News Update
June 18, 2014
Hong Kong Market Reopens
for U.S. Beef
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced June 17, that the United States and Hong Kong have agreed on new terms and conditions that pave the way for expanded exports of U.S. beef and beef products to Hong Kong.
“This is great news for American ranchers and beef companies,” said Vilsack. “Hong Kong is already the fourth largest market for U.S. beef and beef product exports, with sales there reaching a historic high of $823 million in 2013. We look forward to expanded opportunities there for the U.S. beef industry now that all trade restrictions are lifted,” Vilsack said.
Under the new terms, Hong Kong will permit the import of the full range of U.S. beef and beef products, consistent with access prior to December 2003. The new terms became effective June 17, 2014. Previously, only deboned beef from all cattle and certain bone-in beef from cattle less than 30 months of age could be shipped from the United States to Hong Kong. Earlier this year, Mexico, Uruguay, Ecuador and Sri Lanka also lifted their longstanding restrictions to provide full access for U.S. beef and beef products.
“Last year, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) granted the United States negligible risk status for BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy), further affirming the safety of U.S. beef and beef products,” said Vilsack. “We welcome this move by Hong Kong and will continue our efforts to break down barriers and expand access for high-quality, safe and wholesome U.S. food and agricultural products in Hong Kong and around the world.”
In December 2003, Hong Kong banned U.S. beef and beef products following the detection of a BSE-positive animal in the United States (one of only four cases ever discovered in America). In December 2005, Hong Kong partially reopened its market to allow imports of deboned U.S. beef from cattle aged 30 months or younger produced under a special program for Hong Kong and expanded access to include certain bone-in cuts from cattle less than 30 months of age in February 2013.
Experts in the United States and countries around the world have confirmed that U.S. beef is safe, with extremely low risk of BSE. There has never been a recorded case of BSE transmission to a human through American beef.
While Hong Kong is officially part of China, it serves as its own customs and quarantine administration zone and so maintains its own rules and regulations.
World Livestock Auctioneer Championship in IA this weekend
Knoxville Regional Livestock Market, Knoxville, Iowa, will host the 2014 World Livestock Auctioneer Championship (WLAC) on June 19-21 in conjunction with the Livestock Marketing Association (LMA) Annual Convention at the Des Moines Marriott Hotel.
In addition, the reigning World Livestock Auctioneer Champion, Dustin Focht, along with many past world champion auctioneers, will be attending this year’s contest.
For the world champion auctioneer title, 31 semi-finalist auctioneers will compete in live interview and auctioneering contests. Because of this important, high-profile role, each WLAC semi-finalist must establish their knowledge of the livestock marketing business and demonstrate their ability to express that knowledge with clarity in a live interview competition. The interviews will be on Friday, June 20, at the Des Moines Marriott Hotel. The interview competition can be viewed live on www.LMAauctions.com starting at 2 p.m. CST.
The Saturday, June 21, auctioneering competition at Knoxville Regional Livestock Market begins at 8 a.m. CST and is a live sale where the contestants auction cattle to actual bidders in the seats. The auctioneering competition will be streamed live beginning at 8:00 a.m. CST on www.LMAauctions.com and broadcast as a special, one-hour show on RFD-TV June 30, starting at 8 p.m. EST.
Media are welcome to attend the live auctioneering competition at Knoxville Regional Livestock Market on Saturday. To arrange interviews the week of the contest, during the contest or for on-site information, contact Lindsay Graber at 816-301-2426, or email lgraber@lmaweb.com.
For more information, visit www.LMAWeb.com.
Triticale Offers Grazing Benefits, Options
There are many advantages to triticale as a forage over wheat or oats in the Rolling Plains, according to Jason Baker, Texas A&M AgriLife Research senior research associate in Amarillo, who has been conducting trials since 2002.
Baker has worked with forage trials in both the Lockett and Chillicothe areas, first while he was stationed at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Vernon and continuing now with the AgriLife Research wheat-breeding program at Amarillo.
Triticale is a cross between wheat and rye, Baker explained. It was first developed in the late 1800s, but the first commercial releases were not available until the 1960s. Triticale grows taller and remains green longer than wheat.
“We’ve been working several years here to make better varieties for the Rolling Plains,” he said during a recent field day near Chillicothe. “We don’t see triticale competing for the wheat acres. It’s really a complement to dual-purpose wheat. We are trying to use the triticale more for grazing and not put as much pressure on our wheat, allowing us to use the wheat more for grain and triticale for forage.”
“Anyone who grazes wheat or uses wheat for hay might want to at least have some triticale in their program,” he said. “You can plant the triticale earlier and turn cattle in and save the wheat for grain later on. If you have a lot of growth, you can graze the wheat some, but use the triticale as your main focus for grazing.”
Working with about 20 experimental lines and 100 commercially available triticale lines in breeding trials at Vernon, Baker said he also has compiled eight years of forage yields data comparing triticale, wheat, oats and barley.
The most recent three-year total average resulted in the triticale varieties yielding 2.09-2.11 tons per acre dry matter, compared to 1.69-1.93 tons per acre for wheat, 1.61-1.79 tons per acre for oats and 1.54-2.01 tons per acre on barley.
In 2014, the triticale — after three clippings — yielded considerably better under drought and late freeze conditions, he said. The triticale yields were 1.92-2 tons per acre compared to wheat at 1.26-1.58 tons per acre, oats at 0.88-1.17 tons per acre and barley at 1.13-1.44 tons per acre.
For more information, please view the full release here.
Forage Insurance Sign-up Deadline in July
In spite of recent rains, livestock producers may be considering adding a layer of protection against drought loss on annual forage crops, and the deadline to sign up for that insurance is approaching, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service specialist.
The Rainfall Index-Annual Forage Insurance plan, referred to as RI-AF, is a risk policy designed to provide livestock producers the ability to buy protection against losses due to a lack of moisture, said DeDe Jones, AgriLife Extension risk management specialist in Amarillo.
The sign-up deadline for RI-AF is July 15 for the fall growing season — Sept. 1, 2014-March 31, 2015, and Dec. 15 for the spring season — March 1-Sept. 30, 2015. All premium payments are due by Aug. 30, 2015.
Jones said RI-AF is similar to Pasture, Range and Forage Insurance, or PRF insurance, but the difference lies in the type of commodity covered. PRF covers perennial grasses such as pasture and hay, while RI-AF is strictly for annual forage crops, including but not limited to winter small grains, such as wheat, oats, rye and triticale; and spring plantings such as Sudan, haygrazer and millet.
Under both insurance plans, payment is not determined by individual damages, but rather area losses based on a grid system, she said. A major difference between the two policies is that PRF allows producers to insure only a portion of their acreage, but RI-AF requires coverage on all certified acres not intended for grain production.
Producers must also choose a maximum of three two-month intervals per growing season per year, Jones said. Insured acres are then spread between time periods, with no more than 40% of the acres placed in any interval.
Coverage levels between 70% and 90% are available, she said. Once coverage is selected, the producer chooses a productivity factor between 60% and 150%. The productivity factor is a percentage of the established county base value for annual forage. Base value is a standard rate published by the Risk Management Agency for each county.
The Rainfall Index determines RI-AF coverage, Jones said. This model uses National Oceanic and Atmospheric Climate Prediction Center data and a 12-by-12-mile grid system. Indemnities are calculated based on the deviation from normal precipitation within a grid for a specific period selected.