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Mississippi Cattlemen's Association
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| Member Discount Kicks Off
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Dietetic Convention
Beef Council information was presented at the Mississippi Dietetic Convention.
Dieticians received nutrition and recipe brochures at the annual event in Hattiesburg.
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Agribition Sale
Cattle sold well at Saturday's Miss. Beef Agribition in Verona. The 58 commercial cow/calf pairs averaged $2,048 and 30 bred heifers brought $1,445.
The offering of 16 bulls averaged $2,028. |
Lee County Aggies
 
Lee County's junior livestock club, the Aggies, raised funds for their activities with a cake auction and heifer raffle at the Beef Agribition.
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Did You Miss It?
In case you weren't able to attend the recent Cattle Facilities Workshop, a limited number of notebooks are still available.
The binder includes diagrams and information on corral design, fencing recommendations, watering facilities and much more.
The notebooks are $25 and can be ordered from Dr. Jane Parish. |
GLCI Tour
The South Area Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative Committee (GLCI) will host its 4th Livestock Tour on April 18 & 19 to Greensboro, AL.
Tour stops will include grazing methods, electric fences and erosion control practices.
Click here for details.
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How ABC News Smeared a Stellar Company
According to an editorial appearing on Fox News, TV news loves a health scare. Think deadly Tylenol. Killer tomatoes. Mad Cow Disease. Alar in apples. And lots more. Sometimes, as with Tylenol, they are legit and important. Other times, like Alar, they are entirely bogus. Yet every time, the template is the same. Someone gets sick and the ravenous media tear at the company or industry for not being safe.
This time, however, ABC News has turned that idea on its head in its usual quest for tabloid headlines. It's going after a company, Beef Products, Inc., for making a product that's not only already safe, it's one we've all been eating for years. But that hasn't stopped ABC and reporter Jim Avila. The network's news division has decided to declare open war on ... beef. So far, they're winning. In a series of 10 stories in just about two weeks, ABC has so demonized the company and its products that Safeway, SUPERVALU and Food Lion just stopped buying it. Ditto Kroger and Stop & Shop.
The meat, often called lean finely textured beef, is made up of beef that is just harder to get at, so the meat isn't lost. It's treated to get rid of the fat and included with the rest of the ground beef. The USDA declares it healthy, but it is less expensive. As an added bonus, it is treated tiny amounts of ammonium hydroxide to make it safer to eat. |
Consumers Give Beef Good Grades
New research shows consumers are more confident in the safety of beef steaks and roasts than 10 years ago. According to data released during the recent Beef Industry Safety Summit, funded in part by the beef checkoff, 88% of consumers give fresh steaks and roasts an A or B grade for safety, up 14 percentage points from a decade ago, while 80% say ground beef deserves the same grade.
Beef safety experts attending the summit in Tampa, FL, agreed beef is safer than 10 years ago, but there are some differences of opinion. When asked if there is a greater likelihood of getting sick from foodborne bacteria at home or a restaurant, 65% of consumers said a restaurant. However, 72% of safety experts said there was a better chance of getting sick at home. Statistics back up the experts' opinion, showing 60-70% of foodborne illnesses occur at home.
"We have some work to do to engage consumers in beef safety, like using a meat thermometer to ensure ground beef reaches a safe internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit," said Oklahoma rancher Clay Burtum, a member of the Beef Industry Safety Committee.
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| COOL Dispute Gains New Life
Cattle Network reports that last Friday, the U.S. Trade representative (USTR) announced it will appeal the World Trade Organization's (WTO) ruling claiming our mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) rules violate trade agreements.
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) quickly issued a statement expressing concern the appeal will do more harm than good.
"We are very disappointed in this decision. Instead of working diligently to bring the United States into WTO compliance, our government has opted to engage in an appeal process, which jeopardizes our strong trade relationship with Canada and Mexico, the two largest importers of U.S. beef," said NCBA Vice President Bob McCann. "An appeal is the wrong answer and a waste of valuable resources. This appeal will do nothing but escalate tension with our valuable trade partners and will prolong an issue that could be resolved quickly. We should be working toward a solution instead of creating a bigger problem."
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Market Notes
March 23, 2012
Dr. John Michael Riley
Cash Cattle:
Cash fed cattle movement continues to be sluggish. Live sales in the Southern Plains were called at $126/cwt on Wednesday. On Wednesday in Nebraska, live sales were at $127-$128/cwt and dressed trade was at $203-$204/cwt. In Oklahoma City, feeder steers were steady and feeder heifers were steady to $2/cwt lower. Calves in OKC were steady to $3/cwt higher for steers and steady to $2/cwt higher for heifers. Feeder steers and heifers in Mississippi markets were called steady, while slaughter cows were $1-$2/cwt higher and bulls were steady.
Futures:
Live and feeder cattle futures were lower again this week. Wholesale beef prices moved lower each day this week for both Choice and Select carcasses, which did not bode well for cattle futures. The fact that there was limited news filtering in from cash fed trade provided zero support to live futures and the steady to lower move early in the week in cash feeder markets did the same for feeder futures. Prices tried to move higher late in the week on increased export sales news and a positive weekly jobs report but these did little to stem the losses.
Corn futures were lower on the week. Losses were large both Monday and Tuesday before slowing a bit on Wednesday and then moving into positive territory to close the week. The gains late in the week could not overcome the early week losses. Reports of early planting in portions of the lower Corn Belt. The early planting is expected to be a positive for yields this year. Improvements in outside markets and exchange rates aided the late week bounce.
Beef:
Wholesale beef prices were lower for the third week in a row and moved lower each day of the week. Prices have slid $8.89/cwt for Choice and $6.45/cwt for Select since peaking the week of March 2. Choice finished the week at $189.62/cwt, down $1.62 from last week. Select ended the week at $188.11/cwt, down $1.70.
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Calendar
March
27 Noxubee CCA 29 Covington CCA 29 Lowndes CCA 29 Stone CCA April 3 Scott CCA 5 Clay CCA 20 Lauderdale CCA 21 Leake CCA
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Monday Memo
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