News Update
April 28, 2009

Russia Expands Flu Ban to U.S. Beef, Poultry

Russia has suspended imports of not only U.S. pork, but also U.S. beef and poultry from certain U.S. states amid concerns of a hybrid swine, avian and human influenza (H1N1) as concerns about an international outbreak grow. The bans apply to meat and poultry produced in California, Kansas, New York, Ohio and Texas, where cases of the hybrid flu have been reported.

Among the parties trying to fight the flu fears is the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), which quickly denounced Russia’s decision. USMEF President and CEO Philip Seng described it among the “demonstrated overreactions” by certain trading partners. He said in a weekly briefing that the group’s international offices will be contacting central authorities to “get the correct facts out as quickly as possible.”

The key fact is humans cannot get the hybrid flu from eating pork, a concern exacerbated by the term “swine flu,” which experts now say is a misnomer since there have been no discoveries of the ailment in pigs; let alone in cattle and chickens.

The American Meat Institute (AMI) is trying to spread the word in a number of materials, including a posting on YouTube. In a statement, the group quotes Dr. Keiji Fukuda of the World Health Organization as saying, “Right now we have no evidence to suggest that people are getting exposed or getting infected from exposure to pork or to pigs. Right now we have zero evidence to suspect that exposure to meat leads to infections.”

Meanwhile, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk on Tuesday urged all trading partners to base their decisions on scientific evidence per international obligations.

“Restrictions on U.S. pork or pork products or any meat products from the United States resulting from the recent outbreak do not appear to be based on scientific evidence and may result in serious trade disruptions without cause,” he said in a statement.

— Release provided by Meatingplace.com.

Winners Named in AngusSource Contest

Unwavering, resolute, committed — pick one, because they’re all accurate descriptions of winners in the first quarter AngusSource® Carcass Challenge (ASCC).

The top producers and feeders share a steady focus on raising and feeding superior cattle.

Beginning last year, the ASCC highlights those enrolled in the AngusSource genetic-, source- and age-verified program. Eligible groups of at least 38 head must be fed at a Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB) partner yard.

For 10 years, Mike and Priscilla Kasten, Millersville, Mo., have been sending cattle to Irsik and Doll Feed Yard (IDFY), near Garden City, Kan. A 42-head group reached 90.5% Certified Angus Beef® (CAB®) and Prime this year, earning them the top spot in the ASCC for the Central region and overall honors during the first quarter (January thru March).

Beller Corp., Lindsay, Neb., owned and fed the North Central regional winners. Doug, Dennis and Duane Beller purchased 46 heifers from Ken Pelster, of Bartlett, Neb., that went 32.6% CAB and Prime.

IDFY looks forward to getting Kasten’s cattle and seeing progress each year.

“They are the ideal feeding cattle,” says Jerry Jackson, quality assurance officer at IDFY. “He works so hard at producing the animal for the rail.”

Kasten attributes his carcass quality to more than 30 years of stacking genetics for marbling.

“The cattle were fed real well — we didn’t have any sickness — and then it’s just simply good genetics,” he says.

Kasten works with neighbors in an alliance program, providing them with genetics and management expertise, in return for the option to buy back steer calves. A handful of the calves in this entry were progeny from alliance members.

“I’ve been working with those herds for a long time, so they’re practically the same cattle,” he says. With timed artificial insemination (AI), he’s able to use the best bulls over a large number of females, which increases quality and uniformity.

Since 1988, Kasten has tracked individual carcass and feeding data on each calf, so implementingAngusSource a few years ago was a natural fit.

“There certainly was no change in how we keep records,” he says, but AngusSource provides a framework that can help any producer. “You’re leaving a lot of money on the table if you don’t use it,” Kasten adds.

Tracking cattle is not foreign to IDFY either.

“We have a safety net; in case an animal happened to lose an eartag, we can absolutely trace it back,” Jackson says, noting they’re all cross-referenced to a feedlot tag. “Once they go through our processing barn for the first time, there is no excuse that we could not get that data back to people.”

Challenges occasionally crop up during harvest, but IDFY makes sure information gets to ranchers.

“Mike has really used the data he’s gotten back on individual animals,” Jackson says. “He knows exactly where his end goals are and is working very hard to meet those goals.”

Kasten is a 2004 CAB Commitment to Excellence honoree and a finalist in the National Angus Carcass Challenge (NACC) several times.

Pelster, who works with his wife Carol and brothers Dan and David, employs a similar level of detail to his ranch recordkeeping.

“I wouldn’t know how to run it without them. I want to know what I’ve got,” Pelster says.

He’s used AngusSource since 2004, and every year Beller Corp. has purchased at least some of his calf crop.

“If you can get that high of quality of cattle, why would you buy other cattle and sacrifice that?” Doug Beller says. “His cattle have been proven.”

Pelster calves won the steer division in the 2006 NACC with an 82% CAB acceptance rate. Beller says the quality has remained constant, but numbers were down this year because of marketing conditions.

Beller took a chance bidding on Pelster’s cattle five years ago. Now he knows what they’ll do, but must take similar risks each year when finding new calf suppliers. When possible, he looks to AngusSource.

“We try to find out information before we buy the cattle,” he says. Although lot size and location sometimes make it hard to fully utilize the AngusSource listing e-mails, he says, “If I see some on there from Nebraska, I definitely take a look at them.”

For more information on AngusSource or the ASCC call 816-383-5100 or visit www.angussource.com.

— Release provided by Certified Angus Beef LLC.

American Agri-Women’s “American Grown Goodness” Program Under way

American Agri-Women (AAW) has established a trademark program, American Grown Goodness, which is designed to provide a way for growers, processors and marketers to identify their American-grown products. Producers can either print the American Grown Goodness logo on the packaging of American-grown products or adhere a small sticker to fresh or packaged products. A brochure on American-grown products is also being produced by AAW.

“Concerns about food safety are on the rise as more of both our fresh and processed food comes from other countries. Consequently more consumers have an interest in knowing where their food is produced, so this program will help them make decisions about what to purchase,” asserted AAW President Marcie Williams. “Many states have similar state-grown programs but this program will promote all U.S.-grown products.”

AAW is in the process of identifying and contacting American-grown producers to make them aware of the availability of the program and to encourage them to sign up to participate and use the trademark.
The American Grown Goodness program will be featured on a future episode of the American Agri-Women TV show set to air on satellite and cable networks in 2009.

To learn more about this program and encourage your local producers and companies who might be interested in this program, go to the web site, www.americanagriwomen.org. The application for the American Grown Goodness program can be accessed from the link at the top of the homepage. AAW is also developing a database of such companies and would welcome information about companies interested in being included in this database. Please send this information to agg@americanagriwomen.org.

For more information please contact AAW president Marcie Williams at president@americanagriwomen.org, or visit the American Agri-Women web site at www.americanagriwomen.org.

— Release provided by American Agri-Women.

— compiled by Mathew Elliott, assistant editor, Angus Productions Inc.