News Update

News Update
Feb. 16, 2007

South Korea Trade Talks at a Standstill for U.S. Beef

According to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), the seventh round of talks on the U.S. South Korea free trade agreement (FTA) concluded this week, with no new progress for U.S. beef exports. Negotiators are expected to meet again for the eighth round of talks March 8-12 in Seoul.

NCBA stated it won’t support a free trade agreement until the current ban on U.S. beef is resolved. According to the organization, to take advantage of Trade Promotion Authority, which is set to expire June 30, FTA talks must be concluded before the end of March.

USDA Works With Cattlemen on NAIS

NCBA officials met with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials in Washington, D.C., this week to discuss continuing efforts regarding premises registration as part of a National Animal Identification System (NAIS).

According to NCBA, USDA is reaching out to livestock groups to get their help in promoting premises registration to their producer-members as a necessary next step toward implementing the NAIS. “It’s clear that USDA is focused on premises registration and is trying sincerely to work with all the livestock sectors in a slow, deliberate process so producers can best understand how they need to participate,” said NCBA Vice President of Government Affairs Jay Truitt.

The NAIS User Guide and updated premises registration materials are available online at http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais.

Model Successfully Predicts Rift Valley Fever Outbreak

A Rift Valley fever outbreak was successfully predicted several months in advance for the first time with a model developed by a team assembled by an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist.

In October 2006, when the model predicted that Rift Valley fever would flare up within three months in sub-Saharan Africa, a warning was sent to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization, which then passed on the warning to countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and Somalia.

The early warning allowed the countries most likely to be in harm’s way to step up surveillance and control of insect vectors for the disease — actions that may have mitigated the outbreak. Rift Valley fever is primarily spread to livestock and humans by biting insects such as mosquitoes.

An outbreak of Rift Valley fever was blamed for the deaths of hundreds of people in Kenya in 1997-1998. Twenty years earlier, in 1977-1978, a Rift Valley fever epidemic in Egypt involved 200,000 human cases and 600 fatalities. The disease also attacks cattle, sheep, camels and goats.

So far, Rift Valley fever has not reached the United States, but having a model that can predict outbreaks allows the U.S. to know when to step up its own watch to prevent its spread to this country, ARS reports. For the U.S. livestock industry, a Rift Valley fever outbreak would be devastating because the World Organization for Animal Health imposes a four-year ban on exports of beef, sheep or goat products from any country that has an outbreak.

The model is based on analyzing satellite images to find when vegetation is growing at a rapid rate in an area as a surrogate for weather conditions that include heavy rainfall, elevated humidity and heavy cloud cover. Such conditions give rise to major increases in the number and longevity of insects that spread the disease. The model also can help predict outbreaks of other diseases of livestock and people such as malaria and cholera. Visit www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr for more information.

January Cattle Inventory Down Slightly

The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and Statistics Canada have released information regarding the number of cattle and calves by class and calf crop for both countries.

All cattle and calves in the U. S. and Canada combined totaled 111.3 million head on Jan. 1, 2007, down slightly from a year ago. All cows and heifers that have calved, at 48.1 million head, was down 1% from a year ago.

All cattle and calves in the United States as of Jan. 1, 2007, totaled 97.0 million head, slightly above the 96.7 million on Jan. 1, 2006. All cattle and calves in Canada as of Jan. 1, 2007, totaled 14.3 million head, down 3% from the 14.8 million on Jan. 1, 2006, and 5% below the 15.1 million two years ago. All cows and heifers that have calved, at 6.0 million, was down 4% from the 6.3 million on Jan. 1, 2006, and 5% below the 6.4 million from two years ago.

Ground Beef Calculator Tallies Nutrients for You

Nutrients in ground beef, America’s most popular form of beef, are now easier for everyone to size up thanks to a new “Ground Beef Calculator,” according to ARS.

ARS scientists have developed an online, computerized calculator that indicates levels of protein, vitamins, minerals, and more than two dozen other nutrients in ground beef that has from 5% to 30% fat.

According to ARS, the scientists based the calculator on equations they developed after determining the nutrients in samples of ground beef products from supermarkets across the county. The equations newly establish the mathematical relation between fat content and levels of other nutrients.

Visit www.ars.usda.gov/nutrientdata/GroundBeefCalculator to access the calculator.

Keep Beef Safe With E-Beams

Electron-beam irradiation holds promise as an alternative technology for preventing ground beef from becoming contaminated with pathogenic bacteria such as E. coli O157:H7.

ARS scientists and industry colleagues collaborated in tests of e-beam irradiation of samples from the surface of beef carcasses — the site where pathogens are most likely to lurk. Irradiation eliminated even extremely high levels of E. coli O157:H7, the tests showed.

Experiments with e-beam-irradiated ground beef and stir-fry beef indicated the technique doesn’t alter flavor or other eating qualities. The research was documented in a 2005 article in the Journal of Food Protection (vol. 68, p. 666 to 672) and highlighted in a recent, food-safety-focused issue of Agricultural Research (www.ars.usda.gov/is/ar/archive/oct06/beef1006.htm).

The beef industry is determining whether today’s packinghouses can use the procedure.

— compiled by Crystal Albers, associate editor, Angus Productions Inc.