SAN ANTONIO, Texas Ñ Beef lovers continue to chew through vast supplies of ground meat, steaks and roasts with little regard for food safety scares linked to BSE, E. coli and heart health, says meat scientist Gary Smith of Colorado State University. Smith told a special session of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association convention in […] Read more
Barbara Duckworth
Stories by Barbara Duckworth
Studies close on E. coli
SAN ANTONIO, Texas Ñ The potentially fatal E. coli bacteria is coming under attack. Formally known as E. coli O157:H7, this strain of bacteria is a major food safety threat. U.S. researchers have set a target to reduce E. coli human infections to one in 100,000 by 2010 and Guy Loneracan of Texas A & […] Read more
U.S. tour group sends concerns to ag secretary
SAN ANTONIO, Texas Ñ Rumours and worries U.S. producers have about the Canadian beef industry were debunked and debated in a report delivered to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association convention in San Antonio Feb. 2-5. The economic impact of renewed cattle trade with Canada is a major thorn in the side of many American producers, […] Read more
Ban on American feeders haunts Canadian producers
SAN ANTONIO, Texas Ñ If not for BSE appearing in Canada in 2003 and throwing the country’s beef industry into disarray, American feeder cattle would have been allowed to enter Alberta feedlots with little fanfare. “Our problem was under our BSE prohibition, there were no importations,” said Brian Jamieson of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. […] Read more
U.S. livestock ID target drags on
SAN ANTONIO, Texas Ñ The U.S. Department of Agriculture is pressuring livestock groups to move on a national identification program, but there is no deadline. “We have a mutual concern that we are not working fast enough,” said Allen Bright, chair of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s animal identification committee. The industry continues to haggle […] Read more
U.S. relies on world to meet beef demand
SAN ANTONIO, Texas Ñ In a year when BSE confined U.S. beef to its own borders, it still imported record amounts of meat. The United States imported 3.65 billion pounds of beef in 2004 when normal imports are closer to 3.1 billion lb. The imports filled a gap because American production did not meet its […] Read more
Export ban hurts U.S. beef, benefits pork
SAN ANTONIO, Texas Ñ Losing its best beef customers due to BSE is costing U.S. producers. In the last 12 months, American beef exports dropped to 450 million pounds from about 2.5 billion lb. per year, resulting in a $13-$15 US per hundredweight reduction on the value of a carcass. In the past, short ribs, […] Read more
Canadian cattle won’t flood U.S. market: analyst
SAN ANTONIO, Texas Ñ Allowing Canadian cattle back into the United States this March is not expected to disrupt beef prices or supplies. “The psychological effect may be worse than the actual opening,” said Randy Blach, executive vice-president of the market analysis firm Cattlefax. If Canada exported 700,000 fat cattle over a 12 month period, […] Read more
Yaks’ value based on wool, meat, milk production
DENVER, Colorado Ñ There are many things Jim Watson likes about Tibetan yaks. They are hardy, produce flavourful meat and luxurious fibre and in spite of a formidable set of handlebar horns, are gentle and quiet. But best of all, “they are smarter than cattle,” said the Montana breeder who also raises bison. Watson inherited […] Read more
U.S. producers compromise on BSE stance
SAN ANTONIO, Texas Ñ Montana rancher Bill Donald came to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association annual meeting ready for a fight over renewing trade with Canada. Instead, the president of the Montana Stockgrowers Association presented a compromise he hopes cattle producers in his state can live with once the United States resumes trade in cattle […] Read more
