Oldtimer
Well-known member
NW cattlemen oppose USDA border beef rule
Issue likely focal point of meetings
Tam Moore
Freelance Writer
EAGLE POINT, Ore. - Reopening the Canadian border to most live cattle shipments is drawing opposition from mainstream cattlemen in addition to R-CALF.
Sharon Livingston, president of the Oregon Cattlemen's Association, said both her organization and the neighboring Washington Cattlemen's Association "are not in agreement" with the U.S. Department of Agriculture rule published Jan. 9. She also pointed out the rule is counter to current National Cattlemen's Beef Association policy.
Speaking at the annual meeting of the Jackson County Stockmen's Association, Livingston said the stumbling point is restoration of beef export markets. They were closed first to Canadian beef in May 2003 and then to U.S. beef in December of that year when bovine spongiform encephalopathy - commonly known as mad cow disease - was confirmed on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border.
Both state cattle associations and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association a couple of years ago passed policy opposing resumption of live cattle shipments from Canada until the U.S. regained its key Japanese export market. Oregon policy also made reference to South Korea.
"Korea is really messing with our minds," Livingston said of the strict import inspections that rejected all three initial U.S. beef shipments delivered in late 2006. The Japanese export market had resumed a few months earlier.
The Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America fought the first USDA rule, opening the border to cattle under 31 months of age. The USDA won an appellate court decision, with feeder and slaughter cattle shipments starting in July 2005. That lawsuit is still in court as R-CALF holds its annual convention this week in Denver.
Livingston was on the telephone with WCA officials this week trying to work out a position on both the USDA proposed rule and NCBA policy. The mainline cattle organization is sure to tackle the older Canadian cattle question at its Nashville, Tenn., convention in early February.
The USDA is talking comment on the older-cattle rule through March 12. A full copy of the regulation and the USDA risk assessment are on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov.
Issue likely focal point of meetings
Tam Moore
Freelance Writer
EAGLE POINT, Ore. - Reopening the Canadian border to most live cattle shipments is drawing opposition from mainstream cattlemen in addition to R-CALF.
Sharon Livingston, president of the Oregon Cattlemen's Association, said both her organization and the neighboring Washington Cattlemen's Association "are not in agreement" with the U.S. Department of Agriculture rule published Jan. 9. She also pointed out the rule is counter to current National Cattlemen's Beef Association policy.
Speaking at the annual meeting of the Jackson County Stockmen's Association, Livingston said the stumbling point is restoration of beef export markets. They were closed first to Canadian beef in May 2003 and then to U.S. beef in December of that year when bovine spongiform encephalopathy - commonly known as mad cow disease - was confirmed on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border.
Both state cattle associations and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association a couple of years ago passed policy opposing resumption of live cattle shipments from Canada until the U.S. regained its key Japanese export market. Oregon policy also made reference to South Korea.
"Korea is really messing with our minds," Livingston said of the strict import inspections that rejected all three initial U.S. beef shipments delivered in late 2006. The Japanese export market had resumed a few months earlier.
The Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America fought the first USDA rule, opening the border to cattle under 31 months of age. The USDA won an appellate court decision, with feeder and slaughter cattle shipments starting in July 2005. That lawsuit is still in court as R-CALF holds its annual convention this week in Denver.
Livingston was on the telephone with WCA officials this week trying to work out a position on both the USDA proposed rule and NCBA policy. The mainline cattle organization is sure to tackle the older Canadian cattle question at its Nashville, Tenn., convention in early February.
The USDA is talking comment on the older-cattle rule through March 12. A full copy of the regulation and the USDA risk assessment are on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov.
