U.S. packer supports testing
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
By Barbara Duckworth
Calgary bureau
DENVER, Colo. - The head of Creekstone Farms says Canadian packers interested in testing cattle for BSE should do so.
"They should have the right to test," said Bill Fielding, chief operating officer of Creekstone Farms Premium Beef in Kansas.
Canadians have consulted him on packing plant logistics and testing regimens, but he warns such plants may be doomed from the start.
"By the time they get them finished, the border will be open, export markets will be open and the big guys will bury them," he said.
Creekstone Farms is embroiled in a dispute with the U.S. Department of Agriculture because the government refused to allow the packer to test cattle in its plant to satisfy Japanese customers.
The U.S. government said the request was not based on scientific evidence.
It is an animal disease test, not a food safety test, said Bill Hawks, undersecretary of agriculture. Both spoke at the Ranchers-Cattlemen's Action Legal Fund annual meeting in Denver on Jan. 21.
Hawks said testing costs would be passed back to producers, but Creekstone representatives countered that Japanese clients offered to cover testing costs.
Creekstone kills about 3,000 head per week. It has the capacity to handle 1,000 per day but since BSE in the United States closed Asian export markets, the kill was reduced and 150 people were laid off. About 40 percent of the plant's output was exported to Japan as a high quality Black Angus beef.
Fielding said losing the chance to test cattle meant the company has lost a $400 per head premium from the Japanese. The Bio-Rad rapid test would cost $20 a head but if they earned premiums in Japan, it would pay for itself.
"We consider this an extra (business) step. We are not making any claim this is BSE-free product," he said.
The company built a $500,000 testing lab beside its kill floor and hired European trained staff to handle the rapid tests. The numbers could go into the national testing program statistics.
Fielding said in an interview it is impractical to sue the USDA over this issue. He said the government is spending too much on testing to meet its targets of about 268,000 in a 12-18 month period.
"What really upset us is the government is spending $70 million on the targeted tests. We could have done 300,000 for $6 million," he said.
He also has doubts about recent inconclusive tests from the U.S. government laboratories that were eventually declared BSE negative.
"I believe the scientific numbers that say if you run that rapid test twice that the odds of not being positive are 200,000 to one," he said.
"Either they are totally incompetent in their federal approved labs or they are not using the science and something is amiss," he said.
producer.com
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
By Barbara Duckworth
Calgary bureau
DENVER, Colo. - The head of Creekstone Farms says Canadian packers interested in testing cattle for BSE should do so.
"They should have the right to test," said Bill Fielding, chief operating officer of Creekstone Farms Premium Beef in Kansas.
Canadians have consulted him on packing plant logistics and testing regimens, but he warns such plants may be doomed from the start.
"By the time they get them finished, the border will be open, export markets will be open and the big guys will bury them," he said.
Creekstone Farms is embroiled in a dispute with the U.S. Department of Agriculture because the government refused to allow the packer to test cattle in its plant to satisfy Japanese customers.
The U.S. government said the request was not based on scientific evidence.
It is an animal disease test, not a food safety test, said Bill Hawks, undersecretary of agriculture. Both spoke at the Ranchers-Cattlemen's Action Legal Fund annual meeting in Denver on Jan. 21.
Hawks said testing costs would be passed back to producers, but Creekstone representatives countered that Japanese clients offered to cover testing costs.
Creekstone kills about 3,000 head per week. It has the capacity to handle 1,000 per day but since BSE in the United States closed Asian export markets, the kill was reduced and 150 people were laid off. About 40 percent of the plant's output was exported to Japan as a high quality Black Angus beef.
Fielding said losing the chance to test cattle meant the company has lost a $400 per head premium from the Japanese. The Bio-Rad rapid test would cost $20 a head but if they earned premiums in Japan, it would pay for itself.
"We consider this an extra (business) step. We are not making any claim this is BSE-free product," he said.
The company built a $500,000 testing lab beside its kill floor and hired European trained staff to handle the rapid tests. The numbers could go into the national testing program statistics.
Fielding said in an interview it is impractical to sue the USDA over this issue. He said the government is spending too much on testing to meet its targets of about 268,000 in a 12-18 month period.
"What really upset us is the government is spending $70 million on the targeted tests. We could have done 300,000 for $6 million," he said.
He also has doubts about recent inconclusive tests from the U.S. government laboratories that were eventually declared BSE negative.
"I believe the scientific numbers that say if you run that rapid test twice that the odds of not being positive are 200,000 to one," he said.
"Either they are totally incompetent in their federal approved labs or they are not using the science and something is amiss," he said.
producer.com
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