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CN_Today 1/25/2007 4:51:00 PM
US Rule Would Let In 610,000 Older Canada Cattle Yearly
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)-A recently unveiled U.S. plan to let Canada ship older cattle - usually too decrepit to produce milk anymore - to the U.S. for slaughter would result in an average of about 610,000 of them crossing the border yearly, according to an estimate made by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The U.S. has banned such "cull cattle" since Canada reported its first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, in May 2003. The U.S. eased restrictions on cattle under 30 months old, which are the bulk of Canadian exports, in July 2005. The younger cattle are believed to be far less likely to be infected with BSE.
Older cattle are believed to a higher risk for infection with the fatal brain-wasting disease that is transmissible to humans through consumption. All of the eight BSE cases found in Canada - and the three discovered in the U.S. -have involved cattle over 30 months old.
A "Key Economic Impacts" summary that USDA recently distributed to state agricultural leaders is a five-year prediction. It says the imports of Canadian cattle over 30 months old "would account for about 10% of U.S. cull cattle slaughter."
The expected boost in Canada's exports of older cattle to the U.S. would result in fewer shipments of younger fed and feeder cattle, according to government documents, one of which was submitted to the U.S. Federal Register. Fed cattle are mostly 20- to 30-month old beef cattle, while feeders are young beef cattle, such as yearlings and calves, that are placed into feedlots for finishing.
Canadian feeder cattle exports to the U.S. would decline by 100,000 to 250,000 head yearly if the USDA is successful getting its proposed rule on older Canadian cattle approved, according to government estimate.
That, the USDA says, would cause an average increase in U.S. feeder cattle prices of 0.6% per head over the first five years the rule is in place.
The impact on Canadian fed cattle exports would be smaller, the USDA said: "The decrease in steers and heifers imported (by the U.S.) for slaughter would range from about 15,000 to 85,000 head in the years 2007 to 2011." U.S. fed cattle prices would rise an average of 0.2% over five years.
There are some U.S. cow-slaughter operations that specialize in processing older beef and dairy cattle. They have suffered without imports from Canada.
The U.S. was importing about 250,000 head of older Canadian cattle each year before the U.S. banned them, according to the American Meat Institute.
The USDA's rule proposal to ease its ban on older Canadian cattle – unveiled to the public earlier this month - also paves the way for Canada to ship beef derived from the older animals, and that would initially replace some of the fed beef now being sent to the U.S.
U.S. fed beef imports from Canada are expected to "decline about 75 million pounds (carcass weight) in 2007 and 35 million in 2008, with no impact expected in later years," USDA said in the estimate.
Increased Canadian beef exports would also displace some cull cattle product now being imported from Australia, New Zealand and Uruguay, the USDA said said in a document obtained by Dow Jones Newswires.
The USDA had originally intended to move quicker with its proposal to allow in the older Canadian cattle shipments, but additional BSE cases in Canada last year caused delays. Canada reported finding its eighth case last August. The country's seventh case - found in July - sparked sharper concern by USDA officials, though, because the infected cow was just four years old and born after Canada put in place a feed ban measure aimed at stopping the spread of the disease.
The U.S. rancher organization R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America called into question the effectiveness of Canada's feed ban this month when it vocally opposed USDA's proposal to ease restrictions on Canada.
R-CALF Chief Executive Bill Bullard called the country's feed ban - a ban on feeding rendered bovine byproducts back to cattle - the "weakest link" in fighting BSE.
But USDA officials said they weighed risks carefully before deciding to allow in more Canadian cattle imports. They stressed that a series of safeguards in the U.S. protect both cattle and humans from the disease.
USDA Chief Veterinarian John Clifford said earlier this month: "Even if by small chance (Canadian) BSE-infected material were to make it past the first mitigation, it is highly unlikely that the material would eventually infect a U.S. animal."
Canada would be the only country impacted by the proposed USDA rule to allow older cattle imports, although it applies theoretically to any "minimal-risk region," according to the proposed USDA rule.
A minimal-risk region, according to USDA, is one where BSE has been discovered, but safeguards are sufficient to protect against the spread of the disease.
The USDA is now accepting public feedback on its proposed rule. USDA's Clifford, speaking to reporters in a Jan. 4 press conference in anticipation of the proposed rule, declined to predict how long the entire rule-making procedure might take.
Source: Bill Tomson Dow Jones Newswires 202-646-0088 [email protected]
US Rule Would Let In 610,000 Older Canada Cattle Yearly
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)-A recently unveiled U.S. plan to let Canada ship older cattle - usually too decrepit to produce milk anymore - to the U.S. for slaughter would result in an average of about 610,000 of them crossing the border yearly, according to an estimate made by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The U.S. has banned such "cull cattle" since Canada reported its first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, in May 2003. The U.S. eased restrictions on cattle under 30 months old, which are the bulk of Canadian exports, in July 2005. The younger cattle are believed to be far less likely to be infected with BSE.
Older cattle are believed to a higher risk for infection with the fatal brain-wasting disease that is transmissible to humans through consumption. All of the eight BSE cases found in Canada - and the three discovered in the U.S. -have involved cattle over 30 months old.
A "Key Economic Impacts" summary that USDA recently distributed to state agricultural leaders is a five-year prediction. It says the imports of Canadian cattle over 30 months old "would account for about 10% of U.S. cull cattle slaughter."
The expected boost in Canada's exports of older cattle to the U.S. would result in fewer shipments of younger fed and feeder cattle, according to government documents, one of which was submitted to the U.S. Federal Register. Fed cattle are mostly 20- to 30-month old beef cattle, while feeders are young beef cattle, such as yearlings and calves, that are placed into feedlots for finishing.
Canadian feeder cattle exports to the U.S. would decline by 100,000 to 250,000 head yearly if the USDA is successful getting its proposed rule on older Canadian cattle approved, according to government estimate.
That, the USDA says, would cause an average increase in U.S. feeder cattle prices of 0.6% per head over the first five years the rule is in place.
The impact on Canadian fed cattle exports would be smaller, the USDA said: "The decrease in steers and heifers imported (by the U.S.) for slaughter would range from about 15,000 to 85,000 head in the years 2007 to 2011." U.S. fed cattle prices would rise an average of 0.2% over five years.
There are some U.S. cow-slaughter operations that specialize in processing older beef and dairy cattle. They have suffered without imports from Canada.
The U.S. was importing about 250,000 head of older Canadian cattle each year before the U.S. banned them, according to the American Meat Institute.
The USDA's rule proposal to ease its ban on older Canadian cattle – unveiled to the public earlier this month - also paves the way for Canada to ship beef derived from the older animals, and that would initially replace some of the fed beef now being sent to the U.S.
U.S. fed beef imports from Canada are expected to "decline about 75 million pounds (carcass weight) in 2007 and 35 million in 2008, with no impact expected in later years," USDA said in the estimate.
Increased Canadian beef exports would also displace some cull cattle product now being imported from Australia, New Zealand and Uruguay, the USDA said said in a document obtained by Dow Jones Newswires.
The USDA had originally intended to move quicker with its proposal to allow in the older Canadian cattle shipments, but additional BSE cases in Canada last year caused delays. Canada reported finding its eighth case last August. The country's seventh case - found in July - sparked sharper concern by USDA officials, though, because the infected cow was just four years old and born after Canada put in place a feed ban measure aimed at stopping the spread of the disease.
The U.S. rancher organization R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America called into question the effectiveness of Canada's feed ban this month when it vocally opposed USDA's proposal to ease restrictions on Canada.
R-CALF Chief Executive Bill Bullard called the country's feed ban - a ban on feeding rendered bovine byproducts back to cattle - the "weakest link" in fighting BSE.
But USDA officials said they weighed risks carefully before deciding to allow in more Canadian cattle imports. They stressed that a series of safeguards in the U.S. protect both cattle and humans from the disease.
USDA Chief Veterinarian John Clifford said earlier this month: "Even if by small chance (Canadian) BSE-infected material were to make it past the first mitigation, it is highly unlikely that the material would eventually infect a U.S. animal."
Canada would be the only country impacted by the proposed USDA rule to allow older cattle imports, although it applies theoretically to any "minimal-risk region," according to the proposed USDA rule.
A minimal-risk region, according to USDA, is one where BSE has been discovered, but safeguards are sufficient to protect against the spread of the disease.
The USDA is now accepting public feedback on its proposed rule. USDA's Clifford, speaking to reporters in a Jan. 4 press conference in anticipation of the proposed rule, declined to predict how long the entire rule-making procedure might take.
Source: Bill Tomson Dow Jones Newswires 202-646-0088 [email protected]
