Thoughts from the Middle of Nowhere

It looks like the beef industry might be making progress in Japan. The Japanese government might be thinking about upping the age limit for imported beef from 20 month to the more generally accepted 30 month age limit. There is still one little hurdle to go through, the Food Safety Commission, and there is no guarantee they will approve, but I feel it looks like things are moving in the right direction. That's good to see after the latest South Korean fiasco.

I think it's the end of progress if you stand still and think of what you've done in the past. I keep on. Leslie Caron

South Korea suspends US beef imports

South Korea has effectively suspended U.S. beef imports over mad cow concerns after a recent shipment was found to have contained banned parts, a news report said Thursday.

That's about all the information that's in the story. I wish the meat packers would pay a little more attention to what is going on to prevent this kind of thing from happening. That would be to much to ask though. The article does bring up the slow progress we are making in Japan's markets. If we cuould just get going in South Korea again all would be great.

It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop. Confucius

Major Japanese supermarket chain puts US beef back on its shelves

Major Japanese supermarket chain Ito-Yokado Co. brought American beef back to its shelves Friday, about 3 1/2 years after sales were halted in the wake of the first U.S. case of mad cow disease, a parent company spokesman said.

U.S. beef went back on sale at 20 Ito-Yokado stores, mostly in the Tokyo area, said Shirotake Henmi, spokesman for giant Japanese retailer Seven & I Holdings Co.

I like to see this. Slow and steady wins the race. Slowly build the Japanese market up again for US beef and this will help beef producers. Just opening the market doesn't guarantee it will magically transform into the large market it was before. It takes time to do that and this shows that. Good tasting, high quality beef, which the US excels at, will finish the job.

Anyone who wants to sell you overnight success or wealth is not interested in your success; they are interested in your money. Bo Bennett

Beef trade with Japan has taken a big step forward. They have given 35 beef plants a clean bill of health which will stop 100% inspections of imports in Japan and they will scale back to only random checks. This is a good step, now to work on getting them to accept something other than boneless beef to be imported. Sometimes things have to proceed one step at a time and this is one of them. Hopefully some slaughter plant won't screw up and shipo the wrong thing to Japan and screw this all up. We'll see.

I'm just taking one step at a time. I could zigzag one way, but it's not usually on purpose. Beck

I missed this with being so busy and the Brucellosis problem in Montana, but the US received a "controlled risk" status for BSE from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). This is really good news. Under this status age restrictions for beef are no longer valid and any country who maintians one opens themselves up to a trade case with the WTO.

Japan says they will not ease their import restrictions even with this new classification. They are hedging their bets by saying, "It is important to respond to this issue by taking concrete steps in line with scientific facts to ensure food safety and consumers' trust." They don't want to open up their market but they know they are going to have to now.

The only bad news in this for some people in the US cattle industry is that Canada got the same "controlled risk" status as the US. This means the efforts to stop the USDA rule allowing older Canadian cattle into the US should be dead. I'm sure people will continue to try and find a way to stop the Canadian cattle. You know what this is called? Hypocrisy. If they want other countries to open up to US beef but continue to fight that Canadian beef in the US they are hypocrites. Real simple. I'm sure this won't bother some people but I can't stand it. That's why I haven't recently been saying anything against proposed rule when it came out. It seemed hypocritical to me to try to block Canada from something we want other countries to accept from us.

In the name of Hypocrites, doctors have invented the most exquisite form of torture ever known to man: survival. Edward Everett Hale

I see that South Korean consumers are willing to buy US Beef. It's just the politicians are trying to keep it from happening. I notice when US beef was offered in Japan the consumer was willing to buy it to. The politicians from these countries are reading their consumers wrong and maybe should open up the beef trade a little more. I note that the 20 month Japan rule is in a little jeopardy now since they are having trouble verifying that these young cases of BSE in Japan really happened. Did they concoct them to stifle beef trade with the US? Interesting thought.

I find it interesting that consumers in both Japan and South Korea are willing to buy US beef but the politicians are keeping it out. Typical, isn't it. I just wonder if the same holds true for the US? In all truthfulness I don't really want to ask this question but in fairness, I have to. Would US consumers be willing to eat Canadian beef after the latest BSE case but the politicians are bound and determined to stop it? That would be a scary poll to see.

It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself. Eleanor Roosevelt

I see that the US and Canada might get `Controlled-Risk' Status for BSE. The article claims this status might help us get some of our lost export markets back. I'm not so sure. South Korea has indicated that no mater what status we get from OIE, they are going to continue their official/unofficial trade barrier to our beef. Maybe in other markets, like Japan, this will help since the change in status indicates meat from animals under 30 months of age is safe but Japan has arbitrarily set 20 months as their standard to prevent to much US beef from coming in, but I doubt it.

I wonder how this move will affect R-Calf's continued pursuit of shutting down the US border to Canadian beef? They are always quoting OIE statistics to support their position that BSE has compromised their herds and the cattle need to be held out, but if the OIE gives them `Controlled-Risk' Status, their objections will kind of become hypocritical. With the meltdown at R-Calf though they will probable just ignore this and move on as if it never happened. Bulldoze ahead no matter what. Quite the philosophy.

Do not trust all men, but trust men of worth; the former course is silly, the latter a mark of prudence. Democritus

Japanese restaurants want more U.S. beef

Japanese restaurants are feeling a serious supply crunch, according to reports from the Associated Press. The restaurants are set to urge the government to ease restriction on U.S. beef imports, officials said Tuesday.

Although Tokyo eased a 2 � year blanket ban on U.S. beef in July, U.S. beef has only trickled into the country because of lingering trade restrictions caused by mad cow fears.

Some interesting rumbles from Japan, that's for sure. It will be curious to see if these rumbles come true.

I hate to spread rumours, but what else can one do with them? Amanda Lear

Just a few different items from Australia that have caught my eye.

Drought hitting livestock prices

LIVESTOCK prices across NSW are in freefall, with farmers selling off record numbers of sheep and cattle as the drought worsens.

Meat processors say they cannot take any more livestock, and producers say they are concerned about how low prices could go.

Lately it seems like this is all a person hears about, drought, drought and more drought. Whether it's here in the US or elsewhere in the world. It sure makes life for farmers and ranchers of all types tough as the article points out. It's so dry they have to sell stock but there is nowhere for the stock to go so prices go down. Supply and demand, it can work for you, or against you.

US vows not to compete over Japanese beef market

The United States beef industry has pledged to try to expand the Japanese beef market, rather than take market share from Australia.

Australia is currently hosting beef producers from the United States, Canada, Mexico and New Zealand for the annual five nation beef talks.

If you believe this I have some swampland in Florida to sell you too. Of course we are in competition with each other for market share. That's the name of the game. Expanding the whole base is a great idea but there will be some poaching along the way. Deal with it, that's life.

Last, but not least, some notes on Australia's National Animal Identification Scheme (NLIS).

NLIS has been in effect here coming on two years. I haven’t registered my place, and I am selling cattle to a neighbor who also isn’t registered. There is one heck of an underground trade, making the whole thing pointless. I’ve always been opposed to it, but I can mount arguments for its implementation in the bigger picture. In theory it gives the customer what he wants, but in reality it has lots of big holes.

At the last bullocky [ox drover] meeting I raised the subject of just how ridiculous NLIS is, and plenty of people there were in total agreement. NLIS had just bogged them down in paperwork.

Our Patron is a retiring senator. His advise? “Just ignore it!” Which is what everybody who can already does. So it’s only those who put stock through the market that it affects. Hardly a watertight system!

“Just ignore it!” Not advice I recommend while we are trying to stop the NAIS program in the US. It might be the right move though if the system is put in place. The whole farm to factory aspect, don't believe the governments propaganda of farm to plate, the tracking stops at the slaughter house, of NAIS just gives a person a warm fuzzy felling of security doesn't it? Especially knowing that people are out there circumventing it. We in the US need to keep an eye on the Australian NLIS system and the flaws in it for ammunition to stop the movement here. Mandatory NAIS is wrong.

Australia has always been important to me. I'd love to get down there, but I'm not a booking agent. I'm not a promoter, so I haven't had control over that. Tom Cochrane

Scarcity Of Smaller Cattle, High Market Prices Suppressing Beef Sales In Japan

U.S. beef is selling for almost as much as domestic Wagyu beef in Japan, and the "paucity" of cattle under 20 months of age has combined with high prices to suppress sales of U.S. beef in Japan, according to Phil Seng, chief executive of the U.S. Meat Export Federation.

"Onerous and time-consuming" procedures at customs, which can take up to a week to clear a single shipment, are making matters worse, he added.

However, not all the news from Japan is bad, he said, speaking to reporters in the midst of a five-city tour of the country to promote U.S. beef. One bright spot is growing suspicion in Japanese scientific circles that two cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in animals aged 21 months and 23 months may not in fact have been legitimate cases. If that is true, it would undermine Japan's demand that only beef from cattle under 20 months is safe, and open up a far larger pool of cattle in the United States for possible export.

I've always been skeptical of the younger BSE cases Japan has had. It just doesn't square right with what is known about BSE. The thing is, even if they discount the younger BSE cases I doubt whether Japan will let in any older cattle. Any way to stymie the US seems to be Japan's modus operandi lately and I doubt they will change their ways now.

I will say that the guy who bought my calves last year had the majority of them fat, around 1400 pounds, and to the packer by 16 months of age so they would be eligible to go to Japan. I'm sure he will try to do the same this year. Hopefully it works out for him.

What's the good news? US beef tastes great.

Japanese Consumers Pick U.S. Beef Above The Rest

When given the choice of American, Japanese and Australian beef, consumers at a Tokyo beef event Sunday chose the U.S. variety.

The event was held at Shinjuku station, the busiest train station in the world, to spread the message “Beef Itself Is Safe” to consumers. The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) was there to emphasize its “We Care” campaign, designed to regain consumer trust and build a positive image of U.S. beef.

Didn't all us US beef producers all ready know that our product tasted great? Now to convince the rest of the world.

If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right. Men will believe what they see. Henry David Thoreau

Barbecue chain to serve U.S. beef

A restaurant chain plans to resume serving U.S. beef at dozens of its branches nationwide, company officials said Saturday.

Zenshoku, based in Osaka Prefecture, plans to offer U.S. beef at the company's 57 Korean barbecue restaurants across Japan soon, the company said.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported earlier that the chain plans to introduce American beef as early as Tuesday, possibly becoming the first chain to do so since the government eased an import ban last month.

Now this looks real promising. Get more US beef back into the food chains in Japan. Any increase in demand helps out in the long run for us.

The supply of words in the world market is plentiful but the demand is falling. Let deeds follow words now. Lech Walesa

U.S. Beef Supply About To Improve In Japan

According to the U.S. Meat Export Federation, the first ocean cargos of U.S. beef are about to arrive in Japan, after initial air shipments sold out in less than a day.

Although U.S. beef is still in short supply, sea shipments should ease the shortage, Chief Executive Philip Seng told Meatingplace.com.

This will be the real test of how Japanese consumers will react to US beef, when the big ships arrive. It will be interesting to see. The initial reaction was enthusiastic to say the least but the markets that are willing to carry US beef are few. If they keep capitalizing on their initial success maybe more doors will be opened and the Japanese consumer will get to decide whether they want US beef or not. It will take a while to win this market back but I think we can. Slow and steady wins the game.

Our choice is clear,
we may share
your choice,
declare
meaning and rhythm and grace
in each daily act.

Hilda Doolittle

U.S. beef sales to Japan off to fast start

Sales of U.S. beef to Japan are off to a fast start with 500 metric tons sold since the market reopened July 27 and three stores in Tokyo selling out of their offerings this week, U.S. meat industry sources said on Thursday.

"To me that is a sign that beef exports to Japan may make a much quicker comeback than we previously thought," said Dan Vaught, livestock analyst with A.G. Edwards.

Five hundred metric tons of US beef sold all ready. Stores all ready sold out of beef. Is this ever good news. We in the industry were led to believe that the Japanese consumer wouldn't buy US beef. I guess we were just hearing from the vocal minority. The silent majority are letting us know their opinion by buying good US beef.

I should know better than to listen to the alarmists but when it's the only voice you hear you take it to be gospel after a while.

It will be interesting to see where this leads the cattle market. I'm sure it will drive prices up. Not a bad thing for me but not great for consumers. The next big question in the cattle market is what about next year? My sources indicate that with all the corn futures being bought up by proposed ethanol plants, there is going to be a shortage of corn in the next year which will really drive feed prices up. Who will go bust and who will survive. The livestock feeding industry or the ethanol industry. Stay tuned, it's going to get interesting.

Advertising doesn't create a product advantage. It can only convey it. William Bernbach

Japan lifts ban on U.S. beef imports

apan on Thursday announced the resumption of U.S. beef imports, ending a ban imposed in January due to concerns about mad cow disease that had strained ties with Washington.

U.S. Ambassador Thomas Schieffer immediately welcomed the move, which reopens Japan's lucrative market to a select list of American meat exporters, saying that it resolved an issue of primary importance to the United States.

I have been reading all week, story after story about how this was going to happen. I really got tired of reading the story. I was just waiting for the announcment that it did happen, and it fisnlly came this morning. I really and truly thought Japan would weasel out and not open the market back up. I was wrong.

Opening the market was the easy part, now it's time to build market share, that's the hard part.

Reality is easy. It's deception that's the hard work. Lauryn Hill