has suffered another setback, laying off 108 employees less than a year after opening its doors. That’s about 25 percent of its workforce.
But the company says the cuts are temporary and hopes to call all 108 employees back by the end of July.
Northern Beef Packers’ officials say the company needs an additional 20 million dollars so it can buy cattle and expand production. They say they are talking with potential investors.
A Nebraska-produced premium beef product is being reintroduced in Japan.
Cargill’s Spencer Beef brand was a popular item in Japan before U.S. beef exports were halted in December of 2003 due to a BSE case in the U.S. Now Cargill is reintroducing Spencer Beef following Japan’s announcement in January that it would allow imports of U.S. beef products from cattle under 30 months of age.
Representatives of Cargill Meat Solutions at Schuyler, Nebraska and the Nebraska Department of Agriculture are in Japan this week to promote the availability of Spencer Beef at events in Tokyo and Osaka. Nebraska director of agriculture Greg Ibach says Spencer Beef will only be produced at the Schuyler processing plant, and it will be branded as a Nebraska product in the Japanese marketplace.
The USDA’s Food Safety & Inspection Service (FSIS) is not doing enough to catch E. coli in boxed beef that’s turned into ground beef nor in tenderized cuts of meat, according to an audit by the USDA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG).
The OIG audit says the FSIS needs to “re-evaluate its E. coli testing methodology as it relates to downstream processing of boxed beef products.”
While the FSIS tests products designated as “ground beef” or likely to become ground beef they do not sample ALL boxed beef products. Unsampled cuts of beef without sampling prior to grinding at “downstream processors” could be contaminated with E. coli, the report says, and grocery stores and butcher shops could also potentially grind their own ground beef from bench trim which is NOT tested for E. coli.
The audit also says the FSIS needs to ensure accurate data and sufficient record-keeping in its new Public Health Information System (PHIS) for correct sampling of beef for E. coli testing and for traceback and recall purposes.
The American Jersey Cattle Association has $15,000 in scholarships for students enrolled in post-secondary institutions.
These scholarships are available to students entering college, through the freshmen year in graduate school.
Scholarship applications must include complete transcripts. Students must have a 2.5 GPA and be a Junior or Lifetime member. Applications will be accepted from April 1, 2013 through July 1, 2013.
Click here for more details.
A proposal to establish a state beef checkoff in Nebraska was the subject of an informational meeting Tuesday night in Wisner. The meeting, sponsored by the Nebraska Cattlemen (NC) organization, was one of a series of meetings being held across the state this month.
NC officials told attendees that a one-dollar per head state checkoff—which would be in addition to the current one-dollar national checkoff—could generate another six to seven million dollars annually to be used for beef promotion, education and research.
Arlington, Nebraska cattle feeder Bill Rhea likes the idea. Rhea says he would like to see more dollars going towards export promotion.
“Ninety-six percent of the consumers in the world are outside the U.S.,” Rhea says, “and a lot of those economies are the ones that are growing very rapidly—and there’s a lot of disposable income.”
Cattle feeder Todd Schroeder of Wisner says he’d like to see some of the state dollars used to establish a Nebraska branded beef program. “My opinion is, that would be an excellent use of some of that money,” he says.
But rancher David Wright of Neligh, president of the group called Independent Cattlemen of Nebraska, expressed opposition to the proposal. Wright doesn’t think he’s getting a good return on investment from the current national checkoff—and in his words, “Why do you think another dollar is going to make things better?”
Once they conclude their series of meetings across the state, NC leaders will decide whether to hold a producer referendum on the issue. If the referendum were to pass, officials say they would pursue legislation in the Nebraska Unicameral in 2014 to establish the state beef checkoff.
AUDIO: Dave Hamilton, Thedford, NE rancher and head of the NC state checkoff task force (5:10 MP3)
AUDIO: Reaction from 3 attendees at the Wisner meeting (5:07 MP3)
An official of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) says the uncertainty over potential furloughs of federal meat inspectors has the cattle industry “on edge”.
NCBA vice president for governmental affairs Colin Woodall says he was hoping to hear more detail on the furloughs from Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack during Vilsack’s recent appearance on Capitol Hill.
“In fact, during the hearing yesterday with the House Agriculture Committee, he was asked multiple times how this would pan out—and he really did not have a solid answer,” Woodall says. “So that uncertainty really puts our community on edge because we don’t know what will happen with the furloughs—and because of that we don’t know what will happen to both the beef supply and also the potential backup of live cattle waiting to go these processing plants.”
Woodall says talk of furloughs and possible meat processing plant shutdowns has already had a negative effect on cattle futures prices.
The Iowa Beef Industry Council is reminding beef and dairy producers that they have another ten days to take advantage of a free Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) certification offer. Through March 15th, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. is defraying the cost of the on-line BQA certification.
Doug Bear is with the Iowa Beef Industry Council. “BI is sponsoring for every producer across the nation to become BQA certified,” Bear says. “This free on-line certification would be normally 25 to 50 dollars.”
Bear says the on-line BQA certification feature easy-to-use modules that teach sound management techniques.
“The cattle industry has embraced BQA because it’s the right thing to do—and the certification is the next step to show our commitment to producing the best beef possible,” Bear says.
For more information, go to BIVI-BQA.com.
“Nebraska’s Best Burger” contest is officially underway.
The public is encouraged to nominate their favorite burger by visiting nebeef.org and completing the online form, or by visiting the Nebraska Beef Council Facebook page.
Nominations for the award will be accepted through March 31st. This is the third year for the contest. Last year’s top prize went to Stella’s Bar & Grill of Bellevue. The Cellar Bar & Grill in Kearney won the inaugural award in 2011.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) says it is “severely disappointed” in Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack’s recent statement regarding the sequestration process and the possible 15-day furlough of all Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) employees, including meat inspectors at the nation’s beef processing plants.
NCBA president Scott George accuses Vilsack of “using America’s cattlemen and women as pawns in the agency’s political wrangling with Congress”.
Colin Woodall is the vice president of government affairs for NCBA. “This is an unfortunate situation that we see from USDA with the Secretary’s comments,” Woodall says. “We think there are a lot of non-essential cuts that could be made at USDA to cover whatever budget restrictions are going to be required.
“We feel that inspection is an essential function and component of USDA, and should be maintained.”
Woodall says if packing plants were to shut down, it would cause a complete stoppage in the flow of cattle, all the way back down to the producer level. He says that would cost the industry tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions, of dollars.
“That is a huge concern for us,” he says. “We do not see any reason whatsoever that the sequestration cuts should be put on the back of cattle producers—and, more importantly, but jeopardizing the flow of beef—because we know in order to have a safe product and to move forward with our industry we have to have those inspectors in these plants.
“It’s essential that we do that.”
Woodall says NCBA continues to converse with officials of USDA and members of Congress to make sure they are aware of the consequences of such cuts.
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