Lack of traceability in U.S. beef industry is a disgrace
Prime Cuts with Steve Kay
By Steve Kay
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association supports the USDA's new rule for animal disease traceability, but some groups and individuals continue to fight the measures.
The U.S. beef industry has struggled for much of the 36 years I have covered it to introduce a meaningful national animal traceability system. Its inability to do so is not only a disgrace but a real danger as a disease outbreak could bring the industry to its knees financially.
Various efforts to introduce a system began in earnest in the late 1980s but efforts did not really pick up until before the U.S. confirmed its first case of BSE on December 23, 2001. I was at the time a member of a public relations/media task force, one of five task forces charged with developing what was called a national animal identification system. All on my task force agreed that to be the most effective at tracing animals in the event of a disease outbreak, such a system would have to be mandatory.
We also thought that in the aftermath of the BSE case, USDA and the industry would quickly introduce such a system, in part to allow U.S. beef back into its all-important markets in Asia. How wrong we were. Agriculture secretary Ann Veneman and industry dragged their feet for a host of reasons, none of them defensible.
Fast-forward to today and the industry's largest trade group, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA), is making a new plea for action. NCBA urges all in the U.S. cattle industry to support USDA's new rule for animal disease traceability, wrote NCBA president Mark Eisele in a recent op-ed article. The future of the industry hinges on its ability to swiftly respond to disease outbreaks. Yet some groups and individuals continue to fight the tools that could protect producers' livelihoods, he wrote.
The most recent rule to come under fire is USDA's animal disease traceability regulation, wrote Eisele. Imagine the chaos of a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, with markets shuttered and producers frantically searching for nearly illegible "metal brite" tags in the pouring rain. This is not a future the industry can afford. Some argue that these changes are unnecessary or burdensome. The reality is that clinging to outdated ideas, practices and technology puts the entire industry at risk, he wrote.
USDA's new rules call for the use of an electronic identification (EID) tag in breeding cattle 18 months of age and older being transported across state lines, wrote Eisele. This class of cattle has required an ID tag for more than a decade. USDA is simply changing the technology from a "metal brite" tag to an updated EID tag. Producer privacy is paramount to this effort. NCBA has long advocated for tag data to be held by private, third-party companies rather than USDA, he wrote.
Those whose only answer is "no" and those individuals and groups who would allow perfect to be the enemy of good have created a vacuum that the government is more than happy to fill, wrote Eisele. It is past time for cattle producers to create an industry-led and industry-controlled solution to disease traceability. The current system and the ability to rapidly respond to a real disease outbreak is insufficient to protect each producer and their livelihoods. Now is the time for the cattle industry to lead, not lag, he wrote.
The U.S. has not had a BSE case since May last year and it was an atypical case, so there were no trade consequences. By far the bigger disease danger now to the industry, as Eisele wrote, is if a case of foot-and-mouth is detected. The last known case was back in 1929. One can only hope that another case is not detected.
***> Lack of traceability in U.S. beef industry is a disgrace
I could not agree more, and in my opinion, it's a blatant disregard for consumer safety, human and animal health.
Prime Cuts with Steve Kay
By Steve Kay
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association supports the USDA's new rule for animal disease traceability, but some groups and individuals continue to fight the measures.
The U.S. beef industry has struggled for much of the 36 years I have covered it to introduce a meaningful national animal traceability system. Its inability to do so is not only a disgrace but a real danger as a disease outbreak could bring the industry to its knees financially.
Various efforts to introduce a system began in earnest in the late 1980s but efforts did not really pick up until before the U.S. confirmed its first case of BSE on December 23, 2001. I was at the time a member of a public relations/media task force, one of five task forces charged with developing what was called a national animal identification system. All on my task force agreed that to be the most effective at tracing animals in the event of a disease outbreak, such a system would have to be mandatory.
We also thought that in the aftermath of the BSE case, USDA and the industry would quickly introduce such a system, in part to allow U.S. beef back into its all-important markets in Asia. How wrong we were. Agriculture secretary Ann Veneman and industry dragged their feet for a host of reasons, none of them defensible.
Fast-forward to today and the industry's largest trade group, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA), is making a new plea for action. NCBA urges all in the U.S. cattle industry to support USDA's new rule for animal disease traceability, wrote NCBA president Mark Eisele in a recent op-ed article. The future of the industry hinges on its ability to swiftly respond to disease outbreaks. Yet some groups and individuals continue to fight the tools that could protect producers' livelihoods, he wrote.
The most recent rule to come under fire is USDA's animal disease traceability regulation, wrote Eisele. Imagine the chaos of a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, with markets shuttered and producers frantically searching for nearly illegible "metal brite" tags in the pouring rain. This is not a future the industry can afford. Some argue that these changes are unnecessary or burdensome. The reality is that clinging to outdated ideas, practices and technology puts the entire industry at risk, he wrote.
USDA's new rules call for the use of an electronic identification (EID) tag in breeding cattle 18 months of age and older being transported across state lines, wrote Eisele. This class of cattle has required an ID tag for more than a decade. USDA is simply changing the technology from a "metal brite" tag to an updated EID tag. Producer privacy is paramount to this effort. NCBA has long advocated for tag data to be held by private, third-party companies rather than USDA, he wrote.
Those whose only answer is "no" and those individuals and groups who would allow perfect to be the enemy of good have created a vacuum that the government is more than happy to fill, wrote Eisele. It is past time for cattle producers to create an industry-led and industry-controlled solution to disease traceability. The current system and the ability to rapidly respond to a real disease outbreak is insufficient to protect each producer and their livelihoods. Now is the time for the cattle industry to lead, not lag, he wrote.
The U.S. has not had a BSE case since May last year and it was an atypical case, so there were no trade consequences. By far the bigger disease danger now to the industry, as Eisele wrote, is if a case of foot-and-mouth is detected. The last known case was back in 1929. One can only hope that another case is not detected.
***> Lack of traceability in U.S. beef industry is a disgrace
I could not agree more, and in my opinion, it's a blatant disregard for consumer safety, human and animal health.
I suppose the size of the circle will depend on how large the map is. Of there is the concern as to whether or not there is any one within the USDA that knows how to draw a circle.
Silver - many strains
