041130 NB Producers Happy About Resuming Beef Japan Trade

Yankton, NB - Gary Heine doesn't know how the U.S. beef market will respond to the resumption of beef trade with Japan. But he's confident it can't do anything to hurt prices domestically.

"I'm cautiously optimistic. Anytime another market opens up, I'm optimistic. It gives the beef market another opportunity to increase prices," said the owner of Yankton Livestock Auction Market. "The amount of boxed beef now coming into the U.S. from Canada has had an adverse effect on fat cattle by driving down prices. Hopefully with Japan, the prices will level out and eventually climb upwards."

Last December's discovery of a BSE-infected dairy cow in Washington state couldn't have come at a worse time for area beef producers and feeders.

The cattle market had been enjoying record high prices after years of mediocrity, and drought-affected ranchers had found reason to continue production despite lack of rain and high feed prices.

Nearly a year later, fears surrounding contraction of the rare Mad Cow disease haven't decreased in intensity, but the U.S. and other countries are more open to working toward a solution to the BSE-caused trade impasse.

On Oct. 23, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that U.S. and Japan had reached a compromise in their negotiations to resume beef trade.

A specific date to reopen trade has not been finalized and depends on how quickly both countries complete regulatory conditions, one of those being that the U.S. must prove each animal shipped to Japan is no older than 20 months.

"Other than the age verification factor, area producers think the agreement reached between us and Japan is a good idea," said Craig Anthony, a Yankton County Extension educator who farms near Irene.

There are concerns as to whether the U.S. government or producers will fund the required traceability process, and how the USDA will regulate the system. Currently, the progress toward a national ID system is too little to answer these questions.

"A national animal ID system looks to be the way of the future," Heine said. "That in itself is quite a colossal undertaking to put into motion. I think it'll be OK if we don't rush into it."

Because consumers want to be 100-percent certain they're food is safe, he said producers won't be able to avoid a national traceability system.

"Granted, I don't like too much government intervention," he said. "But there are a lot of private companies out there working on a national ID system, and I'm sure that one in the good ole U.S.A. will come up with something that works well for both consumers and producers."

According to the USDA, two methods can be used to verify a slaughter animal's age: Individual identification that connects a specific animal to its birth date, herd birth records and artificial insemination records; and A grading system that correlates physiological traits of carcasses to a specific age of the animal.

South Dakota State University in Brookings is currently exploring ways to fulfill age verification requirements via the second method.

Extension Beef Specialist Cody Wright said there are two techniques already used commercially. Traditionally, the age of a slaughtered animal depends on the degree of ossification of cartilage in the vertebrae. Another method used by meat processors is, determining the age by the number of mature teeth.

Meanwhile, the Nebraska Department of Agriculture implemented a statewide animal ID system six weeks ago. Each animal involved in the program receives a radio frequency-activated ear tag, which has the ability to electronically store production records.

Beef and sheep are placed on an individual ID system, while species raised and marketed together, such as poultry and pork, are placed on a group system.

Assistant Director Greg Ibach said the voluntary program gives producers a foretaste of what may come in a national ID program, as well as an opportunity to realize market premiums through a value-added strategy. He said the state agricultural department plans to use the ID system to track and better quarantine disease outbreaks.

Of the two methods, the individual ID system is closer to completion, Wright said.

"The biggest problem with this agreement with Japan is, finding a way to verify the age of a slaughtered animal. The easiest way to do this is using an ID system," Anthony agreed.

Besides the questions lying behind a national traceability program, he worries that some cattle producers may be ineligible to benefit from resumed trade with Japan. He said the age requirement will challenge grain-fed operations to meet the 20 months or younger goal, not to mention probably eliminate grass-based operations and slow- finishing cattle.

But, Anthony noted, there are no alternatives to the age verification requirement in the U.S.-Japan trade agreement.

"Japan has more problems with BSE and paranoid consumers," Anthony said. "U.S. consumers have more faith in our government than other countries' consumers have in their own governments. If the (U.S) government says our food's safe, we tend to believe it. Japan doesn't believe."

Heine added he felt the one BSE case found on U.S. soil has been exaggerated.

"There's better chance of being struck by lightning on the golf course than contracting BSE," he said. "But it's something we have to put up with, and it's brought animal ID into light. If the (U.S.-Japan beef trade) agreement hadn't happened, the issue would've come around for other reasons."

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