 Forrest Roberts of Pfizer Animal Health announced a $3 million commitment to the livestock industry during the Industry Issues Forum at the 2004 Cattle Industry Convention and Trade Show Jan. 29. Pfizer presented the National Cattlemen’s Foundation the first of three $1 million checks. Click here to view the release about the donation. |
Beef forum evaluates BSE and its effects
Cattlemen and beef industry representatives seeking information after the Dec. 23, 2003, finding of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) found it at the Beef Industry Issues Forum Thursday, Jan. 29, during the 2004 Cattle Industry Annual Convention in Phoenix, Ariz. Representatives from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA), the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), Cattle-Fax and a variety of other agriculture and foodservice organizations were on hand to explain how the BSE finding affected the U.S. beef industry.
Pfizer Animal Health sponsored the forum, titled "BSE: Understanding the Business and Consumer Climate," and the five breakout sessions that followed.
Andy Tucker, chairman of the Cattlemen's Beef Board (CBB) welcomed the crowd gathered at the Phoenix Civic Plaza and introduced Cattle-Fax representative Randy Blach.
Blach reviewed Cattle-Fax market projections and forecasted effects of BSE-inspired regulations.
Blach said implementation of a downer cow rule could potentially cost the industry $50-60 million. Likewise, he said, the greater-than-30-month rule could cost producers $77-$120 per head.
However, most BSE review and speculation seemed positive.
Mike Donahue, vice president of McDonald's USA, told cattlemen that despite the BSE finding, McDonald's performance has been unaffected. According to a McDonald's survey, almost 7 in 10 respondents reported the BSE incident did not affect their eating behavior.
"McDonald's is and, what we believe, will be the No. 1 purchaser of beef in the United States," he said. "We're proud to be your No. 1 customer and, we hope, your No. 1 partner."
Garry McKee, Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) administrator and Steve Sundlof, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) director of veterinary medicine also shared their respective organization's views. Ron DeHaven, deputy administrator for Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) veterinary services program, reviewed the effects of BSE and the media coverage following the finding. DeHaven was a frequently used media source during BSE coverage.
"We need to make sure our actions are based on science," he said, noting the need for a national animal identification (ID) program.
— by Crystal Albers
Click on the link below to download to the audio files
Special announcement by Pfizer Animal Health
Breakout Sessions
Consumers remain confident
Consumer demand for beef became a concern for cattlemen after the Dec. 23, 2003, discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). With the help of public relations efforts and reassurance campaigns from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and other industry organizations, consumer eating habits remained steady, said industry representatives at the consumer confidence forum during the Beef Industry Issues Forum titled “BSE: Understanding the Business and Consumer Climate.”
The forum was part of the 2004 Cattle Industry Annual Convention, Jan. 28-31, in Phoenix, Ariz. NCBA’s Mark Thomas and Kendal Frazier, U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) representative Lynn Heinze, and McDonald’s Vice President Mike Donahue spoke to beef producers and industry associates gathered in the Phoenix Civic Plaza.
Frazier reported that despite the BSE finding, consumer confidence has remained high, and, according to an NCBA tracking survey, it has actually reached levels higher than pre-BSE ratings. The study shows 97% of consumers are aware of the BSE case; however, 90% of consumers remain confident in the U.S. beef supply — that’s a 2% increase in confidence levels since before the BSE case.
“We’ve been tracking consumer attitudes about BSE since 1996, so we think we have some really good time-series data on this,”he said.
Thomas said Americans consider U.S. beef the safest in the world. He said NCBA’s communication efforts — including television, radio and print advertisements; public relations efforts, in-store promotions; and media interviews — have helped develop that confidence. He said truthfulness and openness with the media were important keys to successful reassurance of consumer fears.
Donahue agreed, saying candor and openness are critical. “In Europe for example, when [BSE] occurred and the crisis was pretty widespread, we know that most countries that were aggressive in telling their stories actually had beef sales go up,” he said.
He said when the case was first reported, the McDonald’s team had to decide whether it would continue its scheduled beef promotion campaign or use other products. “At the end of the day, the management stood firm,” he said, noting the restaurant chain’s aggressive beef promotion campaign.
Although consumer confidence remained high in domestic markets, Heinze reported a different trend for consumers overseas.
“Some (South) Koreans actually believe that if you touch a piece of beef, you’re likely to get BSE,” he said, noting a 60% decrease in the country’s beef consumption. Other major importers, such as Japan, have also been hesitant toward U.S. beef. Heinze said the same messages used in the United States will also be used in international markets, with sensitivity to local customs. “We want to have a message of reassurance that’s strong enough and smart enough to carry us through that next occurrence,” he said.
And although he hopes there won’t be another occurrence, Heinze said the country must plan ahead. “If we don’t plan for it at this time and if we don’t establish an overall strategy in these countries that will help us guard against that, we will go through what we did [Dec.] 23 … and we don’t want that.
“We want the doors to reopen, and once they reopen, we want a scientific basis there that will allow them to continue to use our product.”
— by Crystal Albers
Industry Issues: Animal Identification
The finding of an animal infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the United States has numerous state and national legislators calling for adoption of identification (ID) systems allowing individual animals to be traced back to their points of origin. But cattlemen have been debating the animal ID issue for years. On Jan. 29, attendees of the 2004 Cattle Industry Convention in Phoenix, Ariz., heard about an industry-driven plan for implementing animal disease surveillance through a national ID system.
During a breakout session of the convention’s Industry Issues Forum, Ohio cattleman Gary Wilson presented details regarding the U.S. Animal Identification Plan (USAIP). Wilson has been an NCBA representative to the group of livestock industry professionals responsible for developing the proposed multi-specie ID system.
While some politicians want to create state-administered, ID programs, Wilson fears that could result in a quagmire of different programs.
“We don’t need 50 different identification systems in this country,” he advised. “We need one plan, and widespread support for that plan.”
Wilson explained that USAIP would start by assigning premise ID numbers to all livestock operations. Premise ID would be managed by respective state departments of agriculture or an appropriate state agency. Individual animals would receive radio-frequency ear tags carrying unique, 15-digit ID numbers recorded in a national database managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Subsequent changes in animal ownership would be recorded.
The USAIP goal is to achieve capability for assisting emergency animal disease management, through 48-hour traceback to any animal’s point of origin.
Wilson said planners hope to have specific software and methodology in place by July 2004, so that assignment of premise ID numbers could begin. Individual animal ID would be phased in, with recording of animals sold interstate as the first priority.
“We don’t want the identification system to disrupt the flow of commerce,” Wilson insisted. “It has to be feasible and economical.”
Animals entering the United States from other countries would be subject to the same ID and tracking procedures as animals already in the country.
— by Troy Smith
BSE Forum: Trade Implications
In response to the finding of a dairy cow infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in late Dec. 2003, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) organized a BSE issues forum during the 2004 Cattle Industry Convention and Trade Show in Phoenix. The purpose of the Jan. 29 forum was to answer questions and ensure cattlemen of the safety of beef.
In a breakout session titled “Trade Implications,” Paul Clayton of the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) and NCBA Chief Economist Gregg Doud discussed the closure of international markets to U.S. beef, the economic effects, and the impact of newly implemented U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulations regarding BSE.
Although cattle prices have dropped since the discovery of the BSE positive cow late last year, the mood of the presenters seemed optimistic as Doud mentioned that prices still exceeded those of one year ago, and Poland has recently reopened it’s boarders. Clayton estimated the effects of most of the new regulations will have minimal added cost to producers.
A question-and-answer session followed the presentation.
— by Cara Bieroth