Meat Industry Network

Global conference aimed at implementing animal welfare standards

2008-12-08T21:38:00.002-06:00

Some of the attendees from the United States at the second global animal welfare meeting were Dr. Paul DuBois, Cargill Pork; Dr. W. Ron DeHaven, AVMA CEO; Dr. Michael David, USDA-APHIS; Joan Galvin, JD, Kelley Drye & Warren; Dr. Elizabeth Parker, National Cattlemen's Beef Association; Kay Johnson Smith, Animal Agriculture Alliance; Chuck Lambert, PhD, USDA; Dr. Gail C. Golab, AVMA Animal Welfare Division; Dr. Jennifer Greiner, National Pork Producers Council; and Dr. Chester Gipson, USDA-APHIS.

The AVMA CEO is encouraging veterinarians worldwide to take responsibility for implementing animal welfare standards.

"Veterinarians in all types of practice have the opportunity and obligation to help animal owners, caretakers, handlers, and policy makers improve animal welfare," Dr. W. Ron DeHaven said.

Dr. DeHaven delivered the comments at a global animal welfare conference Oct. 20-22 in Cairo, Egypt, where he was among more than 400 veterinarians, government officials, humane group representatives, and industry representatives who met to discuss animal welfare standards. He and Dr. Gail C. Golab, director of the AVMA Animal Welfare Division, actively participated in the event.

He is also encouraging veterinarians to back standards that are driven by science, with appropriate consideration given to the environments in which they are being implemented.

"Among the most important responsibilities that veterinarians have in development and implementation of animal welfare standards is to ensure those standards are science-based and that consideration has been given to interactions among the various components of animal care systems," Dr. DeHaven said.

The conference was the second global animal welfare meeting for the World Organization for Animal Health, the first having been held in 2004 in Paris. The recent meeting was primarily focused on implementing OIE standards in developing countries.

Dr. Bernard Vallat, director general of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), also said veterinarians, veterinary services, and their partners throughout the world need to take more responsibility for animal welfare and implementing humane animal care standards.

Dr. DeHaven was invited to present a paper on the veterinary profession's role in implementing OIE standards, and he emphasized in his presentation that there are no better advocates for animals than veterinarians. He also encouraged development and implementation of animal welfare standards that include considerations of human needs, environmental concerns, and economic realities.

In his presentation, Dr. DeHaven talked about the roles veterinarians could fill in implementing standards in developed and developing countries. In doing so, he invoked consideration of animals' physiologic, safety, and psychologic needs.

Veterinarians in developing countries often have limited resources and encounter human needs that compete with animal welfare concerns for attention, Dr. DeHaven said. "They will likely spend most of their time helping owners find ways to fulfill animals' physiological and safety needs, since meeting these needs generally provides the greatest return on investment in terms of quality and quantity of animal product."

He encouraged veterinarians practicing in developed countries where resources are more plentiful to look beyond basic needs to satisfy animals' more complex safety and psychologic needs. Dr. DeHaven said veterinarians have a professional obligation to comprehensively evaluate approaches to animal care, use their expertise and influence to maximize all aspects of the animals' welfare, and help people understand the complexity of animal care decisions.

The conference theme was "Putting the OIE Standards to Work," and attendees reviewed the state of implementation of standards for transporting livestock, slaughtering animals for human consumption, and killing animals to control disease.

Dr. Nestor Tadich, dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Science at Universidad Austral de Chile, said Columbia, Mexico, Paraguay, and Uruguay have legislation based on OIE standards, and Chile is introducing OIE recommendations on animal welfare and producing guides on good practices for farmers and veterinarians.

Among 22 veterinary schools in Latin America that provided answers to a questionnaire, four have only optional animal welfare courses, 10 have only compulsory courses, one has one of each, and seven have none, Dr. Tadich said. Of those that have such courses, five have more than one.

The universities polled are located in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Salvador, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Respondents at 18 of the veterinary schools indicated animal welfare is taught in other courses, Dr. Tadich said. Respondents at 19 said animal welfare is an important issue, and 12 indicated their schools conduct research in animal welfare.

Dr. Tadich said in his presentation that constraints or limitations in Latin American universities include a dearth of staff trained in animal welfare concepts, overloaded curricula, lack of support for research, lack of research for postgraduate programs, cultural traditions such as bullfighting, poverty, lack of legislation supporting animal welfare recommendations, lack of public awareness, and distrust toward people encouraging observance of animal welfare standards.

Dr. Nils Beaumond of the Animal Welfare Committee of the International Meat Secretariat advocated against animal welfare labeling on meat products, which he said could present a new trade barrier. He argued in his presentation that the focus should be on outcomes, not means.

Dr. Beaumond said demands from provegetarian and extremist groups surpass animal welfare requirements, and collaboration with the extremist groups is impossible.

Dr. Peter Thornber, manager of Australian Animal Welfare Strategy and Communications, talked about how planning and management can be used to mitigate stress for animals during transportation. He said farmers, agents, drivers, and shippers have to share responsibility, and appropriate vehicle design, trained drivers, travel plans, and prepared animals are needed.

Research and data analysis can help in creation of practical standards, Dr. Thornber said.

Dr. Thornber said indications of acceptable welfare include animals that are free of visible injuries or postslaughter evidence of carcass bruising, animals that walk up loading ramps with minimal intervention, animals are deemed fit before loading, and animals that can walk off vehicles unaided.

—Greg Cima

Point/Counterpoint: Pacelle vs Mucklow

2008-12-08T21:32:00.002-06:00

Recent videos taken by undercover investigators from The Humane Society of the United States at a well-known slaughter plant and at several auction sites have painted the beef industry in a bad light.

The California video showed mistreatment of cattle at a harvesting facility; investigations at five auctions sites showed other types of neglect or mistreatment of downer cows. Animal protection groups say the findings reveal that abuse is not isolated and rare. The beef industry says those cases are anomalies and, as rare as they are, must and will be addressed quickly.

How widespread is the abuse and what is the beef industry doing to combat the problem? I posed that question to two of the most erudite people standing on opposite sides of the fence; Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States and Rosemary Mucklow, Director Emeritus of the National Meat Association.

Their comments about the severity of the taped incidents were remarkably similar; uniformly condemning the offenses. As you might have expected, they started to part ways after that initial agreement. Are those offenses really an anomaly as Ms. Mucklow suggests or possibly endemic as Mr. Pacelle fears?

One point of contention - Pacelle, upon finding more cases of animal abuse, will continue to play his videotapes at the most newsworthy time. He wants to make an impact with heavy press coverage. Mucklow, who thinks HSUS should be more forthcoming, will continue to insist that the organization “promptly convey their observations and concerns to the proper authorities.”

Here is how they answered the question –

Wayne Pacelle: “First, let me say that I appreciate the opportunity to discuss animal welfare issues in a serious and direct way in an important meat industry forum. When I read some of the industry press about me, I think "I don't know that guy," because it seems like such a caricature of me and HSUS's positions. That's why I appreciate the opportunity to communicate directly to folks in the industry and allow them to make judgments based on my words.

I also appreciate being able to communicate after November 4th and after the votes have been tallied on Proposition 2, the California ballot initiative to ban the lifelong confinement of veal calves, breeding sows, and egg-laying hens. It does not directly relate to the question posed to me and Ms. Mucklow today, but it is pertinent because it speaks to public attitudes on animal welfare and animal agriculture and how the public is seeing the issues and the respective messengers.

As most folks within the agriculture sector know by now, Proposition 2 passed by a vote of 63.3% to 36.7%, and it was approved in 46 of 58 counties. Prop 2 got more "yes" votes than any of the other 11 propositions, and it won throughout the vast majority of the state, including in agricultural counties in the Central Valley such as Kern and San Joaquin counties.

In terms of spending, it was a fair fight. Both sides spent about the same money after the signature-gathering phase was completed and the measure was approved for placement on the ballot. About 250 agricultural producers and trade associations donated about $8.5 million in an attempt to defeat Proposition 2; most of the contributors were large-scale egg factory farms, but many were farm bureau groups and some were pig producers from throughout the nation.

By a nearly two-to-one margin, the public opted to phase out the confinement systems, believing that the industry has gone too far in treating animals like commodities and has lost sight of its animal welfare responsibilities. I think it's another wake-up call to the industry -- following on the heels of the Hallmark/Westland investigation -- to reform.

To answer the question posed above, we just do not know how widespread problems are in the slaughter industry. But here's what we do know. HSUS investigators looked at six locations -- one slaughter plant and five auctions. We found problems at every location. Lighting may strike once or twice, but not six times. There's a major problem here, and that's what we reported. USDA's Office of Inspector General also found major problems when it looked at slaughter plants in a January 2006 report. And other animal welfare groups have found problems at a wide variety of slaughter plants -- from Agriprocessors in Iowa to Pilgrim's Pride in West Virginia. A worker was just charged with criminal cruelty at a major hog factory farm investigated by PETA in North Carolina. The industry needs to address these problems head-on and not dismiss them as rogue actors or isolated incidents, yet that is how some trade associations continue to frame the issue.

Hallmark/Westland was chosen at random. Our investigator was attempting to investigate a different location in California, but did not get hired by the facility, so instead he applied at Hallmark, got a job, and worked there and documented terrible, routine abuses, even though USDA had five inspectors at the plant. The treatment of the animals was unconscionable, yet this plant was recognized as recently as 2005 by the Agricultural Marketing Service as the "Supplier of the Year." The plant workers and management were to blame, but so was the USDA, whose inspectors allowed this mistreatment to continue day after day. The USDA's failures call into question the effectiveness of its oversight and enforcement program. If this can occur at a "Supplier of the Year," what must be happening at the thousands of other plants?

The first four auctions we looked at were also selected at random -- a sampling of places in four different states. The final one, Portales, was selected specifically because our investigator at Hallmark said that many of the cows sent there had come from Portales. The industry shouldn't tolerate this mistreatment of animals anywhere, and it is more than distressing to see these problems at every location we examined.

I'd like to say that if we conducted six additional investigations that we'd find no major problems. But based on our experience, I'd not expect that outcome. As the old saying goes, past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior.”

Rosemary Mucklow: “The incidents at the slaughter facility documented by HSUS were exceptional, and were universally condemned by the industry.

Those responsible have paid a very heavy price – the individual employees have been prosecuted, the company is out of business, and its customers have suffered enormous financial losses.

Can there be better evidence that it is in the self-interest of the meat industry to maintain humane handling standards? Not only is humane handling of livestock the law, it is good business and clearly the right thing to do.

For many years the industry has voluntarily developed best practices, improved facility designs for movement of livestock and executed focused training programs to assure proper animal handling. The meat industry is very aware of the importance of handling livestock humanely and has, through ongoing efforts, met the standard.

However, even isolated incidents are unacceptable. Accordingly, in response to the HSUS reports the livestock and meat industry associations, as well as associations representing marketing and transportation entities, have thoroughly reviewed the many means of guidance on animal handling. Best practices, training materials and operational oversight have all been closely scrutinized and, where appropriate, modified and enhanced for maximum effectiveness. These actions are all part of the industry’s commitment to continuous improvement.

Furthermore, the U.S. regulatory system sets parameters for acceptable behavior. And there are checks and balances to ensure these parameters are met.

It was unfortunate that HSUS chose to delay for several months reporting their observations to USDA and other authorities thereby delaying corrective actions. I encourage HSUS or any other organization that truly wants to have a positive impact on the humane handling of livestock to promptly convey their observations and concerns to the proper authorities.”

Talking about…Corn, E. coli, NR’s, Importing Mad Cows, Best-tasting cattle breed, Agriprocessor justice

2008-07-27T19:21:00.000-05:00

"It's as if the June flooding didn't even happen. The entire rally in corn has been taken off."
(Source: Associated Press, July 21, 2008)
Vic Lespinasse of Grainanalyst.com talking about the surprising drop in corn prices.
>PS: Good news for animal ag – corn is down about 20 percent in the last month.
>PPS: Ideal growing weather in the U.S. Corn Belt après flood and a big drop in oil prices last week make for semi-reasonable feed prices.

"When you find yourself in a hole, you have to quit digging. And we are in a hole."
(Source: International Herald Tribune, July 22, 2008)
Rick Perry (R), Texas Governor, talking about his no holds barred push to overturn the ethanol lobby in favor of the cattle lobby.
>PS: He thinks we can feed our cars or our cattle, not both.

"After changes in meat regulation dropped recall amounts from 23 million pounds in 2002 to only 181,900 pounds in 2006, 39 million pounds of E. coli tainted meat has been recalled since the spring of 2007. The numbers have just shot up in the last year, and so have illnesses. If this was a serial killer -- which, actually, it is -- every resource in this country would have been mobilized against it. Nothing less is acceptable."
(Source: Wall Street Journal Market Watch, July 21, 2008)
William Marler, noted E. coli attorney, talking about a Georgia lawsuit stemming from the E. coli outbreak linked to seven states.
>PS: The lawsuit is based on an allegedly E. coli tainted meal eaten at a barbecue joint! Any ‘cue joint that doesn’t cook its meat well and long enough to kill E. coli deserves to be put out of business.

"Consumers should know the record of the company responsible for any meat they purchase. We've paid for the inspections -- we're owed that much, at least."
(Source: Wall Street Journal Market Watch, July 25, 2008)
William Marler, again, urging that NR’s ne as readily available as those restaurant inspection notices that have to be posted on the front door in many cities.

POINT MADE:
"APHIS does not adequately track live animal imports and, if problems are detected, does not collectively analyze import violations. Additional controls are needed at northern ports-of-entry to obtain stronger assurance that all animal shipments are inspected."
Report by the USDA’s Inspector General saying the Department of Agriculture failed to properly track hundreds of Canadian cattle coming into the United States, the department's inspector general has concluded
POINT TAKEN:
"We know that Canada has an ongoing disease problem. These rules that recently relaxed our import restrictions should be reversed until the agency can demonstrate that it has the capacity and the will to carry out its congressional mandate to protect consumers and the cattle producers against the introduction of disease."
Bill Bullard, R-CALF USA Chief Executive, claiming the audit proves the USDA can't regulate the cross-border cattle trade.
(Source: Chicago Tribune, July 23, 2008)
POINT TAKEN II:
“The inspector general may not be able to say whether there is a systemic problem, but I’m willing to go out on a limb and say that there is one – and it seems to exist at USDA, which rarely seems to do anything to prove that it has its act together regarding mad cow disease.
The USDA response to mad cow problems always seems to have been to say “it is a Canadian issue,” but now we find out that it isn’t even doing a good job tracking Canadian cattle coming into the US.
Something has to give here. And I’m beginning to wonder what it is going to take to force the kind of real and profound change that is needed in the US food safety apparatus.”
(Source: MorningNews, July 24, 2008)
Kevin Coupe, MorningNews editor/commentator, talking about the impact of the Inspector general’s report.
>PS: It does seem that the various pieces and parts of the USDA are dazed and confused as they stumble over each other, trying to find the politically correct path in these increasingly uncertain political times.

"We have to eat them to save them. When we eat them, we're giving farmers an economic reason to conserve rare breeds and the important genetic diversity they represent."
(Source: American Agriculturist, July 24, 2008)
Sandy Lerner, talking about the reasons behind a gourmet tasting of beef from 10 different breeds hosted by a partnership of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, Humane Farm Animal Care, Slow Food USA and Ayrshire Farm.
>PS: Want to know the runaway best tasting breed? Click on Lerner’s name.

"This looks and feels like a cattle auction, not a criminal prosecution in the United States."
(Source: Associated Press, July 25, 2008)
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), former immigration lawyer and chair of the House Judiciary subcommittee on immigration, talking about the legality of the Agriprocessors raid during a hearing last Thursday.
>PS: Running the defendants through court 10 at a time sounds like assembly line, pre-determined justice to me.

“My work was very hard, because they didn’t give me my breaks, and I wasn’t getting very much sleep. They told us they were going to call immigration if we complained.”
(Source: New York Times, July 27, 2008)
Elmer L., an illegal, underage immigrant/Agriprocessor employee who claims he regularly worked 17 hours a day and was paid $7.25 an hour and often had to forgo overtime pay.
>PS: Really interested in ‘protecting our border”? Go after the bosses, not the bottom tier.

Talking about...Corn, Hot dogs, Food inspection, JBS bank

2008-07-23T07:13:00.000-05:00

"We're hemorrhaging. Whether it's beef, pork, turkey, or chicken, we're hemorrhaging right now. The economics have just turned completely upside down because of corn prices."
(Source: U.S. News & World Report, July 15, 2008)
Daniel Bluntzer, a livestock analyst for Frontier Risk Management, talking about the state of animal agriculture.

“The industry is going to implode. Politicians were in a rush to do something, and it became a terrible snowball.”
(Source: New York Times, July 18, 2008)
Dick Stevens, President, Consolidated Catfish Producers, blaming the government’s ethanol mandates for the impending demise of catfish farming.
>PS: His friend, Keith King of Dillard & Company, says for every dollar spent raising catfish, the return is just 75 cents when they take them to market.

“A girl from PETA called me a while back, asking if we were going to be having the hot dog lunch this year. I asked what office she was calling from, and she kept saying, ‘my office, my office.’ Eventually I said, ‘you’re from PETA, right?’ and she sort of sheepishly said that she was. But she never asked what the date was. I think she got nervous and hung up. You know, the funny thing about it is, every year we’re having this event that is jam-packed, and we are turning people away because hot dogs are so popular. And outside they have to have people in lettuce leaf bikinis trying to entice people to eat their food because everyone prefers hot dogs.”
(Source: Washington City Paper, July 16, 2008)
Janet Riley, senior vice president of public affairs and professional development for the American Meat Institute, explaining how PETA managed to jump the gun on AMI’s annual Hot Dog Lunch at the Rayburn Building.
>PS: Careful, Janet. PETA just might ramp it up with ladies dressed in less than lettuce leaves.
>PPS: Save me a Kosher dog with mustard and (horrors) ketchup. No faux doggies, please.
>PPPS: To set the record straight, those PETA babes don’t really wear lettuce leaf bikinis. They wear lettuce leaf PRINT bikinis, stitched together from whole cloth, like many of the organization’s claims.

"They're moving towards the U.S. model, where the inspectors don't actually do the inspection, they just oversee and the companies actually do the inspection. That's a really dangerous thing.”
(Source: Edmonton Journal, July 12, 2008)
Michael Hansen, senior scientist with Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, warning about pitfalls in Canada’s plan to turn over food inspection to the food industry.
>PS: I’m a big fan of third party inspection. If you don’t have an iron in the fire, you’re less likely to flinch when the heat rises.

"We created this bank with products and services directed toward cattle breeding. Clients that will have accounts in this bank will need to prove to be a cattle producer."
(Source: Meatingplace, July 18, 2008)
Joesley Batista, JBS President, telling a Meatingplace.com reporter that they plan to back the world’s cattle industry with specialized banking services.
>PS: They’re starting out in Brazil with $18.7 million in starting capital to help Brazilian farmers “develop production of bulls and cows.”

COOL, Smithfield's Chinese Connection, Cattle Feed

2008-07-16T18:00:00.001-05:00

"We have this huge growth in imports, this huge growth in trade; at the same time we have severely cut back on our regulatory agencies and their ability to do their job, especially the food portion of the Food and Drug Administration. If they are only checking 1 percent of the stuff and finding lots of problems, then ... there are a lot of problems that are never caught.”
(Source: Dallas Morning News, July 1, 2008)
Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives for Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, talking about a critical failure of the food inspection system.
>PS: More American-produced food is recalled because more of it is inspected. Got a problem product? Simply take production off-shore. No problem.

"China is experiencing rapid growth in pork consumption and consumes more pork than the rest of the world combined. COFCO has introduced Smithfield to many opportunities in China and we look forward to continue working together.”
(Source: Forbes, July 2, 2008)
Larry Pope, Smithfield President, announcing that he’s selling almost 5% of his company to COFCO, a Chinese ag company.
>PS: The Chinese are coming! The Chinese are coming! And Smithfield’s stock drops 12% on the news.

“All these cattle will eat 40 lbs. of feed a day and it went from two cents to nine cents a pound for that feed, that's a big, big difference."
(Source: CBS News, July 2, 2008)
Steve Foglesong of Black Gold Ranch, Illinois, talking about the dramatic increase in the price of feed caused by the increased demand for corn to feed ethanol plants.
>PS: He raises 4,000 head of cattle but he’s planning to cut way back on that number ASAP.

"We demand that you do not reference this fine company in your press conference tomorrow. This is notice that Caviness Packing Co. will hold legally responsible you, your organization and any investigators or other personnel for any damages to its name and reputation caused by any false or misleading statements made about the cattle slaughtered at its official USDA establishment."
(Source: MEAT&POULTRY.COM, July2, 2008)
Rosemary Mucklow, director emeritus, National Meat Association, strongly cautioning HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle about the perils of linking Caviness Packing to the animal handling offenses videotaped at Las Portales during a scheduled press conference.
>PS: In an emailed response, Pacelle said he wouldn’t. A furious Mucklow said he did, anyway.
>PPS: CN published an op-ed piece written by Steve Dittmer taking Pacelle to the wood shed for this one, calling it something like guilt by association. We’ve offered Pacelle equal time. Stay tuned for his response.

“(Caviness has) ceased purchasing from the Portales auction market and did not participate in their last sale and (has) no plans to participate until Portales can show that they’re meeting the same animal handling procedure that they (Caviness) meet in their own business.”
(Source: Clovis News Journal online, July 2, 2008)
Jeremy Russell, NMA Communications Director, affirming the action Caviness took against Portales Livestock Auction.
>PS: Wayne, it’s your turn.

"The products subject to recall may have been produced under ‘insanitary’ conditions."
(Source: Associated Press, July 3, 2008)
Statement by the Food Safety and Inspection Service claiming that Nebraska Beef's production practices were ‘insufficient to effectively control E. coli bacteria.’
>PS: The result? 5.3 million pounds of ground beef produced between May 16 and June 26 recalled and another black eye for the beef business.
>PPS: ‘Insanitary?’ As in insane?

"Then we would be talking about a corn supply crisis that would probably require some type of government intervention."
(Source: Marketwatch, July 4, 2008)
Shawn Hackett, president of agriculture futures brokerage Hackett Financial Advisors, warning of the potential of a major crisis in corn production if bad summer weather manages to push corn to $10.
>PS: Corn futures hit an all-time high of $7.548 on CBOT last week, up 21% for June, 28% higher in the second quarter and surging 60% in the first half of the year.

“If all that carbohydrate could be extracted into ethanol, then we estimate you could get about as much out of an infested field of kudzu as you could from an intensively managed field of corn. The difference is that the field of kudzu is there for the taking, while the field of corn has to be planted and maintained.”
(Source: The Chattanooga Times Free Press, July 6, 2008)
Dr. Rowan Sage, University of Toronto researcher, proposing that kudzu’s starch-filled roots and green leaves are perfect for ethanol production.
>PS: As one who has lived below the Mason-Dixon line for much of my life, I can attest to this: If Dr. Sage is right, South Carolina will become the Saudi Arabia of ethanol production.

Talking about…JBS, Animal abuse, Ethanol, Korea, 13 mad cows

2008-06-29T19:53:00.001-05:00

"By reducing the number of major buyers for ranchers' cattle from five to three -- and in some regions even one or two -- this deal will give the remaining beef processors enormous buying power. The antitrust laws should not countenance such a dangerous outcome. I therefore urge the Justice Department to bring an antitrust enforcement action to block these acquisitions.”
(Source: New York Times, June 24, 2008)
Herb Kohl, (D-WI), head of the senate’s anti-trust subcommittee, in a letter to the Justice Department’s Thomas Barnett, pointing out the deal would leave just 3 beef packers controlling more than 80% of the market.
>PS: Kohl’s group has influence but no real decision-making power.
>PPS: The subcommittee could require the divesture of Five Rivers Ranch Cattle Feeding LLC, if the deal is approved, though.

“R-CALF USA acknowledges that the JBS proposal would be good for JBS and its shareholders. The problem is that what is good for JBS and its shareholders is not at all good for R-CALF USA and its cattle-producing members. That is why this is a fight and not a negotiation. JBS wants to capture a greater share the U.S. beef market, just as it wants to capture a greater share of the profits from each animal it slaughters, and the proposed merger would help it accomplish both.”
(Source: Cattlenetwork, June 27, 2008)
Bill Bullard, CEO, R-CALFUSA, expressing his extreme opposition to the JBS merger.
>PS: Expect this to be an ongoing battle worthy of a WWE Smackdown, a Super bowl brawl reminiscent of the Giants vs the Patriots; it will be a titanic struggle.

“The food-animal production system failed these animals. Everyone involved in animal agriculture, whether on farms or in processing facilities, shares an ethical responsibility to protect the health and welfare of animals used for food production."
(Source: Meatpoultry.com, June 25, 2008)
Dr. Ron DeHaven, ex-APHIS administrator, now CEO of the AVMA, talking about the latest stealth video taken by undercover HSUS agents.
>PS: It was taped in May 2008 at the Portales Livestock Auction. Abuse is serious and critically damaging to the industry. It should be dealt with swiftly – shut down the offending operation. Period.

POINT
"While I have no doubt this mandate was a well-intentioned effort to move our country toward energy independence, it is doing more harm than good and must be modified before our livestock industry suffers permanent damage,"
Rick Perry (R), Texas Governor, leading the following industry heavyweights in a concerted effort to cut the ethanol mandate in half.
POINT
"Cattlemen are now confronting $7 and even $8 corn, and that may just be the beginning. Even before the wet spring pushed into June, we were already seeing a lot of acres migrating away from corn this year. By the time conditions improve in many of these fields, planting corn will no longer be an option."
Gregg Doud, chief economist for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.
POINT
"The prices for beef, pork and dairy products have risen dramatically over the past few months and this upward trend will continue, as the food used to feed these animals is washed away by flood waters and the projected size of the corn harvest shrinks. Mother Nature is refusing to adhere to Congressional mandates for corn production.”
J. Patrick Boyle, president and CEO of the American Meat Institute.
POINT
"However, with the current ethanol mandate diverting one-third of U.S. corn to gas tanks, feed prices have shot higher and higher, making it difficult for the industry to keep high-quality foods reasonably priced."
Joel Brandenberger, president of the National Turkey Federation.
POINT
"We must ensure that we are not forcing our needs on food and fuel to compete against each other. The restaurant industry supports the development of efficient renewable fuels -- including the promotion of the use of recyclable restaurant oil -- while safeguarding against price distortions in the food supply. These prices distortions have harmed our customers and businesses."
John Gay, senior vice president of government affairs and public policy for the National Restaurant Association.
POINT
"At a time when tens of thousands of Americans are turning to food banks to feed their children, no Administration could reasonably conclude that ethanol refiners should be given priority over working families, food companies, and livestock farmers"
Cal Dooley, Grocery Manufacturers Association President and CEO.

"We will start the inspection on Friday morning (June 27), and the first meat that passes the test will be released from the facilities around July 3 or 4."
(Source: New York Times, June 27, 2008)
Lee Byung-kwon, spokesman for Korea’s National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service, talking about the availability of American beef.
>PS: Don’t start the party just yet - ‘availability’ doesn’t mean sales. McDonald’s and Outback steak houses have placed newspaper ads declaring they aren’t using American beef and consumer group and massive street protests continue.

"We can tell by the intensive surveillance that the cases are not increasing. If the checks and balances were not working, one would expect (the disease) to become more common over time, and that's not the case."
(Source: Canada.com, June 28, 2008)
George Luterbach, senior veterinarian at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, trying to put the best face possible on the 13th case of mad cow disease found in that country.
>PS: This one was born 5 years after the feed ban indicating there was an incredible amount of suspect feed in Canada’s hoppers.

Talking about Natural meat, Korea, Corn, AgriProcessors, Iowa farmland, Dan Gralian

2008-06-07T20:09:00.000-05:00

''In the consumer's mind, there's a connection to better health and to better for the environment and to good corporate citizenship. It's just starting, but I think it's going to be a very powerful movement.''
(Source: New York Times, June 2, 2008)
Bob Goldin, executive vice president of Technomic Inc., telling a reporter that the market for fast food prepared with naturally-raised meat will keep expanding, as more consumers grow increasingly disenchanted with the industrial model of meat production.
>PS: Even more worrisome for big packers; for the first time people actually seem to be willing to pay with cold, hard cash - not just lip-service - for the privilege.

Point:
"Because the public is most concerned about meat from cattle over 30 months old, we have asked the United States not to export that kind. The latest decision is based on a desire to maintain good ties and trust (with the United States) while at the same time reflecting the national interest and wishes of the (Korean) people.”
(Source: Yonhap News, June 3, 2008)
Chung Woon-chun, Korean Agriculture Minister, telling reporters that until the two nations reach an agreement on the age limit of cattle when they are slaughtered for meat to be exported to South Korea, Seoul will not implement its revised sanitary and phytosanitary standards.
>PS: The move effectively allows South Korea to keep its ban on U.S. beef.
Counterpoint:
"The agreement that our two governments reached in April is a good agreement, based on recognizing international science, and there would be no reason for any type of renegotiation."
(Source: ABC Rural – Australia, June 5, 2008))
Sean Spicer from the US Trade Representative's Office, ignoring Chung Woon-chun and a large number of Korean consumers.
>PS: Sean, you’re right, the U.S. position is scientifically valid and let’s hang on to that all the way to the poor house.

"There is no doubt Eastern Canada will need to boost its imports of U.S. corn given the domestic production shortfall, livestock requirements and the need to supplement the growing ethanol sector"
(Source: Manitoba Co-Operator, June 2, 2008)
Ron Frost, manager of AgProfit, a division of the Pike Management Group in Calgary, talking about problems created by an expected dip in corn production.
>PS: Then there is that question about a shortfall in U.S. production, livestock requirements and the need to supplement the growing ethanol sector.

"She's a vegetarian."
(Source: NWI Times, June 5, 2008)
Bill Kurtis, TV icon, newsman, grass-fed cattle rancher and master griller telling a family secret about Donna La Pietra, his better half of 30 years.
>PS: Proving once again that mixed marriages can work.

“We got 21 or 23 inspectors. Every minute the plant is open, there is USDA inspector. We got maybe 30 rabbis. How can we do something which is wrong? If I want to, God forbid! We are ethical people. We don’t do no injustice to nobody, not to a cat.”
(Source: The Jewish Journal, June 4, 2008)
Aaron Rubashkin, owner of Agriprocessors, defending his business against a wagon load of allegations brought on by the ICE raid.
>PS: Poor cat.

“People coming there looking for jobs—they bring ID with a photo, with a number. With the same card the person go to the bank. With the same card he got his credit card. With the same card he bought a car. 19 million illegals here? I don’t bring ‘em here. I pay taxes and the government supposed to control the stuff.”
(Source: The Jewish Journal, June 4, 2008)
Aaron Rubashkin, owner of Agriprocessors, suggesting the real fault lies a bit further upstream.
>PS: Rubashkin expects the feds to do what?

“It’s going on big time. There is considerable interest in what we call ‘owning structure’ — like United States farmland, Argentine farmland, English farmland — wherever the profit picture is improving.”
(Source: New York Times, June 5, 2008)
Brad Cole, president of Cole Partners Asset Management in Chicago, which runs a fund of hedge funds focused on natural resources, talking about a potentially huge run-up on ag resources.
>PS: The price of an acre of good Iowa farmland equaling the outrageous price of a square foot of New York City apartment space? Let’s watch this bubble grow large and burst!

“We believe the problem is much more political than everything else. We have to differentiate between the countries who are really affected by the food crisis and those who are seeing it as an economic opportunity.”
(Source: New York Times, June 5, 2008)
Walter Poveda Ricaurte, agriculture minister of Ecuador, questioning the ethics of the political posturing at this week’s emergency Food Summit conference in Rome on food shortages, climate change and energy.
>PS: This particular Hall of Shame started with U.S. Ag secretary, Ed Schafer, talking about the benefits of biofuels and genetically modified crops, Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, speaking for half an hour about how Brazilian biofuels were superior to American ones and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, urging that religion should be injected into food politics.
>PPS: Did anyone speaking from the podium mention feeding the starving millions that were supposed to be the primary reason for this summit?
>PPPS: So here is Tuesday’s lunch menu befitting the moral agenda recognized by the Food Summit delegates:
• Vol au vent with maize and mozzarella
• Pasta with a cream of pumpkin and prawns
• Braised veal slices with cherry tomatoes and basil
• Spinach a la romaine
• Fruit salad with ice cream

“When the Humane Society of the United States released a film they had taken with a hidden camera of a ‘downer’ cow being abused by employees of the Hallmark/Westland packing plant in California, we all said it was deplorable but an ‘isolated’ incident. As it turns out, we were wrong.”
(Source: Elko Daily Free Press, May 23, 2008)
Dan Gralian, President of the Nevada Cattlemen's Association, writing a mea culpa editorial.
>PS: His position? Animal welfare is a critical responsibility for everyone throughout the distribution chain – ranch to harvest - and everyone shares in the guilt when anyone crosses the line.

Talking about...Downer Cows, Ethanol, Farm bill, Korea, Agriprocessors

2008-05-25T09:16:00.000-05:00

"The current regulation allowing downer cattle into the human food supply is confusing to consumers and our trading partners, expensive to administer and unnecessarily risky from a public health standpoint."
(Source: Los Angeles Times/Baltimore Sun, May 21, 2008)
Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-IL) urging USDA Secretary Ed Schafer to close the downer cow loophole.
PS: Also pressured by the likes of AMI CEO J. Patrick Boyle and other industry heavyweights, Schafer agreed to the ban.

"If you sell one product and the only reason there's a market for it is because the government makes a law requiring consumption -- if that law goes away, obviously you're in trouble."
(Source: Business Week, May 21, 2008)
Ann Gilpin, Morningstar analyst who follows Decatur, Ill.-based Archer Daniels Midland, the country's second-largest ethanol producer, talking about the difficulties that industry is suddenly facing.
PS: Ethanol was a popular product in Washington until politicos began feeling some voter heat.
PPS: Ain’t it cool watching a self-righteous politician trying to change horses in mid-stream?

"How can those who are responsible for preparing religiously fit meat not conduct themselves in a religiously proper manner? It's an embarrassment to the Jewish community -- how can this be seen as Jewishly fit?"
(Source: Washington Post, May, 22, 2008)
Henry Karp, a Reform rabbi in Davenport, Iowa, talking about the recent ICE raid at Agriprocessors, Inc and the troubled history of the company.
>PS: If the Rubashkin family can’t overcome this problem and are forced to close Agriprocessors, it will be a huge loss to those in North America’s Jewish community who keep a Kosher table.

“The government is not bashful about the fact that they are trying to send a message…that if you get caught working illegally here you will pay a criminal penalty.”
(Source: New York Times, May 24, 2008)
Christopher Clausen, a lawyer representing 21 Guatemalans seized in the Agriprocessors raid, talking about the new facts of immigrant life in America.
PS: First offense – five months in jail followed by immediate deportation.
PPS: Now that we have disposed of the employees in record time, can we go after the management team that did the hiring?

"If the government wants to send a message, it ought to pay more attention to prosecuting abusive employers who hire undocumented immigrants and mistreat them by withholding pay or doling out verbal and physical abuse. So far, no officials at Agriprocessors have been charged."
(Source:Boston Globe, May 25, 2008)
Unsigned editorial talking about the Agriprocessors raid and suggesting a much more sensible solution to the problem.
PS: It’s been going on for years – corporations, knowingly and with malice aforethought, do this kind of underground hiring because they’re confident they won’t have to pay the same price as the illegals if the feds come knocking.
PPS: Take the profits out of it and assign some direct, Folsom prison style punishment to execs at the highest level and it will stop. Immediately.

POINT:
“Then farmers got a look at the bill's formula for determining benefits under ACRE. It pegs the subsidies to current, record-high prices for grain, meaning farmers would get paid if prices fall back to their historical and, for farmers, perfectly profitable norms. A program that started out as a streamlined insurance policy against extraordinary hardship has mutated into a possible guarantee of extraordinary prosperity.”
Unsigned editorial comment, by an inside-the-beltway writer annoyed that the current farm bill might deliver an unconscionable windfall to farmers.
COUNTERPOINT:
"The program does not look excessively expensive for the lifetime of the farm bill."
Rep. Robert W. Goodlatte (R-VA), ranking Republican on the House Agriculture Committee, quoted in the same unsigned editorial.
(Source: Washington Post, May 22, 2008)
PS: Are you giving or receiving the money? It all depends on which end of the pipeline you’re standing.
PPS: "A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money." Senator Everett McKInley Dirksen.

“I admit the government’s efforts to listen to and understand the public were insufficient and also humbly accept criticisms that my administration did not fully address public concerns about mad cow disease. I deeply apologize to the people.”
(Source: dongA.com, May 23, 2008)
Lee Myung-bak, Korean President, apologizing to the Korean people for the controversy over resuming U.S. beef imports.
PS: Now what about the deal we had?

Talking about…Ethanol, Downers, Korea, Animal welfare, the Pew Commission

2008-05-04T21:06:00.000-05:00

"The price of grain is now directly tied to the price of oil. We used to have a grain economy and a fuel economy. But now they're beginning to fuse."
(Source: Washington Post/MSNBC.com, April 30, 2008)
Lester Brown, president of Earth Policy Institute, a Washington research group

"He's serious about addressing the issue. There's no position being taken right now."
(Source: Riverside, CA Press-Enterprise, April 30, 2008)
Chris Connelly,Agriculture Department spokesman, speaking a strange language called ‘inside the beltway bureaucratese, the mumbo/jumbo dialect’ while explaining Ag Secretary Ed Schafer’s position on the No Downers issue.
>PS: With the major trade associations finally agreeing that allowing downers to enter the food chain is a really bad idea, Connelly reports “Schafer is mulling a ban as he awaits the results of a federal investigation and audit now being conducted by the Agriculture Department's Office of Inspector General.”
>PPS: It’s no longer a ‘mullable’ issue. Mr. Schafer; it’s an issue of reclaiming public trust.

"The food and feed people are beginning to realize what it means to have subsidies and tax breaks for the ethanol plants. They weren't alert to this particular issue. They now are entering a period of active lobbying against the corn-based ethanol people."
(Source: CNNMoney.com, May 2, 2008)
James Thurber, a professor of political science at American University in Washington, D.C., talking about two industries that got caught with their pants down on the effects of diverting corn to ethanol.
>PS: They’re hitching up their pants and getting down to some serious business.

"With the logic that people should be able to eat cheap beef, the government deserted people's right to health only to stabilize its power. The Grand National Party called the candlelight vigils an anti-American, anti-government, leftist conspiracy, which is an insult to the people and an attack on common sense."
(Source: Yonhap News, Korea, May 4, 2008)
Rep. Cha Young, spokesman for the opposition United Democratic Party, attacking the Korean government’s decision to open their market to U.S. beef.
>PS: About 7,000 people showed up Saturday night for a candlelight vigil at the Cheonggye stream in downtown Seoul to protest the decision.

“Whatever the reasons for foot-dragging may be, they are small potatoes compared to the serious threats animal activists present right now. It's high time that producer-leaders of commodity associations individually and collectively decide to be proactive in ways that yield a strong chance for success.”
(Source: Feedstuffs Foodliunk, April 25, 2008)
Dr. Stanley Curtis, a professor with the University of Illinois and one of the nation's leading authorities on animal welfare, writing about the need for the animal ag industry to get its collective act together.

“Many livestock feeders are losing equity, some are having difficulty obtaining operating financing from lending institutions, and others are simply getting out of the business of feeding livestock.”
(Source: North Platte Bulletin, April 30, 2008)
Keith Olsen, Nebraska Farm Bureau President, talking about the farm crisis caused by soaring feed costs and stagnating product demand.
>PS: He said cattle feeders are losing $200 to $300 per animal, pork producers are losing up to $60 per animal.

Point:
"Bottom line - there's been a very clever marketing disinformation campaign directed at biofuels by those with deep pockets. If you really want to know who the real axe murderer is that's slashing our grocery food budget, look at $4.00 a gallon gasoline; look at $120 a barrel oil."
Rick Tolman, National Corn Growers Association CEO, at last Wednesday's National Press Club telling reporters corn-based ethanol had been the victim of aggressive and well-funded smear tactics by its opponents.
Counterpoint:
"We urge you and your colleagues to continue examining food-to-fuel mandates in the context of national and global priorities. We must quickly transition toward supporting solutions that don’t pit our energy needs against our food needs."
Patrick Boyle, American Meat Institute CEO, in a letter also signed by the National Meat Association and others, urging congress to reconsider the federal decision to fund the ethanol industry.
(Source: Brownfield Network, May 1, 2008)

Point:
"Retreat from biofuels is wrong; it's dangerous, it's a mistake. It won't fill anybody's stomach and won't fill any gas tanks."
Patricia Woertz, ADM chairwoman and CEO, making a passionate defense of the ethanol industry that has been a major contributor to the company’s bottom line.
>PS: ADM saw its financial gas tank filled with a 42% increase in its quarterly profit, to $517 million, amid its shrewd maneuvers in the grain market.
Counterpoint:
"In 2007, ethanol production will replace only 3 percent of U.S. oil imports. The fact is we can't grow enough corn in this country to make a dent in our petroleum dependency."
Richard Bond, Tyson Foods CEO, questioning the wisdom of investing in a form of energy that ‘will never displace oil's role in the economy.’
>PS: Proving the price of chicken feed isn’t exactly chicken feed, anymore, Tyson was clobbered by a $5 million quarterly loss mostly caused by higher feed costs.
PPS: In this food vs. fuel controversy, you can never go wrong if you just ‘Follow the money!’
(Source: Chicago Tribune, May 1, 2008)>

“One of the most serious unintended consequences of industrial food animal production is the growing public health threat of these types of facilities. There is increasing urgency to chart a new course in agriculture, which has been shifting over the last 50 years from family farms to large livestock meat producers.”(Source: Kansas City Star, April 28, 2008))
Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production report, trying to plow under a century’s worth of progress in making agriculture more efficient.
>PS: Sorry, but after reading all the news about food riots and a greater number of the world’s population suffering from the real public health threat - ‘food insecurity,’ a federally-sponsored euphemism for ‘facing imminent starvation,’ I think the report was ill-timed, ill-advised and dead wrong.
>PPS: The Commission would have been better off to issue a report on the new efficiencies needed to produce and transport more food at an even lower cost per unit.

Jolley: Talking About…Aussie-Korea FTA, PETA, Farm Bill

2008-04-29T23:13:00.001-05:00

"We have obtained significant market advantage. Presumably (lifting the ban) will have some impact in that area. It's imperative that Australia strikes a deal with parity of access otherwise we will be placed at a clear disadvantage."
(Source: The Sydney Morning Herald, April 21, 2008)
David Inall, executive director of the Cattle Council of Australia, talking about the recent U.S./Korea agreement to lift the ban on American beef.
>PS: To remain competitive, Inall urges an Aussie/Korea free trade agreement ASAP.
>PPS: So about a year ago, did I hear someone say that when the U.S. regained access to the S. Korean market the Aussies would be sent packing?

“You are not going to market the 2009 crop the way you marketed the 2007 crop. You may never market grain that way again.”
(Source: New York Times, April 22, 2008)
Robert E. Young II, chief economist for the American Farm Bureau Federation, talking about the demise of the commodities system and the growing distrust of the C.B.O.T. way of doing business.
>PS: Here’s an outrageous thought: Will we soon be marketing corn by the barrel alongside Nigerian crude?

"Japan, the Philippines, [South] Korea, Taiwan -- they all came in with huge orders, and no matter how high prices go, they keep on buying, We have never seen anything like this before. Prices are going up more in one day than they have during entire years in the past. But no matter the price, there always seems to be a buyer. This isn't just any commodity. It is food, and people need to eat."
(Source: Washington Post, April 27, 2008)
Jeff Voge, chairman of the Kansas City Board of Trade and an independent trader, talking about the unprecedented worldwide demand for grain.
>PS: Panicked foreign buyers are stockpiling, ordering U.S. grain at up to triple normal amounts as food riots erupt in third world countries.

“As I talked and listened to people outside our industry, I realized people don’t know of the high losses we are facing with no end in sight. Everyone that is in the livestock industry is struggling with record high production costs, with feed costs at prices that we have never experienced — so collectively I am hoping we can come up with ideas that may help us through these trying times.”
(Source: Farm News, April 26, 2008)
Mitch Truebenbach, hog producer and owner of Agri Swine Alliance Inc., talking about the crisis that’s hurting the entire North American hog industry.
>PS: Let’s be honest. It really is a food vs fuel problem – the price of a barrel of crude AND the price paid by converting food crops to ethanol are twin problems that threaten world order.

“If these PETA nuts are only showering 18 times a year, we have a new reason PETA stinks.”
(Source: New York Times, April 22, 2008)
David Martosko, director of research at the Center for Consumer Freedom, talking about PETA’s nude shower stunt on Times Square.
PS: An hour long shower was supposed to persuade people to go vegetarian. All it did was bring out the spring ‘peepers’ who brought along cell phone cameras to record the silliness.

“We are disgusted by the conventional meat industry in this country, which raises animals — especially chicken and pigs — in inhumane confinement systems that cause significant environmental damage. There is every reason to change the way meat is produced, to make it more ethical, more humane.”
(Source: New York Times, April 23, 2008)
Unsigned editorial discussing PETA’s million dollar bounty for producing commercially viable test tube chicken.
>PS: Time-after-time, the New York Times proves many of their contributors still dismiss everything west of the Hudson as crude ‘fly-over country’ when the realities of the modern food delivery system don’t match their Disneyland approach to filling the grocery cart.
>PPS: Porky Pig as a slab of bacon and some country ham? Say it ain’t so! Has anybody seen Donald Duck lately?
>PPPS: Sorry, ‘we’ are mad as hell about the not so subtle inference by ‘Mr. Unsigned Editorial’ that people involved in meat production are less than ethical.

“With record farm income, now is not the time for Congress to ask other sectors of the economy to pay higher taxes in order to increase the size of government. The proposal would increase spending by at least $16 billion, masked in part by budgetary gimmicks and funded in part by additional tax revenues. I therefore call on Congress to provide our agricultural producers with the certainty to make sound business and planting decisions about this year's crop by extending current law for at least one year.”
(Source: White House press release, April 22. 2008)
G.W. Bush, President of the United States, sharing his opinion of the House and Senate’s farm bill efforts.
>PS: Mike Johanns bailed on it months ago, now Bush seems eager to hand it off to the next POTUS. Maybe they know something stinks inside the beltway?

"Allowing the current rule to remain in force could ultimately undermine the confidence of U.S. consumers and foreign customers, in markets that are proving difficult to reopen in the first place."
(Source: FoxNews.com, April 22, 2008)
J. Patrick Boyle, AMI President and CEO, explaining his group’s decision to finally get behind the ‘no-downer’ rule.
>PS: Thank you, Mr. Boyle, for leading the way on this one. The lengthy and misguided fight by various trade associations against the ban has hurt the industry’s image with consumers here and abroad.

"Japan, the Philippines, [South] Korea, Taiwan -- they all came in with huge orders, and no matter how high prices go, they keep on buying, We have never seen anything like this before. Prices are going up more in one day than they have during entire years in the past. But no matter the price, there always seems to be a buyer. This isn't just any commodity. It is food, and people need to eat."
(Source: Washington Post, April 27, 2008)
Jeff Voge, chairman of the Kansas City Board of Trade and an independent trader, talking about the unprecedented worldwide demand for grain.
>PS: Panicked foreign buyers are stockpiling, ordering U.S. grain at up to triple normal amounts as food riots erupt worldwide.

"Bulgogi Korean barbecue is like the cheeseburger in the United States. We're thrilled to get that market back."
(Source: TradingMarkets.com, April 27, 2008)
Gregg Doud, chief economist for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, expressing unbridled glee at regained market access.

Talking about...Corn, ethanol, farm bill, Korea, YouTube

2008-04-23T22:44:00.001-05:00

"If you're going to compare corn prices today with past years, you've got to allow for inflation," he explains. "For example, in mid-1984, corn at the farm gate sold for $3.05 in Iowa – but it would take $6.27 in today's dollars to equal that. In 1981, Iowa corn sold as high as $3.21 per bushel, which would be $7.98 today."
(Source: Wallaces Farmer, April 14, 2008)
Julius Schaaf, chair of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, refuting claims about "record" corn prices.

“Ethanol is the one thing we can do something about. It’s about the only lever we have to pull, but none of the politicians have the courage to pull the lever.”
(Source: New York Times, April 15, 2008)
C. Ford Runge, an economist at the University of Minnesota, saying there was little that could be done to mitigate the effect of droughts and the growing appetite for protein in developing countries but backing off the push to produce more ethanol would help.

"We simply have an inability for the House and Senate to agree on what a farm bill would encompass."
(Source: The Chicago Daily Herald)
Ed Schafer, USDA Secretary talking to a group of Illinois farmers at an Elgin farm.

"There's no progress at all and the meeting is going nowhere at the moment because the two sides are so different in terms of what they are asking of each other."
(Source: Reuters, April 14, 2008)
Min Dong-seok, Korea’s deputy farm minister, telling reporters that an open marketplace for U.S. beef is still a long way off.

"This is an operation targeting specific individuals who are suspected of engaging in identity theft. Pilgrim's Pride cooperated fully with our execution of today's operation."
(Source: The Dallas Morning News, April 16, 2008)
Carl Rusnok, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, talking about the raid on five Pilgrim’s Pride plants that netted about 400 arrests.
>PS: Cooperated fully? Where have I heard that before?
>PPS: Let’s hope Pilgrim’s Pride hasn’t been ‘Swift’ boated here.

"We've gone, I think, too far. The government should let the free market decide if our food should be used for fuel or food. If it should be used for fuel, and the public wants fuel more than they want food, the market will decide."
(Source: Minnesota Public Radio, April 16, 2008)
Bob Taubert, Minnesota hog famer, saying the government should let a free market decide how corn should be used.
>PS: Hog farmers say they’re losing up to $30 per animal due to the artificially high price of corn.

"We are launching this YouTube Channel with a three-part video that features Dr. Temple Grandin and other members of our Animal Welfare Committee. We will soon add new videos on other timely topics so that we can enhance our relationship with the 95 percent of Americans who enjoy our products."
(Source: Meatingplace.com, April 18, 2008)
J. Patrick Boyle, CEO of the American Meat Institute, announcing a new communications initiative during his testimony at a House hearing.
>PS: At last, the meat industry has a vehicle that will allow it to go nose-to-nose with its critics.
>PPS: They’ve given us a few bloody noses recently, can we return the favor?

Talking about...Hormones, Farm bill, WTO, $6 corn, JBS Swift

2008-04-07T21:03:00.000-05:00

"It is high time for the E. U. to come into compliance with its obligations.”
Susan Schwab, US Trade Representative, calling the WTO decision on a long-running trans-Atlantic trade spat over hormone-treated cattle an "important victory" for the US livestock industry.
AND
“This government is standing up for Canadian farm families at home and around the world. This ruling once again shows that Canada is playing by the rules and delivering safe, healthy food to markets around the world.”
Gerry Ritz, Canadian Agriculture Minister, hailing the WTO ruling.
(Source: Cal Trade Report, April 2, 2008)
>PS: It’s good to see the U.S. and Canada on the same side of the cattle fence for a change.
>PPS: Let’s not start the celebration, yet. Despite the WTO ruling, it’s the E.U. consumer who will make the final decision.

"The findings confirm the principle that measures imposed for health reasons must be based on science. It is high time for the EU to come into compliance with its obligations on this matter.”
(Source: AFP, March 31, 2008)
Susan Schwab, US Trade Representative, talking about the WTO ruling that struck down the EU ban on American and Canadian beef treated with growth hormones, deeming it an "important victory for all US farmers and ranchers.”
>PS: It’s a victory ONLY if E.U. consumers are willing to buy hormone-treated North American beef.
PPS: Really want to sell beef to those persnickety Europeans? Here’s an acronym for you: NHTC.

“We’ve got to keep urban support in the House of Representatives to get a farm bill through and that urban support is going to be weakened when people find out that 10 percent of the biggest farmers are getting 73 percent of the benefits out of the farm program.”
(Source: Brownfield Network, April 1, 2008)
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), still optimistic about a new farm bill by April 18.
>PS: Is he just whistling through the graveyard?

"Food prices are rising twice as fast as inflation, placing significant pressure on American families who are already suffering from economic uncertainty. It's time for Congress and the administration to offer families some relief and stop food inflation.”
(Source: Los Angeles Times, April 1, 2008)
Scott Faber, spokesman for the Grocery Manufacturers of America, ‘viewing with alarm’ the recent USDA estimate that this year’s corn crop would be about 8% lower than 2007.
>PS: I don’t care what the ethanol folks say, it really IS a food vs fuel debate.

“Higher corn prices is [sic] going to affect meat prices. If you're feeding with $6 corn, you'll definitely have some (cost) pressure.”
(Source: Business Media, April 4, 2008)
Elaine Kub, a grains analyst with Data Transmission Network talking about $6 corn with the Associated Press.
>PS: $6 corn? Seems like only a few months ago. We were worrying about $4 corn and prime Iowa farmland going for $4,000 an acre. We blew past both those price points in a hurry, didn’t we?

Point:
"It's a continuation of a bad trend we've been dealing with in not only agriculture, but in a lot of industries that have been trending toward bigger and fewer companies. The main problem is a lack of competition. If you had competitive markets, you could have smaller players re-injecting an accurate price into the system quite easily and effectively."
Dan Teigen of the Western Organization of Resource Councils, warning of a loss of competition and its effects on Montana cattle ranchers if the JBS Swift purchase is OK’d by the Department of Justice.
Counterpoint:
"We've reached out to the Montana stockgrowers, and we've already told them we would love to bring our senior management to meet with anybody in Montana anytime to talk about JBS's vision. We're ready to do that."
Chandler Keys, a JBS spokesman, assuring cattlemen that they have nothing to worry about.
(Source: Billings Gazette, April 1, 2008)
>PS: Keys also said the feds generally approve any change on the competitive scene as lon as at least three competitors are left standing.
PPS: His opinion is borne out by history. Get used to a new cattle business industry landscape.

Talking about...Self regulation, HSUS, JBS, Hallmark

2008-03-09T21:54:00.000-05:00

Point:
"The video of the Hallmark plant is evidence of what can happen when packing plants are left to police themselves without the government oversight they need. When the company is in charge of creating their own records and doing their own food safety checks, they're not going to find problems themselves"
Trent Berhow, the Vice-Chairman of the National Joint Council of Food Safety Inspection Locals.
Counterpoint:
"Clearly, what we have in Hallmark/Westland is an anomaly, an extreme circumstance. I don't think it requires a systematic change in how we run our plants or how government inspectors monitor them.”
J. Patrick Boyle, president and chief executive officer of the American Meat Institute, in a conference call with reporters.
(Source: Baltimore Sun, March 3, 2008)

"We specifically did not give this information much in advance to the USDA. If it had been given to USDA in advance and they excused the behavior and shut them down for a half a day or a day … that would have been an unacceptable outcome."
(Source: Meatingplace.com, March 3, 2008)
Wayne Pacelle, HSUS CEO excusing his 4 month lapse of good judgment in an interview with Meatingplace.com.
>PS: He was making a point that his assumption of unacceptable behavior by the USDA excuses actual unacceptable behavior by HSUS.
>PPS: And no one spoke up for thousands of animals that went through the Hallmark plant from October, 2007 until the end of January, 2008.

“Consider again the time frame: the Humane Society investigator began shooting film in early October. If what he saw was really a danger to the food supply, didn’t he and Mr. Pacelle have a responsibility to bring it to the federal government immediately? Instead, the undercover investigator stayed on site for another six weeks. Even then, the federal government didn’t learn of the video until it was leaked to The Post at the end of January — nearly two months later.”
(Source: New York Times, March 8, 2008)
Joe Nocera, questioning the motives behind the delay in Wayne Pacelle’s recent activities.
>PS: His motive, Joe, was simply pandering to the press.

"That's how I was taught. He taught me to do the work. I didn't know it was serious crime.”
(Source: The San Bernardino Sun, March 6, 2008)
Luis Sanchez Herrera in Spanish at the Adelanto Detention Center.
>PS: Daniel Ugarte Navarro, Sanchez Herrera’s supervisor, said the methods he used were taught to him by one of the owners of the company.

"As the CEO of the company with the dubious distinction of being responsible for America's largest meat recall, it is important the committee hear Mr. Mendell's perspective"
(Source: The Press-Enterprise, March 3, 2008)
Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, politely saying Hallmark’s president – and one of the owners of the company - will be coerced into testifying.
>PS: The subcommittee held a business meeting Wednesday morning and voted unanimously to authorize a subpoena ordering Mendell to testify at a March 12 hearing titled "Regulatory Failure: Must America Live With Unsafe Food?".

"These phone calls were never returned by Mr. Mendell, his company, or counsel. In the only instance in which committee staff was able to speak with Mr. Mendell, Mr. Mendell told committee staff he would contact the staff later that day with his attorney. Almost two weeks later, the committee is still awaiting his call."
(Source: The Press-Enterprise, March 5,2008)
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), said at least 15 attempts were made to reach Mendell between Feb. 19 and Feb. 25.
>PS: Stonewalling a congressional committee is NOT a wise PR or legal maneuver. It’s time for Mendell to ‘cowboy up’ and take some responsibility.

"The industry lost billions of dollars because of the mad cow case in 2003 because we had this permissive policy with downers. I am absolutely confounded as to why the industry is prepared to assume this level of risk for the very minimal financial return from slaughtering downers."
(Source: Washington Post. March 9, 2008)
Wayne Pacelle, CEO, HSUS, making a particularly sharp-edged point
>PS: Does risking the good name of a multi-billion dollar industry over a paltry few nickels and dimes make any kind of sense?

“JBS is about to rewrite the history of the U.S. beef processing industry. Arguably, this is the most significant change in beef processing in the U.S., the structure of it, in a hundred years or more.”
(Source: Kansas City Star, March 6, 2008)
Steve Kay, editor of Cattle Buyers Weekly, making a bold statement about the long term effects of a bold move by JBS.
>PS: Adding National and Smithfield to their Swift holdings, JBS is consolidating a North American industry that many think is already over-consolidated. What will the Feds say?

"Time and time again, cattle producers have had to watch helplessly as the multinational meatpackers manipulate the cattle market for their own benefit, and additional concentration among the packers likely will reduce even more the number of cattle operations in the United States,"
(Source: Rapid City Journal, March 5, 2008)
Randy Stevenson, regional director for R-CALF USA, suggesting the organization might contest Department of Justice approval of the JBS purchase.

"I’ve been pressing the Justice Department about consolidation in agriculture, but the department doesn’t appear to think there is a problem. Quite honestly, I don’t know how much longer they can continue to let these mergers slide by. Now producers will only have three major beef packers to sell their livestock to. Is it going to take only one packer in the industry for the Justice Department to say there isn’t competition?"
(Source: MeatPoultry.com, March 6, 2008)
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) expressing concern about the recent JBS buying spree in a letter to Assistant Attorney General Thomas Barnett.
>PS: So Mr. Batista thinks his shopping habits won’t create some heartburn on the Hill? Time to hire some of Washington’s best spin meisters.

"We believe consolidation is necessary in beef packing, given only 80 per cent or so utilization with reduced export markets, too much capacity bidding too much for live cattle, therefore depressing packing margins."
(Source: Canadian Press, March 5, 2008)
Eric Katzman, Deutsche Bank-North America analyst, in a note to investors about the JBS purchase.
>PS: Whose margins get depressed now, Mr. Katzman? And when do we have to start discussing monopoly?
>PPS: A lesson from my Econ 101 class, Mr. Katzman: Market control by one or a few is a key source of inefficiency unless you’re just looking at the next quarter’s P & L.

“This is not proprietary information. This is information that is directly engaged in the health and safety of the American people, which we have a responsibility, along with you, to protect.”
(Source: NWA News, March 7, 2008)
Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), telling Richard Raymond, the USDA’s food-safety chief, at a congressional hearing that the House would push ‘very hard’ for a list of outlets that received meat from Hallmark.
>PS: Packers claim the lists are proprietary information.
>PPS: The recall was a Class 2, meaning it wasn’t caused by food safety issues, making it a dodged bullet…so far. Most of the facts are not in.
>PPS: It’s information that should be released on a ‘need to know’ basis and the public needs to know.

“Everyone wants to eat like an American on this globe. But if they do, we’re going to need another two or three globes to grow it all.”
(Source: New York Times, March 9, 2008)
Daniel W. Basse of the AgResource Company, a Chicago agricultural consultancy, warning of ever higher prices for food and hinting at a golden age for farmers.
>PS: Farmers might have to make more trips to the bank to deposit additional income from their grain (and grain-fed) crops.
>PPS: Consumers might have to make more trips to the bank to find money so they can pay their grocery bills.

Talking about...The Hallmark Incident

2008-02-24T08:28:00.000-06:00

“We have suspended operations at 65 slaughter plants. Twelve of those suspensions were for egregious humane animal handling violations. While it’s not a huge number, it is a number that is troublesome.”
(Source: porkalert eMagazine, February 18, 2008)
Kenneth Petersen, USDA assistant administrator, Office of Field Operations, signaling heightened enforcement of humane handling standards at the Animal Handling Conference.
>PS: He said most of the 12 suspensions for animal handling violations were small or very small plants.

"I don’t see any way we could reopen. If the USDA wants payment back, we're dead meat. We're done. There's no way we could pay it all back."
(Source: Wall Street Journal, February 23, 2008)
Anthony Magidow, Hallmark General Manager, in a late Friday telephone interview from the meatpacker's plant in Chino, CA.
>PS: And with the closing of their doors, let’s hope that it also brings any hint of animal abuse in this industry to an absolute end. It’s a door that must be permanently closed.

"Sitting here today, I cannot tell you how many locations the product has gone to. Our focus is identifying the locations and making sure the product is under control."
(Source: Washington Post, February 22, 2008)
Kenneth Peterson of the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service talking about efforts to trace the missing 15 million pounds of recalled beef still in the school lunch program.
>PS: The meat poses ‘little or no hazard’ say the feds? Most parents are going to focus on the ‘little’ part of that statement. Doesn’t that mean there is some risk?
>PPS: After all, what’s the risk of the equivalent of 60 million untraceable quarter pounders floating around out there?
>PPPS: By the numbers:
(1). 50 million pounds went to school foodservice
(2). 20 million pounds already consumed
(3). 15 million pounds on hold at storage facilities
(4). 15 million pounds still missing
>PPPPS: And I know the recalled meat isn’t a food safety issue. It’s more important. It’s a consumer confidence issue.

"Consumers are losing confidence in USDA's ability to ensure the meat they eat is safe."
Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, sounding the alarm.
>PS: Maybe she saw the Associated Press survey that showed slightly more than half of the respondents no longer believed their food was safe?
>PPS: An ever rising percentage of Americans no longer believe that old saw, “Our food supply is the safest in the world.” They no longer agree that it’s “among the safest in the world.” So can we stop regurgitating the phrase until we can once again prove it?

The Associated Press finds that the government hasn't stepped up inspections since last year's E. coli scare. In light of the news, do you feel your food is safe?

Yes.........26%
No..........51%
Not sure....23%

Hallmark/Westland: Largest Recall Ever
Meat Consumption Projected to Decline through 2017
(Source: porkalert eMagazine, February 18, 2008)
Awkwardly successive headlines
>PS: E. coli last year, animal welfare this year. Let’s hope against hope that this unintentional headline juxtaposition doesn’t describe a ‘cause and effect.’

"How much longer will we continue to test our luck with weak enforcement of federal food safety regulations?"
(Source: Washington Post, February 18, 2008)
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, calling on the USDA to get tough with its inspection requirements.
>PS: The USDA issued 20 meat recalls last year, including one of more than 20 million pounds, and slammed Hallmark with the record-setting 143 million pound recall.

“This recall is not an isolated case – it is yet another troubling reminder that our food supply is at risk. Each year, tens of millions of Americans contract food-borne illnesses every year; hundreds of thousands are hospitalized; and thousands die. And the risks are only growing.”
(Source: PRNewsChannel, February 19, 2008)
Hillary Clinton (D-NY) becoming the first presidential candidate to weigh in on the recall.
>PS: It’s an election year. They’ll all hazard an opinion.

"A recall of this staggering scale shows it's bad for animals, bad for consumers and bad for business to have slipshod enforcement and porous laws when it comes to handling animals at slaughter plants."
(Source: The Independent, London, U.K., February 19, 2008)
Wayne Pacelle, HSUS C.E.O., applauding the recall, saying it sent an unmistakable message to other meat processing companies.
>PS: Loud and painfully clear to every bad actor in the business.
>PPS: The writer put the 143 million pound recall in perspective by noting that it was enough meat to feed two hamburgers to every man, woman and child in the U.S.

"Our food safety system should not have to depend on a non-government organization to unearth violations of the law.”
(Source: CNN.com, February 22, 2008)
Wayne Pacelle, HSUS CEO, reacting to Ag Secretary Ed Schafer’s charge that the Humane Society shoulders part of the blame for the abuse at Hallmark.
>PS: I agree. And we shouldn’t have to rely on any organization – government orr non-government – to fritter away valuable time while figuring out what to do with obviously incriminating evidence.
>PPS: Correct me if I’m wrong but wasn’t the tape taken in October and held back throughout the months of November and December before they released it to the S.L.O. D.A.?
>PPS: One annoyed side-line commentator told me that if the HSUS was going to throw this load of well-aged meadow muffins at the USDA, they needed to look at their own hands afterwards. Maybe a little of it got on ‘em?

"The failure of the inspection program to stop the company's egregious behavior is just another sign of how USDA's thousands of meat inspectors are locked into a rigid, antiquated form of inspection that is not filling the bill on either food safety or animal welfare."
(Source: Wall Street Journal, February 19, 2008)
Mike Taylor, former Agriculture Department food-safety official, now a research professor at the George Washington University School of Public Health.
>PS: Sensible observers have been saying it for years. Our inspection system needs a significant overhaul to work in an increasingly complex 21st century. How big of a failure do we need to make the point obvious to even the densest of politicians?

“It was so blatant, so commonplace. It was so in your face. They were pushing animals we felt never should have qualified for human consumption.”
(Source: Kansas City Star, February 19, 2008)
Deep undercover HSUS informant and vegan, interviewed by L.A. Times reporters from an undisclosed location, talking about his experiences as an employee at Hallmark.
>PS: USDA officials have stated there is no evidence that the animals entered the food chain.
>PPS: It’s time to wake up and smell the cattle feces, guys. Those workers were NOT noble men wearing white hats.

"The USDA is very adamant in saying there are inspectors continuously at the facility, and that's absolutely correct. But that can mean a whole range of things, and it doesn't necessarily mean there is anyone watching the slaughter."(Source: Sacramento Bee, February 21, 2008)
Deep Undercover HSUS Informant who infiltrated the Hallmark plant and took the video, talking about his experiences.
>PS: USDA records show that federal inspectors spent an average of 90 minutes a day at the plant on routine checks to ensure animals were handled humanely.

“This recall raises a whole host of issues, and the disclosure of retail outlets involved is certainly one of them. It’s another unfortunate episode of all talk and no action, and certainly something we will discuss with [the Food Safety and Inspection Service] at our hearing next week.”
(Source: CQ Politics, February 20, 2008)
Herb Kohl (D-WI).Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman, who has scheduled a food safety hearing for Feb. 28.
>PS: Consumers Union joined other interest groups in urging Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer for an immediate change in policy that would identify specific retail outlets where recalled meat and poultry products were sold.

"Food safety ought to be of a high enough priority in this nation that we have a single agency that deals with it and not an agency that is responsible for promoting a product, selling a product and then as an afterthought dealing with how our food supply is safe."
(Source: International Herald Tribune, February 20, 2008)
Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) chair of the House subcommittee responsible for the USDA's funding, speaking at a press conference about the Hallmark recall.

“Senator Richard Durbin and Representative Rosa DeLauro have a more ambitious idea: creating a single, powerful agency to oversee all food safety, instead of the current bureaucratic tangle of inspectors, some for vegetables, some for beef and some for imports. Right now the Agriculture Department oversees the safety of the home-grown beef supply (while also promoting the cattle industry) and the Food and Drug Administration monitors the safety of cattle feed. With Americans increasingly — and legitimately — mistrustful of the food they eat, their proposal is worth serious consideration.”
(Source: New York Times, February 21, 2008)
Unsigned editorial urging a complete overhaul of the U.S food inspection system.

And NYT readers responded with these statements
“Of course, the guilty (of animal abuse) should be severely punished--not surprisingly, many are undocumented workers who do as they're told for fear of being fired and/or deported. It's the owners/managers/corporations responsible who should serve the most jail time.” (Eric Mills, California)

“The editorial is well meaning. But before enacting more controls, a complete investigation should be conducted and a careful and thoughtful analysis of corrective actions be made. After all our food safety is still very good.” (TEK, NY)

“If the US Department of Agriculture wants to help US agriculture, then it has to do everything in its power to insure that the nation's home produced food supply is safe. All it takes is several necessary large scale recalls like this one before one or more of our key trading partners and WTO members decide that the US food supply is under inspected, under regulated and under protected and simply ban US agricultural products from their borders.” (Blacklight, New York City)

Talking about…Farm bill, Cloning, Cattle futures, Biofuels, Animal abuse, Fried chicken

2008-02-10T19:44:00.001-06:00

“We continue to express our concerns to the U.S. Congress. Specifically, the government is concerned with the level of support provided to certain industries. We question some of the programs that tend to mask market signals and create incentives to overproduce.”
(Source: Country-Guide Canada, February 4, 2008)
Stephen Lavergne, director of U.S. trade advocacy for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, talking about the U.S. farm bill and the possibility that it might invite W.T.O. sanctions in its current form.
>PS: If we want to compete in the international marketplace, we might have to follow international rules and regs.

"I'm confident we can come together and get a good farm bill. But if Congress sends me legislation that raises taxes or (does) not make needed reforms, I'm going to veto it."
(Source: Reuters, February 6, 2008)
George W. Bush telling government employees in an appearance at the U.S. Agriculture Department that there is little room for compromise.
>PS: Bush was speaking at a ceremony marking the arrival of new Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer. Schafer, former governor of North Dakota, now has a tough row to hoe – getting the Mike Johanns abandoned farm bill passed.

“We'll find a better way of resolving it if we have the support of the new Secretary of Agriculture, that he's able to make the commitment that his predecessor didn't make and that is to see that the job gets done."
(Source: Brownfield Network, February 6, 2008)
Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) suggesting that maybe Mike Johanns is guilty of an old political ploy called ‘duck and cover.’
PS: When asked to clarify, Nelson said "If the shoe fits, people have to wear it." Mr. Johanns, what’s your shoe size?

“Not a lot of ranchers are huge Star Trek fans. It’s an interesting, philosophical discussion.”
(Source: Flathead, MT. Beacon, February 6, 2008)
Jeremy Seidlitz, executive director of the Montana Cattlemen’s Association, talking about cloned cattle.
>PS: Computer, a cheeseburger, please.

"We have about 20 percent excess packing capacity. We are likely to continue to see some further closures of capacity in North America. I think you will see more (closures) this year."
(Source: Reuters, February 6, 2008)
Randy Blach, executive vice president of Cattle-Fax, talking with a reporter about the recent Tyson plant closure at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association annual convention in Reno, Nevada.
>PS: If you’re in the cattle business, all the rules are changing…all the time.

“While it is important to analyze the climate change consequences of differing energy strategies, we must all remember where we are today, how world demand for liquid fuels is growing, and what the realistic alternatives are to meet those growing demands. Biofuels like ethanol are the only tool readily available that can begin to address the challenges of energy security and environmental protection.”
(Source: New York Times, February 8, 2008)
Bob Dineen, Renewable Fuels Association director responding to two scientific studies that claim renewable fuels are an ecological disaster. “Simplistic,” he said and it failed “to put the issue into context.”
>PS: Joseph Fargione, lead author of the one of the studies and a scientist at the Nature Conservancy, summed up his findings by saying, “So for the next 93 years you’re making climate change worse, just at the time when we need to be bringing down carbon emissions.”

"The land we're likely to plow up is the land that we've had taking up carbon for decades. We can't get to a result, no matter how heroically we make assumptions on behalf of corn ethanol, where it will actually generate greenhouse-gas benefits."
(Source: Washington Post, February 8, 2008)
Tim Searchinger, who conducted the other study at Princeton said the research he and his colleagues did is the first to reveal the hidden environmental cost of producing biofuels.
>PS: Hey, Bobby, should we ignore the elephant in the room because we need the fertilizer it generates today?

"It is unfortunate that one instance can give the industry, not just the dairy industry, but give the cattle industry as a whole a black eye. It's just an action that we certainly condemn. We are very concerned about how our animals are treated while they are in our care and would like to see that carried on as they go through the production chain, including the harvest facility."(Source: Capital Press, February 8, 2008)
Bill Moore, president of the Oregon Cattlemen's Association, making a statement about the Hallmark incident that everyone in the industry can/should support.

Point:
"The Humane Society, since late October, has been willing to let animals suffer out there, rather than notify USDA immediately of the abuses.”
(Source: Baltimore Sun, February 9, 2008)
Ed Schafer, USDA Secretary, chastising the Humane Society of the U.S. for sitting on the video for months.
Counterpoint:
"It's USDA's responsibility to prevent this abuse. USDA personnel were on site and they are the ones who are paid with American tax dollars to prevent this appalling cruelty."
(Source: Baltimore Sun, February 9, 2008)
Wayne Pacelle, Humane Society president and CEO calling Schafer's statement, “an astonishing and outrageous comment.”
>PS: The award for the most ‘astonishing and outrageous’ inaction goes to the HSUS for not blowing the whistle immediately. No excuses.

"If the state legislature moves forward with this one, then they should change Kentucky's state bird from the cardinal to the debeaked, crippled, scalded, diseased, dead chicken.”
(Source: Lexington, KY Herald-Leader, February 8, 2008)
Bruce Friedrich, PETA vice president, playing the drama queen card in a comment about a Kentucky bill that wants to name fried chicken the state’s official picnic food.
>PS: Brucie continues his long history of over-the-top, chewing-the-scenery histrionics, worthy of a third-rate Shakespearian actor.

Talking about…Hallmark’s Animal abuse, Ethanol, Food-borne illness

2008-02-03T09:49:00.000-06:00

"This must serve as a five-alarm call to action for Congress and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Our government simply must act quickly both to guarantee the most basic level of humane treatment for farm animals and to protect America's most vulnerable people -- our children, needy families and the elderly -- from the potentially dangerous food."
(Source: CNN.com, January)
Wayne Pacelle, Humane Society of the United States president, belatedly raising the alarm over alleged animal abuse.
>PS: Wayne, you waited patiently for two months to raise a general alarm? I expect the feds will react with greater speed. The USDA, in its news release, rightly said it was "unfortunate" the Humane Society "did not present this information to us when these alleged violations occurred in the fall of 2007."
>PPS: Let me issue an open invitation to everyone at Hallmark and Westland - the alleged perps and their partners-in-crime company - to attend the Animal Care and Handling Conference in Kansas City, February 14-15. Maybe you can claim the time as Community Service. Click here for more information. Please come well-disguised. Temple Grandin will be there and she won’t be happy.

"These were not rogue employees secretly doing these things. This is the pen manager and his assistant doing this right in the open." (Source: Washington Post, January 30, 2008)
Anonymous HSUS investigator talking in a telephone interview about the videotape of extreme animal abuse allegedly taken at Hallmark Meat Packing.
>PS: The videotape was taken in October and just released by the investigator and Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society. Doesn’t sitting on something this long make them accomplices in the abuse?
>PPS: Here is the rogue’s gallery of sinners in this deal –
(1) The folks at Hallmark who are hands-on guilty of abuse and the rest of management and employees at Hallmark and Westland who were complicit in the abuse.
(2) The San Bernardino county district attorney who received the tape in December and asked the Humane Society not to go public until they ‘had time to assess the information’ and then sat on it for much too long.
(3) The normally media-happy folks at HSUS who claimed they waited – two unforgivably long months - until they thought no action was forthcoming from the D.A.’s office before going public.

“We are shocked, saddened and sickened by what we have seen today. Operations have been immediately suspended until we can meet with all of our employees and be assured these sorts of activities never again happen at our facility.”
(Source: Burbank Leader, February 1, 2008)
Steve Mandell, president and chief executive of Westland Meat Co. and Hallmark Meat Packing, claiming he was astonishingly clueless.
>PS: What’s that old saying? Ignorance of the law is no excuse?

"By lifting the ethanol tariff, we'd end up subsidizing Brazilian ethanol. I can't figure out why Secretary Bodman would want the United States to risk becoming dependent on Brazilian ethanol when we're already dependent on Middle East oil.”
(Source: Meatingplace, January 31, 2008)
Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), responding to a statement made by Energy secretary Sam Bodman that the Bush administration "will start to deal with that question" of whether the tariff should be renewed or allowed to expire at the end of this year, according to Reuters.
>PS: Bodman said, "I believe that, the best I can tell, this industry is pretty close to being able to stand on its own"
>PPS: In addition to the import tariff, U.S. ethanol blenders get a separate 51-cent-per-gallon tax credit through 2010 under current law. Chucky, my boy, please get your hand out of my tax-paying pocket. Time to let this industry stand on its own.

“Now we have this whole new question mark about leafy produce and the whole ecological question out there as we grow our leafy greens in the same area where more and more intensively we are producing milk. Wisconsin used to be the biggest dairy state, and California was where we grew produce. Now California is both. And there's also wine production in California, so you have vineyards and cattle and lettuce patches competing for the same land and water. Agriculture is really sort of bumping into each other."
(Source: USA Today. February 1, 2008)
Dr. Robert Tauxe, deputy director of the division of food-borne bacterial and mycotic diseases at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, trying to explain the increase in food borne illnesses in 2007.
>PS: It’s a fact of life in raising “free range” animals: they poop on the ground, rain falls, E. coli washes over the landscape. &*it happens.

“For the last 3,000 years or so, we asked crop farmers to produce food for people and feed for our livestock. Now suddenly we're asked to produce food for people, feed for our livestock, and fuel for our automobiles. My take on things is this is a watershed once-in-three millennia change that will have implications for all sorts of things.”
(Source: The Prairie Star. February 2, 2008)
Ron Plain, University of Missouri Extension hog economist, talking about ethanol-driven $5 corn changing forever the way we see agriculture.
>PS: Will the cost of an acre of good Iowa farmland start to rival the price of real estate in Manhattan (the Big Apple, that is)?

Talking about...Immigration reform, Ethanol, Horse slaughter, Food safety

2008-01-14T20:58:00.001-06:00

“From a legislative point, both on the state and national level, we have to put forth practical and pragmatic approaches in dealing with this issue (immigration). To do nothing, especially in the agricultural area, that needs a lot of seasonal workers, is going to create a great deal of harm to this industry. In some cases, because of the shortage of seasonal workers for perishable fruits and vegetable crops, U.S. growers are now buying land in Mexico to raise crops once grown in the U.S. but now imported from aboard. If you clamp down, saying this way or no way and more and more of our food is being produced in a foreign country, I don't think that is what Americans want, either.”
(Source: The Grand Island Independent, January 8, 2008)
Rob Robertson, Nebraska Farm Bureau, worrying about the effects of the proposed immigration bill on that state’s agriculture and food businesses.
>PS: Cheap labor=cheap food. Can’t have one without the other.

"If it wasn't for government subsidies, that (ethanol) industry wouldn't work. It's been strongly driven by a political agenda."
(Source: The London [ON] Free Press, January 11, 2008)
Ron Bennett, Ontario feedlot operator, says he's losing at least $300 on each steer sold, with much of the pain coming from near-record corn prices.
>PS: Grass is looking ‘greener’ all the time.

POINT:
“It’s a step closer to the long-term goal of banning slaughter in North America.”(Source: New York Times, January 11, 2008)
Wayne Pacelle, chief executive of the Humane Society of the United States, expressing delight at the 'death' of the horse slaughter industry in the U.S.
>PS: And highlighting his real long-term agenda.
COUNTERPOINT:
“My worst nightmare has happened. This is an example of well-intentioned but very bad unintended consequences.”
(Source: New York Times, January 11, 2008)
Dr. Temple Grandin, professor of animal science at Colorado State University. responding to the same issue in the same story.
> PS: Temple’s concern was based on reports that workers in some Mexican plants disable horses by stabbing them with knives to sever their spinal cords.

“Now we have this whole new question mark about leafy produce and the whole ecological question out there as we grow our leafy greens in the same area where more and more intensively we are producing milk. Wisconsin used to be the biggest dairy state, and California was where we grew produce. Now California is both. And there's also wine production in California, so you have vineyards and cattle and lettuce patches competing for the same land and water. Agriculture is really sort of bumping into each other."
(Source: U.S> News & World Report, January 14, 2008)
Dr. Robert Tauxe, deputy director of the division of foodborne bacterial and mycotic diseases at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pointing to the problem of over-crowded agriculture and the downturn in food safety.
>PS: And then there is the problem caused by vegans eating a ‘healthier’ raw foods diet consisting of veggies grown on the ground – in the dirt. We cook foods for a reason, folks.

“Inflation in the energy field is really doing more to push food prices higher”
(Source: Mason City, IA Globe Gazette, January 13, 2008)
Ron Litterer, Greene area farmer and National Corn Growers Association president isn’t “buying” the corn is driving inflation talk.
>PS: Ron, can we talk about the price of corn doubling to help feed an ethanol industry encouraged by a 51 cent/gallon government production subsidy? Ethanol is an energy source, Ron.

Talking about...Beef, Biofuels, NAIS, International Agriculture

2008-01-07T20:13:00.001-06:00

“We know consumers aren't buying beef for the protein. They buy beef for the tender, juicy flavor compared to competing proteins.”
(Source: Farm and Ranch Guide, January 5, 2008)
Rob Maddock, NDSU professor of meat science, speaking at the North Dakota Stockmen's Association Feeder Council's Beyond the Bunk III, called beef a costly protein; as much as $12.27/pound more than soy protein.
>PS: Munching a handful of soybeans vs dining on a nice filet? Now there’s a no-brainer.

"We think a balance could be met. There are lots of opportunities for agriculture to participate [in the biofuels business] outside of corn alone. When Congress is stuck on just one trick pony, it hurts all of us."
(Source: Biofuels Journal, January 3, 2008)
Jesse Sevcik, vice president, legislative affairs, American Meat Institute, talking about the new energy law which expands the Renewable Fuel Standard to 9 billion gallons of ethanol in 2008, requiring about three billion bushels of corn.
>PS: Jesse, you may be working for a special interest group but you’re opinion is refreshingly non-partisan.

"I have voted to stop the mandatory National Animal Identification System because one of the effects of NAIS could eliminate the family farm and replace family farms with huge corporate farms.”
(Source: Suburban Journal, January 6, 2008)
Rep. Belinda Harris, D-Hillsboro, MO., House Appropriations Committee for Agriculture, talking about her opposition NAIS because she believes it will be an unbearable financial burden for small farms.
>PS: “Could?” Belinda, if you want to fight NAIS and its benefits, you’ll just have to be more committal than that.

Mitt Romney “would develop large-scale renewable energy — ethanol, biodiesel, solar, wind — and increase domestic fuel production, including drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and offshore. Would promote research in energy storage, efficiency, other sources of clean energy.”
John Edwards “more investment in solar, wind and biomass technology; and "clean coal" and carbon storage. Opposes nuclear power and coal-to-liquid investment. Supports raising fuel economy standard to 40 miles per gallon by 2016, helping automakers retool factories, increasing ethanol production, and encouraging transit-oriented development and use of public transportation.”
John McCain “prefers "profit-motive, free-enterprise-system-driven green technologies. Supports use of cleaner coal technology if it reduces greenhouse gas emissions and includes carbon capture and storage. Backs higher vehicle fuel efficiency standards but sets no target. Supports alternative bio-fuels, but not subsidies for ethanol.”
(Source: Hartford Courant, January 6, 2008)
>PS: Several presidential candidates positioning themselves on the Ethanol/energy issue for Connecticut’s voters.
>PPS: Suggestion – find a way to harness all the excess hot air coming off these campaigns and you’ll solve the energy problem until the next election

“If China was becoming the world’s workshop and India its back office, Brazil is its farm — and potentially its center of environmental services.”
(Source: New York Times, January 6, 2008)
Michael Reid, in his new book about South America, “Forgotten Continent,” talking about the future direction of world agriculture.
>PS: Those crazy Brazilians are already busy cornering the world market on beef.

Talking about...Feed, Checkoff funds, Ethanol

2007-12-31T12:06:00.000-06:00

"It is possible that some pet food manufacturers who have heard of the depletion of feed sources in Utah because of drought and fire may offer their scrap material to Utah ranchers. Both buyers and sellers must know that any pet food containing cattle or other ruminant material cannot be fed to other cattle."
(Source: Billings Gazette, December 30, 2007)
Earl Rogers, Utah State Veterinarian, warning cattlemen about the dangers of taking shortcuts in a feed-starved section of the country.
>PS: taking shortcuts almost always leads you down the wrong path.

"To go out there and say that you want to double the checkoff with a 100 percent increase and it's gonna happen all at once, I'm not sure what producers' reactions would be. I personally would have reservations."
(Source: Agri News, December 29, 2007)
Tom Pyfferoen, president of Minnesota State Cattlemen's Association, suggesting a 100% increase in the checkoff might be a hard sell.
>PS: Yeah, it’s going to take more money to get the job done, but catching up with 20 years of financial neglect all in one day?

"At the start of 2006, the ethanol industry had a production capacity of 4.3 billion gallons, and by the end of 2008, that could be up to 13.4 billion. We had excess world (crop) production capacity that we could draw on at first. That is gone, and ethanol and other biofuels are growing by leaps and bounds."
(Source: USAToday, December 31, 2007)
Chris Hurt, Purdue University agricultural economist, saying that with production ramping up so quickly, the ethanol industry might not be able to acquire enough corn from the 2008 crop to run at full capacity.
>PS: He’s talking about Renewable Fuels Association Bob Dineen’s hubris-laden claim that "We're already producing 7 billion gallons today, with another 7 billion (in capacity) that is under construction and will be online shortly. There's little question we'll be able to meet the needs."
>PPS: Uhhhh, Bob, at what cost? It will undeniably become a food vs fuel problem at that stage of the game.

"This year's dead zone (the lifeless area in the Gulf of Mexico caused by pollutants ‘running off’ farm lands upstream of the Mississippi river) is the third highest on record, and I think we're already seeing an impact from increased ethanol use."
(Source: Houston Chronicle, December 31, 2007)
Donald Scavia, a University of Michigan professor who studies farm practices and hypoxia, or low-oxygen water.
>PS: It’s the law of unintended consequences. You neve know what's going to happen 'down stream.'

"Livestock producers in all segments of the industry are now entering into a new era, where they will see increased volatility and much higher prices for livestock feed."
(Source: Rapid City Journal, December 30, 2007)
Scott Jones, president of the South Dakota Cattlemen's Association, saying members of SDCA are expressing concern about the energy bill's requirement for more corn-based ethanol.
>PS: Get used to a whole new set of rules in farming. Risks will rise, so will rewards. Agriculture was never a game for the faint-of-heart.

Talking about...Ethanol, FDA, USDA

2007-12-27T19:44:00.000-06:00

“A bushel of corn sold for $2 in 2002; today one goes for $4. More than 93 million acres were under corn last summer, the most in more than 60 years.
“That translates into fewer acres for vegetables, alfalfa, soybeans, etc. – and higher prices all around for consumers. Feed for cattle is costing more, which means that dairy products and beef cost more.
“The price of groceries has been rising faster than inflation, some staples very much faster. Dairy products are up 14 percent over the past years; eggs are up more than 25 percent. The price of fuel is another culprit here, but it can’t be cleanly separated from the ethanol mandate: It takes a lot of natural gas and petroleum to grow corn.”
(Source: The Tacoma News Tribune.com, December 19, 2007)
Unsigned editorial questioning the wisdom of ‘another vast expansion of the corn ethanol mandate: 15 billion gallons by 2015’ included in the new energy bill.
>PS: One sure way to foul up the free market – get the government involved.
>PPS: If an increase in ethanol is critical, why are we still slapping a 54 cent per gallon tariff on Brazilian production?

“Corn growers have worked for over two decades to help get us to this point, and now we are seeing the benefits of expanded ethanol production not only in the value of our commodity, but on the main streets of rural communities, in the bottom line of agribusinesses and in our states’ economies, new jobs and tax revenue and in our energy independence.”
(Source: Southwest Nebraska News, December 19, 2007)
Jon Holzfaster, chairman of the Nebraska Corn Board, pointedly disagreeing with the folks in Tacoma.
>PS: Nebraska is home to 21 ethanol plants using nearly 500 million bushels of corn to produce approximately 1.4 billion gallons of ethanol and 4 million tons of distillers grains. William Goldman said it first when he wrote the screenplay for All the President’s Men. “Follow the money.”

"We're relying totally on the plant. We're doing very little testing ourselves. We're saying, 'You tell us you have a problem. And if we don't hear from you, we assume you don't have a problem.'"
(Source: Washington Post, December 21, 2007)
Stan Painter, USDA inspector and representative of the inspectors' union, pointing to a fundamental problem in the inspection system.
>PS: Self reporting vs self interest? Guess which one wins most often?

“In the budget climate we're in, any increase is better than nothing. But we're disappointed and surprised in light of soaring imports and declining consumer confidence."
(Source: USA Today, December 18, 2007)
Scott Faber of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, expressing disappointment in the miniscule increase in funding for the FDA.
>PS: A coalition of special interest groups pushed for big food-safety increases in the past year because of a string of high-profile food recalls. The Coalition for a Stronger FDA, a group that includes three former secretaries of Health and Human Services, wanted a 15% increase for the FDA for each of the next five years.
>PPS:It isn’t going to happen.

Talking about. . .Corn, COOL, SRM's

2007-07-14T10:45:00.000-05:00

"They have high meat prices due to disease issues in their swine and poultry sectors. They want to keep corn prices moderate and supplies available for the livestock industry
(Source: Biofuels Journal, July 9, 2007)
Rick Tolman, CEO, National Corn Growers Association, talking about a possible link between the rising price of corn and higher prices for food…in China, at least.
>PS: Way back in January, Tolman told me “The farm level price of corn has very little impact on food prices. There has been virtually no correlation between price changes in corn and changes in the price of food at the retail level. The current value of corn in a $2.79 box of corn flakes is less than 7 cents. The cost of packaging, marketing, wages, energy, etc. have a much bigger impact on the price of food than do changes in the price of corn.”

"We do still have the best food inspections on those foods that are produced here. Imports have two problems. First is we don't know and can't verify the food safety inspections at foreign facilities, and second is that the inspections here on imported products are very limited."

(Source: USA TODAY, July 10, 2007)
Phil Lempert, Supermarket Industry observer, talking with a reporter during a store tour designed to find out how easy (or difficult) it is to determine country of origin on our food supply.
>PS: Want to know what the public thinks? Click on Lempert’s name to go to the full article and check the reader comments at the bottom or read Dr. Rangan’s comment below.

“I was definitely shocked at how high these numbers were (92% wanted country of origin labeling). It’s much like a nutrition label or an ingredient label in that it needs to be part of the general information coming in about imported foods.”
(Source: MSNBC/Reuters, July 11, 2007)
Dr. Urvashi Rangan, a senior scientist and policy analyst at Consumers Union, the nonprofit organization that publishes Consumer Reports magazine, expressing amazement at the overwhelming results of their survey.
>PS: Reader comments on MSNBC about the story were even more overwhelming. 98% insisted on a ‘COOL’ like program.
>PPS: Can I say it? The party’s over. The fat lady has sung. It’s a walk off home run for the visiting team. Even the most assiduously bought-and-paid-for politico has to see the handwriting on the wall. Vote this one in or get voted out.

“If they take it down there and have it slaughtered and want to bring it back cut and wrapped (as meat), no problem, just as long as it comes back without the SRM."
(Source: Canada.com, July 11, 2007)
Freeman Libby, national director of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's feed ban task force, giving the OK for Canadian cattlemen to dodge stricter Canadian rules to control Mad Cow Disease by shipping cattle to the U.S.
>PS: Something about SRM’s can still be used in feed south of the border? See quote below.

"There is no estimated time frame on when a final rule (on banning SRM’s from feed) will be published. The agency is working to develop and issue a final rule as expeditiously as possible."
(Source: CIDRAP- Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, July 13, 2007)
Michael Herndon, FDA spokesman, talking with CIDRAP News about the timing for an SRM ruling from the feds.
>PS: Expeditious? The FDA proposal dates back to October, 2005 and the comment period has been open for a year.
>PPS: He said he couldn't give any explanation for the delay. I can: politics, as usual.

People talk...

2007-07-07T13:24:00.000-05:00

"Neither the Chinese or American government is doing their job."
(Source: Washington Post, July 2, 2007)
Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) calling for a federal import czar, blaming safety and quality problems with Chinese imports on lax inspection and a “bureaucratic morass” perpetrated by both governments.
>PS: Both governments have taken pot shots at each other lately in a pot vs kettle argument.

“Realistically, it’s possible that we will need to extend the current farm bill a year or two. There are a lot of pieces to this thing that we are trying to put together. It’s already $8 billion over budget, and they haven’t done conservation or commodities yet. There’s some really weird stuff going on.”
(Source: The Rapid City Journal, July 2, 2007)
Senator John Thune (R-SD) calling the Senate version of the farm bill a budget buster and likely to grow larger when key provisions are added.
>PS: Do we really expect a congress overdosed on Lunesta to actually wake up and do something BEFORE the next presidential election? Oh, puh-leeze! as my eye-ball rolling daughter used to say in her teen years.
>PPS: And let’s not forget the usual last minute pork barrel polka…always a source of financial amusement for our elected officials.

“This right here is going to be a zero. This is what we call a weed.”
(Source: New York Times, July 4, 2007)
Dennis Bragg, the biggest farmer in Madison County, Alabama, center point of the Southeast’s drought of the century, holding up a stunted corn stalk and talking about his lost crop.
>PS: Alabama is ground ‘zero’ for proof of global warming. At least 75% of that state’s 2007 farm crops are already lost.

“With imports of agricultural products rising sharply and sporadic scares about their safety, Americans surely have a right to know what country their food has come from. Unfortunately, they have little chance of finding out, due to the intransigence of meat importers and grocery retailers.”
(Source: New York Times, July 4, 2007)
Unsigned editorial urging immediate implementation of country of origin labeling (COOL).
>PS: Is this just more foolish ramblings by a naïve “Eastern” press or are they really on to something? See Tim Hammonds’ comment below.

"You don't see drops in confidence that large that quickly that often. It got our attention."

(Source: Washington Times, July 5, 2007)
Tim Hammonds, chief executive officer of Food Marketing Institute, an association of supermarket chains, worrying about the public’s rapidly diminishing confidence in the safety of our food supply.
>PS: A study by his group found consumer confidence dropped from 82% last year at this time to just 66% today.
>PPS: Peanut butter, spinach, pet food, ground beef. Melamine, salmonella. E.coli, listeria! It’s nervous times for carnivores, omnivores and vegetarians.

Talking with Sam Rovit, Swift & Co.

2007-06-30T12:16:00.000-05:00

When Sam Rovit agreed to take the top job at Swift & Co two years ago, he wasn’t banking on the business becoming front line news. Sure, lots of friendly press on the brand would have been nice. But the news was about pre-Christmas ICE raids that emptied the plants of every worker who was even remotely of Latin heritage, killed production for weeks and drilled a deep, cash hemorrhaging hole in the corporate P & L.

One would also guess that it was a well-aimed shot through the corporate heart of the Swift organization, fired by a sharpshooting Michael Chertoff. Swift had worked long and hard with the feds in an effort to solve the lingering problems created by illegal immigrants. For their efforts, they were expecting a major “attaboy” from the feds, not Chertoff’s stern lecture that sat cross-wise to what Swift had been told by an ICE Investigations Director a few weeks before the raid.

• What Michael Chertoff said, post ICE raid: "Over 400 workers were terminated, quit or did not show up. ICE wasn't notified and we don't know where those 400 workers are. . . . We asked the company not to do that. We asked the company not to reveal that we were going to be coming in in advance because common sense tells you, if you do that, everybody who is illegal is going to flee."

• What ICE Investigations Director Marcy Forman's Oct. 26 letter said: "I feel compelled to write you to clarify a point. . . . Specifically, at no time has anyone from ICE told any Swift official that they cannot take action against employees who Swift determines, on its own, are unauthorized to work in the United States."

Hey, you didn’t expect the right hand to know anything about the left hand, did you? These are the same people who brought you the continuing afternoon soap opera that’s known as Hurricane Katrina.

Swift’s financial losses, already burdened by the closure of Asian markets, accelerated after ICE’s raid and spurred rumors of takeovers, buy outs, and even selling the company piece-by-piece. The wolf was definitely at the door, huffing and puffing and threatening to blow the entire corporate house down. Survival meant a merger or being acquired. It was unavoidable.

Fortunately, mergers and acquisitions are a part of business that Rovit knows well. Shortly before joining Swift, he co-authored a book called “Mastering the Merger.” With partner David Harding, he poked a hole in the generally accepted idea that M & A’s were good for business. Far from creating wealth for shareholders, they failed 70% of the time. More often that not, such practices destroyed value and signaled the end of the road for the CEO.

But Rovit wrote the book on the pitfalls of poorly planned M & A’s…literally.

Swift & Co. was sweet talked by many and Rovit refused to expand on the juicy details. It was a dark horse, JBS-Friboi, Latin America's biggest beef producer, that would gallop out of Brazil and buy the debt-laden meat packer. For a reported $225 million and an assumption of $1.16 billion in debt, the cowboys from Brazil expanded their reach into the lucrative but until now forbidden U.S. market and gained a potential foothold in Asian markets. It will create the world's largest beef producer in terms of animals slaughtered, easily surpassing Tyson and Cargill.

Just how big will the new organization be? In 2006, JBS-Friboi and Swift slaughtered 9.6 million head of cattle and had about $11.5 billion in total sales. The combined businesses have the plant capacity to slaughter 47,100 cattle a day, topping Tyson's capacity of 37,100 and Cargill's 36,000.

"What we see as important are the distribution channels Swift has, both in Japan and Korea and also in the United States," JBS-Friboi's CEO, J. Mendonca Batista, said. He’s betting on the future, of course, since those Japanese and Korean channels aren’t exactly open for deep draft shipping.

Rich Nelson, an analyst with Allendale, Inc., expanded the scope of those distribution channels, telling MEAT&POULTRY’s Steve Bjerklie, "JBS becomes a very serious player in the global meat industry. With Swift’s operations in Australia, JBS becomes the No. 1 meat company in Australia, the No. 1 meat company in Brazil, and the No. 3 meat company in the U.S."

Nelson pointed out that the acquisition also bodes well for Mercosur, the trading partnership shared by Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Venezuela and Uruguay. It gives them almost instant access to the U.S. and our NAFTA partnership.

On the downside, though, JBS-Friboi’s acquisition seems to ignore one of the major points in “Mastering the Merger” – determining the target's value under "business as usual" conditions. In his book, Rovit wrote that most of the purchase price should reflect the business as it is, not as it may be after you own it. Batista might be rolling some big bones, betting on the quick return of Swift’s Asian markets and access to a healthy cash flow from its North American operations.

You can bet one of Rovit’s other major points – integrate quickly in critical areas - will be at the top of the Friboi agenda. The attempt to integrate the Brazilian and American business cultures will be interesting to watch. Its success or failure might well be the real key to the success of the deal. And with Rovit's recent announcement that he will step down as soon as the merger is completed, the successful integration of the two businesses is a long way from assured.

Whatever happens, the JBS-Friboi/Swift & Co. deal is one of the watershed moments in the history of the American meat industry, more impactful in the long run than the rise of IBP and the development of boxed beef four long decades ago. It signals the beginnings of a truly international beef business.

Interviewing Sam Rovit was an interesting exercise. Like most successful CEO’s, he can play his cards close to the vest and get expansive on issues that rile his sense of fair play.

Q. The company was hurt by the loss of beef exports when Japan and Korea temporarily shut its borders to American beef, then again when ICE executed the pre-Christmas raid on your plants as part of an identity-theft investigation involving immigrants. How badly did those events hurt the business?

A: The loss of beef exports to key Asian markets such as Japan and Korea hurt the entire U.S. beef processing industry, not just Swift. While Swift’s volumes are below historical norms for both markets, our relative share has increased in the region and we look forward to building on that strong position as market access improves over time.

With respect to the December 12, 2006 ICE event, our latest financial impact estimate is $45 million to $50 million for the fiscal year ended May 27, 2007.

Q: The ICE raid created a lot of concern in the cattle business. Swift had worked with the government at trying to solve the illegal immigrant problem yet the company was singled out, nonetheless. What was behind the raid – political issues? A desire by ICE to make a high visibility statement to American business? And was it in anyway justified considering the final outcome?

A: Immigration policy is divorced from enforcement and the American employer is caught in the middle. Congress must pass immigration legislation that will fix a terribly broken system.

What seems bewildering is that an employer who follows all rules, would be treated by ICE in an adversarial as opposed to a collaborative manner when problems surface. Yet that is exactly what happened to Swift.

We are at a loss to understand how the December ICE raids could have been avoided. Swift is one of the few employers who checks all social security numbers through the government’s Basic Pilot program. Separately, every employee had to provide a government issued photo ID, and we cannot specify which of 29 forms of ID the applicant must supply, nor ask for additional forms. The law requires that we accept documents that on their face appear genuine. All employees had properly documented I-9 forms. Over the years, we’ve retained outside experts to scrutinize our hiring processes.

Simply put, a company cannot legally and practically do more than we have done to ensure a legal workforce with the current tools – and anti-discrimination guidelines – available from the government and no current or former member of management has been charged with any wrong doing.

Q: Swift was put in play over 6 months ago when several unsolicited inquiries came your way and you hired J. P. Morgan to help review the company's "strategic and financial alternatives." What made the JBS-Friboi offer the most attractive? And what are the advantages to both organizations?

A: While I won’t comment on the specifics of the other bids, I will say that this was a very competitive process.

The JBS / Swift strategic combination benefits our stakeholders – to include cattle producers and feedlot operators – in many ways:

The combination maintains a competitive U.S. and Australian meatpacking sector without further consolidation. Producers and feedlot operators will continue to sell cattle in a competitive marketplace.

Our prospective owners intend to maintain and grow the existing strong Swift business. JBS has a strong track record of growing businesses and is committed to using Swift’s valuable assets -- industry leading U.S. pork and Australian beef operations and a dramatically improved U.S. beef business -- to enhance its global presence.

Our prospective new owners are focused meat processors as compared to diversified conglomerate operators or financial managers. JBS has a 54 year family legacy in meat processing that has led to the creation of Brazil’s largest beef company. Their expertise will build upon Swift’s tradition of quality and innovation that dates back to 1855, creating stability for our communities and business partners.

The combined company has great operational and financial strength. JBS / Swift will become the world’s number one beef processor with operations on three continents and the ability to serve customers worldwide. The addition of JBS’ operations brings enhanced diversification to Swift’s existing business and creates a new company with improved profitability and balance sheet strength.

Q: There are governmental hurdles to leap before the deal is final and one of the major issues will be that of growing consolidation. Industry consultant John Nalivka in a recent Denver Post story said, "We've been consolidating for 25 years, but it was always one U.S. packer buying a U.S. packer. Now, we have another global player buying into a U.S. packer. I think the fringe cattlemen's groups will jump into this. There will definitely be comments made about a foreign company owning an American cattle company." How will you deal with that problem and are there other issues that might be a factor in the finalization of the deal?

A: Considering the other possible deal outcomes, the JBS / Swift transaction is a great deal for cattle producers and feedlot operators – period.

Q: There are two parts of the Swift business – beef and pork. Will they both remain in the new organization or, as some analysts have suggested, will pork be divested?

A: At this time we have no reason to believe that Swift would lose any of its organizational identity – to include our outstanding pork processing business.

Q: The Swift/JBS-Friboi beef business will be larger by a long shot – approximately 25-30% larger in slaughter capacity than current leader Tyson. What world markets do you expect will take that kind of volume and how will you develop those markets?

A: The market is already taking that volume. JBS is over 60% export oriented, AMH is about 80% export, and Swift N. America is poised to go after Asian markets once they are fully open. The upside we have with this merger is a tremendous cross-selling opportunity to meet the specific protein needs of customers throughout the world. Swift has sales offices in Mexico and throughout Asia, while JBS-Friboi has offices in Russia, Europe and the Middle East. We are very complementary.

People talk...E.coli, ethanol, immigration, Chic-fil-A, BSE

2007-06-30T11:32:00.000-05:00

"The USDA has been showing an unwillingness to trace it (E. coli) back to the slaughter plant of origin. All we've been doing is shoving the bad news under the carpet, hoping it would go away."
(Source: Ft. Wayne News-Sentinel, June 24, 2007)
John Munsell, forced to sell his family business, Montana Quality Foods, after an E. coli recall in 2002, talking about the loss of consumer confidence in meat production practices.
>PS: Munsell now manages the Foundation for Accountability in Regulatory Enforcement.

“They're presumed to be male, we don't do udders."
(Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 25, 2007)
Don Perry, Chick-fil-A public relations director, talking about evolution of the cow in their advertising campaign.
>PS: Illiterate bovines pushing the consumption of chickens? Hogs of America, unite! You could be next.

"We have a number of allegations that the government didn’t act in a prudent way to prevent risk to Canadian cattlemen. They never told anyone about the first B.S.E. case, for example.”
(Source: MEAT&POULTRY, June 29, 2007)
Gilles Gareau, Canadian attorney, talking to MEAT&POULTRY’s Steve Bjerklie about a court case asking if the government knew B.S.E. was in Canada 10 years before they admitted it.
>PS: The same old question asked of every government – who knew what and when did they know it? “Round up the usual suspects!” said Captain Renault.

"The American people don't have faith in their government's ability to win a war, enforce border security or even process passport requests."
(Source: Washington Post, June 29, 2007)
Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ), one of the sponsors, talking about the defeat of the new immigration bill.
>PS: It was killed on the senate floor. Unindicted co-conspirators include the ACLU, the AFL-CIO and Rush Limbaugh.
>PPS: Bush’s last best chance to gain a moral victory of any kind before he leaves office goes down in flames.

"Critics of ethanol, including those in the animal feeding and oil industries, are engaging in baseless scare tactics to convince people that ethanol production will irreversibly increase their grocery bills. While it is true increased ethanol production is creating a real market-driven price for corn, this report clearly presents the undeniable facts: energy prices, not ethanol, are responsible for much of the increase in the price of food. Further, our industry is rapidly developing next generation cellulosic ethanol technology that will allow us to meet the growing demand for renewable fuels from wood chips, switch grass and other materials in addition to corn. Ultimately, the market will adjust and all those in the food, fuel and fiber industry will be able to prosper."
(Source: Mercopress, June 29, 2007)
Bob Dinneen, Renewable Fuels Association president, denying any real linkage between the rise in food and feed costs and the fast-rising price of corn.
>PS: Bob, four questions: 1. You don’t consider ethanol an energy resource? 2. Are only corn growers allowed to prosper for now? 3. Hasn’t the price of High Fructose Corn Syrup, an unavoidable ingredient in thousands of foods, skyrocketed in the past few months? 4. Are food processors all doing the noble thing and swallowing that added cost? Enquiring minds want to know, Bob.
PS: Hey, Spinmeister Bob, don’t worry about a thing. You’re serving your constituents well.

People talk...

2007-06-23T09:47:00.000-05:00

“We are already paying thrice for Washington’s love affair with corn-based fuel, in the form of higher taxes, higher gasoline prices and higher food prices. Yet, because of the prodigious amounts of energy and fertilizer used in its cultivation, corn-based ethanol provides little or no reduction in CO2 over the gasoline it displaces.”
(Source: Wall Street Journal, June 20, 2007)
Holman W.Jenkins, Jr. of Political Diary, the Wall Street Journal’s online opinion page, editorializing about the cost-benefit relationship between gasoline and ethanol.
>PS: Before we get stampeded by yet another fad du jour, can we do the math?

“In Alabama, we have had experience turning corn into alcohol for years.”
(Source: Newsweek, June 25, 2007)

Bob Riley, Alabama governor, talking about the state’s legendary history of making moonshine as he filled up his car with ethanol-based fuel.
>PS: Alabama’s 2,000+ vehicles will start using alternative fuel to “save money and help the environment.”
>PPS: According to the Wall Street Journal, Alabama will achieve none of those noble goals.

"In a marginal year, we should have grass up to your knee, and in a good year, up to your thigh, almost up to your hip. We don't even have it over the edge of your boot."

(Source: California Farm Bureau Federation News, June 20, 2007)
John Harvey, Ventura County cattle rancher, explaining why a lack of forage has forced him to get rid of two-thirds of his herd.
>PS: According to the National Agricultural Statistics Services, 82% of California's rangeland is in poor or very poor condition. Thirteen counties have been declared disaster areas by the USDA, making ranchers in those areas eligible for low cost loans.

"We sent inspectors to China. We had three people there for a couple of weeks.”
(Source: Washington Post, June 20, 2007)
David Acheson, FDA's assistant commissioner for food protection, explaining the procedures FDA used to check into the problem of possible contamination for food imported from China.
>PS: “Three people. . .for a couple of weeks?” To check up on food processors in a country that sends over $6 billion worth of food to the U.S.? I’m doing the math and it doesn’t compute.
>PPS: The FDA inspected less than 1% of incoming food in 2006, down from an anemic1.5% in 1997 and it will probably drop to 0.7% this year. Chow down on that shrimp cocktail, guys, Acheson is from the government and he’s here to help you!
>PPPS: To be fair, the inspection problems have skyrocketed in the past decade but the dollars and personnel to keep up haven’t been approved by a short-sighted congress. The old hometown pork barrel will always come first.

"These two senators (Saxby and Isakson) have rolled up their sleeves and been willing to, against a lot of pressure, to get out there and participate in the development of this bill over many months. The purpose of this campaign at this time is to encourage them to stay the course, continue to be engaged in this important process."
(Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 21, 2007)

Wayne Lord, v.p. of Pilgrim's Pride, one of Georgia's largest poultry companies and spokesman for Georgia Employers for Immigration Reform, talking about the encouragement the ad hoc group is offering to make sure the two men “stay the course” and continue to support a wildly unpopular bill among Georgia voters.
Not cattle-related news, but…

Cinnamon helps keep blood sugar level down, study finds
Swedish researchers report cinnamon can help keep post-meal blood sugar levels down, a finding with potential implications for diabetes treatment. About one teaspoon of cinnamon added to a bowl of rice pudding lowered the blood sugar increase in a group of healthy volunteers, the study found.
(Source: Reuters Health, June 20, 2007)
Dr. Joanna Hlebowicz said she and her colleagues based their findings on 14 healthy volunteers who ate the cinnamon-laced rice pudding.
>PS: Cinnabons and lattes for everyone!

"USDA's resistance to restoring reasonable BSE import restrictions, implementing country-of-origin labeling (COOL), allowing voluntary BSE testing and strengthening the U.S. feed ban all of which would improve our ability to restore lost export markets makes me question what the agency's actual agenda is concerning restoration of lost export markets,"

(Source: The Grand Island Independent, June 21, 2007)
Eric Nelson, R-CALF USA trade committee chairman, chastising the USDA for not doing a better job of managing our export market problems.

"Our stance on COOL is that it's a bad law that adds tremendous costs, with no tangible benefits. It was really written as an anti-import law rather than to provide information to consumers. . .It’s just going to be a train wreck.”
(Source: SmokyHollow.blogspot.com, June 21, 2007)

Jeremy Russell, communications director for the National Meat Association, pointing out one of two problems with COOL.
>PS: Russell said one of the difficulties is the law prohibits a national animal-identification system, necessary to make the labeling law workable.

"When you open up the newspaper, turn on the radio or watch TV, you see China with this problem (exporting contaminated food and food ingredients) ... but is there a country in the world that doesn't have such problem at one point?"
(Source: China Daily, June 22, 2007)
Roland Vaxelaire, director for quality and risk management at Carrefour.
>PS: At one point, maybe. But, et puis zut, at dozens of unregulated points? Chinese officials have some serious work to do.

"It is inappropriate to single out China as we all have instances related to food safety issues in our backyards."
(Source: China Daily, June 22, 2007)
Jeffrey Ettinger, C.E.O., Hormel Foods Corp.
>PS: See previous PS. “The other guy did it first,” didn’t work as an excuse in the first grade. It doesn’t work today on the world stage, either.

"Rapid development of the corn-based ethanol industry is already having adverse impacts on food supplies and prices."
(Source: ReasonOnline.com, June 22.2007)
Letter to Harry Reid (D-NV), Senate Majority Leader, from some leading food companies.
PS: Let’s talk about two Mexican crises driven by the high price of corn - a tortilla shortage, which has led to a rapid price increase in this staple food, and a future tequila shortfall because farmers are ripping up their agave fields to plant suddenly much more profitably corn. Are we really ready to trade Margaritas for moonshine?