TheBeefSite Newsletter - 20 May 2009

Wednesday 20th May 2009

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Welcome to this week's newsletter

Editorial: Almost Silent BSE Response Speaks Volumes

Late last Friday, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) confirmed a new case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in an 80-month-old dairy cow from Alberta. The agency say that no part of the animalâ€™s carcass entered the human food or animal feed systems. The animalâ€™s birth farm has been identified, and an investigation is underway.

Later this week, two US cattle and meat packer groups said that the confirmation of this case will not affect the safety of US beef. "The discovery merely provides more proof that the Canadian BSE surveillance system is working," said James Hodges, executive vice president at the American Meat Institute. However, a third group - R-CALF - disagreed. The organisation claims that the US Department of Agriculture's policy allowing importation of Canadian cattle over the age of 30 months exposes US meat supplies and consumers to "unnecessary risk."

Either way, it is the consumer led market that speaks volumes and it barely uttered a sound. "Live cattle futures closed higher in most contracts Monday as traders were unmoved by the latest case," reported Weekly Times Now.

Adam Anson

This Week's Feature Articles

We have 5 new features this week:

Cattle or Trees? the Meaty Issue at the Heart of the Amazon
Today, Brazil is the world's leading beef producing country, but what toll has this success taken on the Amazon rainforest and can the government learn to stop deforestation whilst keeping the industry moving forward? Adam Anson, reporting for TheCattleSite, finds out more.

Animal Studies Safeguard Food Suppliesâ€”and Human Health
Hundreds of different species of Mycobacterium are known to exist, and many of them have been infecting animals and humans â€”sometimes with deadly results-for thousands of years, writes Ann Perry, Agricultural Research Service Information Staff of the USDA.

The Economics Behind GM Stockfeed in Australia
Emma Ansell and Eamon McGinn report on the economic issues for producers and consumers behing GM stockfeed, in this Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics publication.

US Feed Outlook - May 2009
Forecasted feed grain area planted in 2009, based on the 31 March Prospective Plantings, is down by two per cent from 2008, according to the USDA Economic Research Service.

US Beef and Dairy Outlook Report - May 2009
By USDA, Economic Research Service - This article is an extract from the May 2009 issue of Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook Report.