The Mississippi Beef Council's concession trailer has been refurbished with new graphics, making it an attractive addition to any promotion or fundraiser. The trailer is available for $50 per day for county fundraisers and can be used free of charge for promotions such as blood drives. Contact the Beef Council office at 601-353-4520 for details. |
| Angus Field Day
All cattlemen are invited to Hinds Community College on Saturday, June 7 for the Mississippi Angus Association's annual field day. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. and several educational programs will be presented. Attendees can participate in a judging contest and view Angus seed stock from several purebred breeders on display.
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Feeder Calf Sale 
Cattlemen have until June 16th to sign up calves for the Mississippi Homeplace Producers Sale. The board sale will originate from Southeast Mississippi Auction Barn in Hattiesburg on August 4th. For more information, go to Homeplace Board Sale. |
| Hereford Field Day
Mississippi State University's South Farm will be the site of this year's Mississippi Hereford Association Field Day. Beginning at 10:00 a.m. on June 7th, university staff will present programs on forages, merchandising and other management practices. Following lunch, there will be a tour of the university's farm and cattle herd. | |
| Korean Trade Expected to Resume Tomorrow
Cattlemen are cautiously optimistic that U.S. beef exports to South Korea will finally resume early this week. On Friday, the Korean Minister of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MIFAFF), Chung Woon-chun, made a televised announcement that the Korean market will open to U.S. beef and beef products. MIFAFF has also sent a request to the Korean Ministry of Administration - responsible for publishing government material in a manner similar to the Federal Register - that the final beef trade protocol be printed. This process is expected to conclude on or about Tuesday, June 3.
"These recent delays have been frustrating, but this is an example of the persistence needed to regain fair and reliable trade with Korea and other trading partners," said NCBA President Andy Groseta, a rancher from Cottonwood, Ariz. "This trade protocol is based on sound science and accepted international guidelines. Trade based upon these fundamental principals has been our position with other countries prior to our agreement with Korea, and it will remain so as we move forward."
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KFC Canada Agrees to PETA Demands
On Sunday, PETA announced that KFC Canada had agreed to begin phasing in purchases of chickens from suppliers using controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK) as a means of slaughter, until 100 percent of its suppliers are CAK companies.
KFC Canada is owned by a different company than KFC in the United States. The Canadian company, Priszm, oversees 461 locations; that is not, however, all of the KFC stores in Canada. By contrast, in the U.S., KFC has about 4,500 stores.
PETA said in a statement on its Web site that negotiations with KFC Canada were ongoing for several months before the weekend's announcement. As part of its agreement with PETA, KFC Canada also will:
- Add a vegan faux-chicken item to the menu of all 461 Priszm-owned KFC restaurants (more than half of all the KFCs in Canada).
- Improve its animal welfare audit criteria to reduce the number of broken bones and other injuries suffered by birds.
- Urge its suppliers to use better lighting, lower stocking density and ammonia levels, and to phase out growth-promoting drugs and breeding practices.Form an animal welfare advisory panel to monitor the changes and recommend further advancements.
PETA is calling off its "Kentucky Fried Cruelty" campaign against KFC Canada, but is continuing its PR battle with KFC in the United States. |
| NASS Reports Record-High Meat Production
According to the National Agriculture Statistics Service, commercial red meat production for the United States totaled 4.30 billion pounds in April 2008. This is up 14 percent from the 3.75 billion pounds produced in April 2007.
Beef production, at 2.25 billion pounds, was 12 percent above the previous year. Cattle slaughter during April totaled 2.96 million head, up 10 percent from April 2007. The average live weight was up 24 pounds from the previous year, at 1,259 pounds.
Pork production, meanwhile, totaled 2 billion pounds, up 18 percent from the previous year. Hog kill was just under 10 million head, up 18 percent from last April, while live weights were down slightly. from Drovers |
USDA Plan for CRP Acres Wrong
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) opposes the plan announced last Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to open certain Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres to haying and grazing.
Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer announced that USDA has authorized certain acres enrolled in CRP to be available for hay and forage after the primary nesting season ends for grass-nesting birds. USDA estimates more than 24 million acres of land will be eligible, and that the program will make available up to 18 million tons of forage worth about $1.2 billion.
NCBA supports managed haying and grazing of CRP acres during times of a shortage for hay and livestock forage due to drought or other emergency conditions, but only with a corresponding reduction in CRP payments. While the difficult conditions facing many cattle producers could certainly qualify as an emergency, USDA's plan does not require a payment reduction in areas where these additional uses will be allowed. Without such a reduction, livestock producers raising or obtaining their hay and forage from non-CRP land are placed at an unfair disadvantage.
"Cattlemen appreciate the fact that USDA recognizes the hard times we are facing in the livestock industry, and wants to provide some relief through this CRP plan," says Colin Woodall, NCBA executive director of legislative affairs. "But this is just the wrong solution. Any CRP relief plan must maintain a level playing field for all farmers and ranchers, and put land back into production in a meaningful way."
"Livestock producers cannot use this land for any haying or grazing until the primary nesting season ends, and then they have to be finished with any forage use by November 10," Woodall said. "In most cases that's a very limited window of opportunity, and it does not provide the kind of significant relief this industry needs. It's a nice gesture by USDA, but unfortunately it doesn't amount to much more than that."
"NCBA policy favors conservation programs that make every effort to keep agricultural land in production," says Woodall. "To do that, USDA needs to do more than just tweak CRP around the edges. The cattle industry is facing historic economic difficulty as a result of the federal government's competing policy goals. Tremendous pressure is being placed on our rapidly shrinking supply of agricultural land, and today's action just temporarily sidesteps the problem." | |
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Cattle Market Notes
Friday, May 30, 2008
Dr. John Anderson
Mississippi State
University
Last week's 5-Area weighted average live steer price worked out to $94.38. This week, there was moderate trade in Nebraska on Thursday at $150 dressed (about $1 higher for that region). On Friday, moderate trade picked up in Kansas at mostly $95 (up $1 from last week for that region). Cattle slaughter was pretty big for a holiday-shortened week, with another large Saturday kill projected: 625,000 head this week versus 610,000 head last year.
At Lexington, Kentucky, feeder calf prices were steady to $3 higher; stocker calf prices were fully steady. At Arkansas auctions this week, prices on all classes were called steady to $2 higher. At Georgia auctions this week, prices on feeder steers were $1 to $2 higher; prices on feeder heifers were steady to $3 higher.
At Mississippi auctions this week, prices on steers were steady to $5 higher; and prices on heifers were steady to $4 higher. For the week, feeder steer prices in Mississippi were as follows: 250-300 pounds, $125-$130; 300-350 pounds, $120-$129; 350-400 pounds, $110-$120; 400-450 pounds, $105-$117; 450-500 pounds, $100-$105; 500-600 pounds, $100-$109; 600-700 pounds, $95-$110; 700-800 pounds, $95-$106.
Live cattle futures started the holiday-shortened week lacking real direction. October and December ended the week very close to recent contract highs. Live Cattle futures closing prices on Friday (with change from last Friday's close in parentheses) were as follows: June $96.52 (+0.35); August $101.85 (+0.55); October $108.15 (+0.43); December $108.82 (+0.12); February $109.80 (+0.05).
Feeder Cattle futures again seemed to be taking cues from the Live Cattle market this week. Feeder Cattle futures closing prices on Friday (with change from last Friday in parentheses): August $116.02 (+0.80); September $116.80 (+0.85); October $117.82 (+0.92); November $117.82 6.92 (+0.90); January $115.25 (+0.35).
Corn futures worked lower for most of the week. July Corn closed on Friday at $5.99 ¼, down ½ cent for the week. |
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Don't Miss NCBA's Cattlemen to Cattlemen- On this week's episode, airing Tuesday, June 3rd, at 7:30 p.m. Cattlemen to Cattlemen brings you some of our favorite stories from sponsor Dow AgroSciences. Topics covered will include spring treatment application options and brush control treatments.The program's sponsors include Purina Mills, Fort Dodge Animal Health, Dow AgroSciences, Bayer Animal Health and McDonald's. |
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Calendar of Events
June |
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5 Stone CCA
7 Hereford Field Day,
MSU
7 Angus Field Day,
Raymond
12 Covington CCA
23-25 Making Tracks
24 4-H Beef Cookout
Contest, Winona
25 4-H Beef Cookout
Contest, Gallman
25 Statewide Dairy
Field Day, Tylertown
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| Making Tracks
2008
Attend the 17th annual Making Tracks Wax Leadership Camp
June 23 - 25
sponsored by Mississippi State University, MississippiCattlemen's Foundation, and The Wax Company.
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