USDA Rule 2

[15444]

The 2nd USDA rule for the importation of older cattle and breeding cattle is now online.

Go to:

http://cattletoday.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=29878

to find info on how to access the rule.

Personally, I've read about 1/2 the rule, and feel more confident about this 2nd rule than the 1st rule on UTM cattle. Why?, I honestly do not know. Perhaps maybe due to the fact that I did not read anything in which I suspected the USDA was fabricating or exaggerating the state of BSE in Canada or the US. If it is rejected, I think the major sticking point in Congress will be the age limit date of March 1, 1999. I wouldn't be surprised to see USDA take the date to 2000 or 2001 (on a re-submission), based on the birth dates of some of the infected Canadian animals that were born after 1999.

Nice to see that 'CAN' tattoo's in combo with ear tags, or 'CAN' brands in combo in ear tags will be acceptable for identification. I only wish I could find the list of acceptable ports, as indicated in the rule.

[ProFarmer]

this rule is a joke there is no way you can tell if a cow is born after 1999 and box meat from these cows will only be acepted if you can verify the birth date.It is just another stalling, a bunch of BS.These American policy makers should all be sent to Iraq instead of their young soldiers

[15444]

How did you think this was going to work? Did you actually think that cows would be allowed free range into the US? This is a step. Not going to be like it was before. But if we can at least get rid of free-martins, feeder bulls, stags, a few junk cows and a bunch of Holstein steers, then so be it. Just like when the border opened to feeders, there will be liners of cows ready to go across, and someone ready to make a killing on cheap Canadian cows.

[cowman]

I too am wondering how you verify a cows age as being under March 1,1999? Easy enough with purebred breeding stock, but how about the commercial cow? But it should open up the breeding market?
I'm not so sure it is all that important however? The biggy here is the ability to export OTM beef? All OTM beef???
I suspect this rule, as written, will be a real gift to our packing industry? And I do believe prices will rise to reflect the profitability of exporting OTM beef into the USA?
It costs a lot of money to export live animals into the USA with all the silly new rules? Even so there are a lot of UTM fats and feeders crossing the line...so many in fact that Canadian packers are all agressively pursuing the cull cow market right now? I think the USDA just handed Canada a real plus...and basically really shafted their own packing houses?...I guess guys like Willowcreek are going to get screwed again!
Some people like to blame the packers for low prices for cull cattle, but the fact is it is the Canadian retailer who has reaped the lions share of cheap cow prices? Check out the carcass price of cows...then check out the price of your local steak sandwich! Someone is making a killing! Certainly not the cow/calf producer and certainly not the consumer?

[grassfarmer]

Cowman, "that Canadian packers are all agressively pursuing the cull cow market right now?" Agressively seems a strange word to use when you were telling us a week ago how poor cow prices were - with the dummies selling some for under 10 cents.

[cowman]

Maybe I should have said "agressively slaughtering cows"? Tyson, for sure, although they seem to have a definite limit on what they will pay? More the D3 market?
I don't know the buyers good enough to know who they are buying for? I know Bill Shultz quite well(Tyson) but not sure who Schneider is buying for? He seems to be taking the better cows right now. It's almost like each buyer has his own little niche type of cow he wants.

[grassfarmer]

Sounds like a rigged market to me - each of the limited number of buyers taking one type of cow and none of them going above a fixed (but still low) price. Lack of competition - still our biggest problem.

[BFW]

I wonder why anyone would sell a cow that has a decent chance of surviving the winter. Hay is cheap and with the proposed rule 2 on the books it would seem like a pretty good gamble keeping and feeding these cows this winter. (Low risk potentially a pretty good reward.)

[grassfarmer]

Yeah, but that gets back into the will it /won't it happen debate. Most of the cows sold last fall were gone before there was mention of this rule 2 being alive. Now will cow prices be bid up by speculators only for them to drop again if R-CALF or the US Government decides to fool around with us for another 18 months? It's relatively easy to buy cattle or hold cattle in a down market but it's only worthwhile if you get out of them better down the road.

[kato]

I think the biggest benefit will be those few head in every pot load that fail on their dental exam.

Last winter I helped inspect a lot of loads of cattle, and having 15 to 20% of them fail on teeth wasn't unusual. (These were auction and dealer cattle with no history) On the 1500 or so head we looked at that could be as many as 225 to 300 animals. That's a lot of money, if you lost 10 cents a pound. Do the math, it adds up. There's a lot of money on the table if a steer has the wrong tooth coming in and has to be left behind. That will have been built into the price that was paid for him, you can be sure. Take away that potential loss, and it might help, even if it's only a bit.

Interesting to know that in all that time I never saw one age verification certificate.