Brownfield

On the road again...

Brownfield's Tom Steever keeps wheels or wings under himself often in this business -- and he's at it once again next week with a whirlwind tour of Nebraska. Tom's taking part in the Nebraska Corn Board Harvest Tour and will be riding in a caravan across the Husker State. From Friend to Minden and between Norfolk and Waterloo, we're betting Tom will get a pretty clear picture of how Nebraska' corn growers have fared this growing season. Watch for more updates here on the blog.

Milk contracts about to spoil

Livestock Price Reporting isn't the only federal ag program set to expire this afternoon. The Milk Income Loss Contract program will also disappear due to lack of Congressional action. Brownfield's Bob Meyer has been closely following this story for several months. In a report today, the President of Wisconsin Farm Bureau relays concerns about the political costs of debating MILC.

No extension yet

If you've been following the story on Mandatory Livestock Price Reporting you know it's set to expire today. I blogged about the situation yesterday and I just wanted to pass along word that nothing has changed yet. I worked the phones earlier and it sounds like it's still a deadlock on the Hill. The reporting program will die this afternoon, unless things change.

Halting horse slaughter

UPDATE: Talk radio host Derry Brownfield (founder and previous owner of this company, hence the commonality in names) did a show about horse slaughter today. According to his producer's blog, plenty of people weren't too thrilled with the subject matter.

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Slaughtering horses for human consumption seems like a moot point in the U.S. The average consumer wouldn't likely pick the rump roast from a pony over the strip steak from an Angus steer. But some European countries enjoy a good horseburger now and again, and it's made for a market in the U.S.

Legislation pending in a Joint Conference Committee right now would halt the slaughter of horses in the U.S., if the meat is to be exported for human consumption. Three plants in this country process thousands of equine each year for meat that is bound for places like Belgium, where they buy up a lot of horse. It's a big business that employs people in a variety of jobs, from those who work at the plant right down to the auctioneers who sell the horses and the marketers who buy them. It also provides an outlet for the hundreds of unwanted horses.

Many equine groups and animal rights organizations are advocating that slaughter for consumption be halted. They are making the case that most of these horses are still suitable for use and don't justify processing. As a matter of fact, one source involved in the processing industry has told me that only about 25% of the slaughtered horses are actually in such condition (physically or mentally) to justify death. That would mean 75% could still be ridden, used for labor or made into a therapy animal. Rescue groups are working save these horses by the hundred and they continue to grow the numbers of people lobbying their Congressman to stop the slaughter.

I'm curious what the general public thinks of this, though. Is it wrong to put people out of jobs and shut down the horse market? Or is it wrong to process horses for human consumption? Is there a real answer and suitable solution to this debate?

There's no judge or jury here. Just a curious reporter.

Politics of livestock pricing

The politics of price reporting have come full circle on Thursday, as leaders on Capitol Hill are battling in the final hours of a federal act that requires meat packers to make public the prices they pay livestock producers. The Mandatory Price Reporting Act is set to expire on Friday -- unless legislator come to a compromise and pass an extension.

But as of right now that's not going to happen. The Senate Agriculture Committee is trying to "hotline" a House-back extension of five years. But the move to voice-vote the measure in the Senate cannot face any opposition, lest it will die. And opposition it is getting from both the Harkin and Grassley offices. The two Iowa Senators introduced their own version of an extension. There's is only one year long. It also allows room for a GAO report due out next month to change things if need be.

The Iowans want the House to compromise. The rest of the Senate want to extend the plan. Time is running out. And livestock groups are desperate for action. A Grassley staffer told me this evening that they'd compromise if the House version were amended to include the provision that things could change once the GAO report is released. But a Farm Bureau lobbyist speculated today that the GAO's data won't likely amount to a hill of beans.

Stay tuned. We'll see what happens in the next 24 hours.

Argentinians halt beef prices to fight inflation

As reported by Brownfield's John Perkins, leaders in Argentina have agreed to freeze beef prices at the retail level. The country has seen large growth in inflation in recent months and leaders are worried that consumer goods are quickly out-pricing the market ranges. The deal is seeing some opposition, but government officials are pressing ahead with the plan.

Ain't nobody happy with Japan

It's becoming a timeless classic, the tale of Japan banning U.S. beef due to concerns about BSE. The once major export market empire has been sitting on a move to reinstate trade with American producers. It has been long, drawn-out and now it's quickly approaching the just plain nasty stage. Federal agriculture officials have been courting the Asian leaders. U.S. diplomats have visited Tokyo. Japanese officials have been to Washington. Yet, despite all of the talks, trade proposals and hand-holding from both sides, no beef is crossing the borders.

Folks up on Capitol Hill have been hearing from the farmers out in Cattle Country of late and the displeasure in measurable in calls, e-mails and letters sent to agriculture leaders in the House and the Senate. So leaders in Congress got together recently and shot back, saying they won’t allow purchases of Japanese beef in a reactive move. Basically, 'we won't buy yours 'til you buy ours'. Saxby Chambliss, chairman of the Senate Ag Committee, had this to say on Tuesday: “Japan’s inexplicable lack of response to even consider a move to re-open their market to U.S. beef will sorely tempt economic trade action against Japan. Japan is well beyond the time for assessing scientific reasoning, and diplomatic efforts attempted repeatedly by the president, by our trade emissaries, and by the U.S. Congress.

Japan’s latest delay has only hastened America’s demand for action, and increased my strong displeasure for Japan’s inattentiveness to our trade relationship.” Even the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture is starting to sound weary when he speaks of renewing the beef trade. Mike Johanns insists we're getting closer, but he's been forced to make that guess time and again since taking over his leadership role at the start of this year. No one seems to know when the trade winds will change and Japan will get on board. Only one thing is certain – there ain't nobody in Washington happy with Japan these days.

Property rights come front and center

Agriculture groups are staking private property rights as a high priority this fall, as more and more landowners express dismay with this year's Supreme Court ruling in the Kelo v. New London case. The latest round of property rights defenses comes from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, in which the organization clearly hammers out its stance for preserving the rights of America's farmers and ranchers against economic development interests. I noticed this week, too, that American Farm Bureau Federation has ramped up talk about property rights. In a recent edition of their nationally distrubted newspaper, the country's largest farm organization includes an opinion piece from the Kansas Farm Bureau president. In Steve Baccus' column, he argues that "[farmers] raise kids, crops and livestock on ground that has been in our families for generations. This value cannot be measured." Looks to me like the American farm lobby is just starting to stretch their muscles in preparation for a big fight in the property rights debate. It ought to be an interesting battle to watch.

Amish producers say no to NAIS

Amish cattlemen say tagging their livestock as part of an animal identification system goes against their religion. They say tagging cattle with an electronic mechanism would be the mark of the beast. It begs the question of what will be done if changes in food policy eventually mandate that all meat must come from operations where origins are traceable. Would this prevent the Amish from being able to market livestock?

Cattle losses due to Rita

Officials in Texas and Louisiana fear the livestock losses from the latest storm may be even worse than what they saw last month in Hurricane Katrina. Louisiana's cattle organization is speculating as many as 30,000 cattle may have drowned.