News Update

News Update
October 17, 2008

Missouri Livestock Symposium scheduled

The Missouri Livestock Symposium will be Dec. 5-6 at the Kirksville Middle School in Kirksville, Mo., says Garry Mathes, chair of the symposium planning committee.

The symposium features a sold-out agriculture-related trade show, entertainment by country music star John Anderson, and speakers covering the latest information on horses, beef cattle, sheep, meat goats, forages, stock dogs and renewable energy topics.

This year’s featured beef speakers include Lee Leachman, Colorado; Jim Gibb, Colorado; Calvin Gunter, Louisiana; Bob Weaber, Missouri; John Hay, Nebraska; and T.A. Yazwinski, University of Arkansas. Speakers in the forage tract include Dave Davis, Missouri; Gary Lacefield, Kentucky; David Bransby, Alabama; Rob Kallenbach, Missouri; and Mark Kennedy, Missouri.

Mathes stresses that talks at the Missouri Livestock Symposium are targeted to livestock producers and are focused on practical information and application. Speaker biographies and more information may be found on the Missouri Livestock Symposium web site at http://missourilivestock.com.

There is no preregistration or registration cost. The trade show and educational seminars are free, and the Symposium offers free meals. If attendees indicate they are in town for the Symposium, low lodging rates are available if they stay at sponsoring motels.

Hours are Friday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. More details about the Missouri Livestock Symposium are available at http://missourilivestock.com; by calling 660-665-9866 or 660-341-6625; or by e-mailing Bruce Lane at lanen@missouri.edu (put MLS in the subject line).

John Anderson concert tickets are sold on a first-come, first-serve basis. Call 660-665-9866 for ticket information.

— Release provided by the University of Missouri Extension.

NMSU Small Farm Conference Slated for Oct. 24-25

The second annual New Mexico Small Farm Conference will be Oct. 24-25 at the Moriarty Civic Center.

Sessions will feature agriculture, livestock and alternative energy, said Del Jimenez, New Mexico State University (NMSU) Extension specialist and chair of the organizing committee. Topics include how to get started in farming and ranching, financial hazards of small farms, insurance products for small farms, methods for preserving ag properties for future generations, inheritance and legacy planning, and using alternative energy on the farm. Additionally, they will discuss the basic how-to for growing brambles, vegetable gardening in the fall, composting on the farm, raising poultry on small farms and establishing a health program for small livestock herds as well as an update on livestock tuberculosis (TB) in the state.

Admission is $10 each day. Registration opens at 7:30 a.m., with the welcoming speeches at 9 a.m. and the information sessions beginning at 10 a.m.

The conference is sponsored by NMSU Cooperative Extension Service Small Farm Task Force, New Mexico Department of Agriculture, Western Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, and New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission.

— Release provided by NMSU.

Ohio Market to be Site of Auctioneering Quarterfinal

Muskingum Livestock Auction Co. of Zanesville, Ohio, will host 30 contestants Nov. 18 for the third quarterfinal of the 2009 World Livestock Auctioneer Championship (WLAC). Three titlists are named at each of the four contests, and the eight top scorers at each qualify for next year’s WLAC, to be June 13 at Fergus Falls Livestock Auction Market, Fergus Falls, Minn.

Competing Nov. 18 are: Chris Arnaman, Missouri; Mike Brown, Ohio; Jeff Bynum, Alabama; Darren Carter, South Carolina; Tye Casey, Indiana; Glenn Cruze, Tennessee; Eli Detweiler Jr., North Carolina; Will Epperly, Virginia; John Grover, Ohio; Marvin Keck, Tennessee; John Kline, Ohio; Kent Korte, Illinois; Daniel Lanier, Virginia; Jason Lekin, Iowa; Rod Loomis, Pennsylvania; Joey Martin, South Carolina; Andrew McDowell, Illinois; Billy Morgan, West Virginia; Brandon Neely, West Virginia; Rodney Paisley, Ohio; Christopher Pinard, Georgia; Patrick Prather, Kentucky; Roger Robinson, Indiana; Jay Romine, Kentucky; J.D. Shelton, Texas; Jeff Showalter, Virginia; Gary Vance, Virginia; Eddie Wagoner, Virginia; Wesley Ware, West Virginia; and Al Wessel, Minnesota.

The contest will be broadcast live on the Internet at www.lmaauctions.com.

— Release provided by LMA.

Analysis of BSE Shows Progress Against Disease

Overreliance on meaningless testing and a lack of focus on documenting the effectiveness of steps that are making significant inroads against bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) are hindering a hungry world’s access to protein, driving up food costs and harming local economies as well as the U.S. beef industry, a BSE expert said this week at a Tokyo meeting.

According to the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), Ulrich Kihm, former chief veterinary officer of Switzerland, was a featured speaker at the seminar. He was joined by Masahiko Ariji, a researcher for the AMITA Institute for Sustainable Economics, and a panel of Japanese journalists and health industry experts.

Kihm said Japan’s insistence on testing 100% of cattle for BSE — regardless of age — has been ineffective. He stated that the youngest documented case of BSE to his knowledge was 34 months of age.

Kihm noted that the effectiveness of removal of specified risk materials (SRMs) and the implementation of bans on the use of meat and bone meal for livestock feed have dramatically reduced the incidence of BSE and the risk of vCJD (variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease).

Ariji told the audience that there is a risk of BSE for consumers in Japan, but it is a risk that has not been accurately reported.

Ariji proceeded to outline the risks of death associated with a variety of circumstances based on available statistics and human exposure. His estimates show that there is virtually no chance of anyone getting vCJD in Japan, but that the risk from other activities is much higher. For example, the chances of dying from drowning in a bath is 380,000 times more likely in Japan than contracting vCJD.

Philip Seng, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of USMEF, noted that the U.S. International Trade Commission recently issued a report detailing that the U.S. beef industry has lost an estimated $11 billion in missed sales and opportunities and increased costs since BSE was discovered in the U.S. in December 2003.

Prior to the discovery of BSE, Japan was the leading export market for U.S. beef. These costs to the U.S. industry are in addition to the huge costs of testing in Japan and losses to the Japanese meat industry as well.

A panel of distinguished Japanese media and health industry experts acknowledged that Japan’s insistence on 100% testing for all cattle has been a costly error, but one that is difficult to reverse because it has been portrayed to consumers in Japan as an essential safety step.

Ariji stated that Japan has wasted 1 trillion yen (roughly $10 billion) on animal testing that has not saved any lives.

Kihm noted that with the decline in positive tests for BSE in the European Union (EU) and the evidence suggesting the success of the ban on meat and bone meal in limiting spreading of the disease, there is discussion of raising the recommended cutoff age for BSE testing for cattle to 48 months. That is based on the expectation that testing will not find an animal younger than that age that would test positive.

Ikawa of the Yomiuri Shimbun agreed that 100% testing is unnecessary, noting that his newspaper has stated that there is no value in local Japanese government (prefectures) allocating scarce funds to pay for testing now that the Japanese national government has eliminated funding for 100% testing.

“Testing at 48 months might be too young, but time will solve the problem,” he said. “If there are no [BSE] cases in several years, the numbers will tell the truth.” In the meantime, he urged his fellow members of the media to “try to be objective. Politicians may try to convey wrong messages, and media must be free to criticize that.”

Despite continued restrictions on U.S. beef in Japan, Seng noted that USMEF is seeing signs of progress in this key export market for U.S. beef.

“Three years ago, our surveys showed that 73% of Japanese consumers said they didn’t want to try U.S. beef,” Seng said. “Now that number is down to 39%. We are very pleased with this progress, but it is an indication that we must continue to push to get accurate information on the risk of BSE to Japanese consumers as well as key opinion leaders.”

— Adapted from a release provided by USMEF.

— compiled by Shauna Rose Hermel, editor, Angus Productions Inc.