CALF_News_April_May_2020

32 CALF News • April | May 2020 • www.calfnews.net MORE DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN CONSUMERS want to know the origin of their beef and other food as well as how it was made. And whether it’s for calves or crops – producers need to have that information available for potential buyers, said Greg Ibach, USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs. Ibach visited the CALF News booth during the Cattle Industry Convention and National Cattlemen’s Beef Associa- tion (NCBA) Trade Show in San Anto- nio. He encouraged beef producers and feeders to follow Beef Quality Assurance practices and have sufficient records and reliable cattle ID data, which in the long run should help boost their prices. He noted that part of the new U.S. trade deals with Japan and China hinged on trustworthy traceability. If calves were vaccinated or wormed, many foreign consumers who buy short ribs or sirloin cuts from their carcasses may want to know about it. They’ll want the ability to trace their retail cut’s origin back to the producer. They’ll want transparency, Ibach stressed. “Transparency is a revelation that has come about with food,” he explained. “Consumers have more questions about where food comes from. They want to know the traceability behind food; the ability to trace where the animal, crop, fruit or vegetable came from, and the pro- duction practices they were raised under. “A lot of claims are being made at the grocery store, whether it’s for grass-fed beef or beef from a particular region, such as ‘Texas beef.’ If they [producers or retailers] want to make the claim, they must have the traceability.” Ibach supports the recently launched U.S. CattleTrace initiative, which aims to provide traceability through voluntary cooperation among producers across the Greg Ibach, USDA Under Secretary of Agriculture, visited the CALF News booth at the NCBA trade show to discuss the need for traceability to help meet foreign and domestic demands for U.S. beef. Time for Traceability Larry Stalcup Contributing Editor Under Secretary of Agriculture Greg Ibach Talks Animal ID nation. Along with cattle production history, it seeks to identify exact cattle origin in the event of a disease outbreak. The program combines the efforts of CattleTrace, which includes the Kansas Livestock Association and others in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Oregon and Washington, with traceabil- ity pilot projects that are underway in Florida and Texas. Texas Cattle Feeders Association, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, Florida Cattlemen’s Asso- ciation and the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association are conducting the latter pilot programs. Breaking down barriers The aim of traceability programs is to make it a voluntary system. A recent trade agreement with the European Union does not require mandatory ID. However, Ibach said traceability is required in parts of new U.S. trade agreements with Japan and likely with China. “We’ve already had experience that traceability is part of our verification programs,” he said.“That was one of the first requirements to get into Japan. As the Japanese consumer became comfort- able with the quality and safety of our beef, we were able to break down some of those barriers. “To gain access to China, we had to make our case for what kind of trace- ability we had. To really expand demand, we will continue to make our case for traceability in our food supply.” Cattle tagged with traceability infor- mation should see a stronger potential for premium prices.“Feeder cattle mar- kets and other marketplaces will send market signals for traceability in feeder cattle and more of consumer focused programs,” Ibach said. “Large companies [like McDonald’s or Walmart], as well as individual consum- ers, are driving traceability and will pay more for a package that contains infor- mation on where food came from.” Animal disease traceability Meanwhile, traceability is advancing rapidly on the voluntary side, Ibach said, “and the market is sending the signal that we want traceability. “The ability to exchange voluntary information in the event of a disease out- break is vital. The federal government’s role is to determine how we have a dis- ease management or surveillance system in place in case we have a serious animal disease like foot and mouth disease or African swine fever. “How would we interact to reach out to state animal health officials to get the firewalls in place to protect it [the disease] from spreading?” Ibach said he and other USDA offi- cials are meeting with various state and Continued on page 33  • 2 0 2 0 C A T T L E I N D U S T R Y C O N V E N T I O N A N D T R A D E S H O W