News Update
October 3, 2013
Court Grants Four Groups’
Rights to Defend COOL
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia granted the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA), Food & Water Watch, South Dakota Stockgrowers Association (SDSA) and Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC) motion to intervene and defend country-of-origin labeling (COOL) from a lawsuit filed by the international meatpacking industry. The court’s ruling allows the COOL advocates to defend the COOL rules on the merits in the face of the meatpacking industries’ legal challenge.
“As the largest producer-only trade association representing the U.S. cattle industry, we will take this opportunity to aggressively defend COOL for U.S. cattle farmers and ranchers,” said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard. He added, “R-CALF USA fought for more than a decade to implement COOL with these very allies and together we are prepared to fight even harder to defend it.”
The COOL law was first passed in the 2002 Farm Bill, but its implementation was repeatedly delayed by meatpacker opposition. A coalition of meatpackers (both domestic and international) and packer-producer trade associations sued USDA to block COOL in July 2013, nearly five years after COOL was included again in the 2008 Farm Bill, and additionally sought a preliminary injunction to halt COOL’s implementation immediately.
“With this decision, western independent cattle producers have an opportunity to defend a valuable program under attack by the NCBA (National Cattlemen’s Beef Association) and meatpackers,” said Wilma Tope, a rancher near Aladdin, Wyo., and WORC spokesperson.
The meatpackers were dealt a significant setback in September, when the District Court rejected their request for a preliminary injunction in a ruling that provided a solid understanding of a complex regulatory issue. The meatpackers immediately appealed the ruling on the preliminary injunction, but the underlying challenge to the COOL rule is still pending before the lower court.
“Consumers, farmers and ranchers have tirelessly fought to implement COOL and the court’s ruling allows the eaters and producers to join together again in defense of a commonsense rule that allows families to know where their food comes from.” said Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter.
A key goal of the meatpackers’ suit is to continue affixing misleading “commingled” labels bearing “Product of Mexico, Canada, and the U.S.” even on meat from animals that never stepped foot in either Canada or Mexico. The 2013 final rule required that COOL labels clearly delineate each production step where the animal was born, raised and slaughtered so consumers can make informed choices and American farmers can distinguish their products in the marketplace.
“We are pleased the court has granted us permission to defend the opportunity for U.S. cattle producers to have their U.S. beef products properly labeled so they can be chosen by U.S. consumers,” said SDSA Executive Director Silvia Christen.
Lampasas Feral Hog Workshop Slated for Oct. 16
Texas A&M AgriLife will conduct the Lampasas Feral Hog Workshop from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 16 at the Grace Fellowship Church, 2974 U.S. Highway 281 in Lampasas.
The workshop is a joint effort among Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, the Lampasas River Watershed Partnership and the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board.
Individual preregistration is $15 by Oct. 11 and $20 thereafter. To RSVP, contact Lisa Prcin, Lampasas River Watershed coordinator with AgriLife Research, at 254-774-6008, lprcin@brc.tamus.edu.
Five Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education units, 0.5 integrated pest management, 1.5 laws and regulations and three general, will be available to current private applicator license holders.
“Feral hogs were identified by the Lampasas River Watershed Partnership as a primary concern as a contributor of bacteria to the watershed in the Lampasas River Watershed Protection Plan, and various management approaches for feral hog control were outlined in the document,” Prcin said. “This workshop is part of the outreach and education strategy of the Lampasas River WPP.”
“Feral hogs and the destruction they cause are fast becoming the bane of all Central Texas landowners no matter what their interests are,” said Dan Gaskins, AgriLife Extension wildlife and fisheries sciences assistant at Gatesville, and a workshop coordinator and speaker. “So the workshop topics we’ll offer should be of interest to anybody with ties to the land, be they agricultural producers, hunters, those with recreational property or even homeowners who are being adversely affected by feral hogs.”
For more information, please view the Angus Journal’s Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events here.
AgriLife Extension Offers Training on Rebuilding Beef Herds
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service personnel will conduct a training titled Rebuilding the Beef Herd: Planning to Capture Opportunities, Nov. 19.
Whether East Texas has a dry or wet fall and good or poor pasture conditions, this fall is the time to have a beef herd expansion plan in place, said Aaron Low, AgriLife Extension agent for Cherokee County.
“Those with serious intent to enter, rebuild or expand their beef operation can’t wait until rains come and pastures are completely healed to develop a plan,” said Ron Gill, AgriLife Extension livestock specialist, College Station. “A plan must be in place when opportunity presents itself.”
Hosted at the Norman Activity Center, 526 E. Commerce St., Jacksonville, registration is $40 per person, includes lunch, and must be paid in advance by Nov. 15, he said. To register, go to http://agriliferegister.tamu.edu or call 979-845-2604.
There are pros and cons to rebuilding a herd now, Low said. One of the cons is the uncertainly about weather patterns. Another is the high cost of replacement cows.
“The January 2012 Texas beef cow inventory was 660,000 cows smaller than it was just a year before, due largely to the drought,” said Rick Machen, AgriLife Extension livestock specialist, Uvalde.
“But those same factors mean market prices are charting record highs,” Machen said. “The smaller cow inventory combined with high input costs, competing uses for land, prices of competing meats and radical changes — both domestic and export — in grain use are reshaping the beef business.”
The training will adjourn at 4:30 p.m.
For more information, please view the Angus Journal’s Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events here.
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