Agricultural News
Texas Feedlot Operator James Herring Says GIPSA Rule Declares All Cattle Have the Same Value- and He Contends That's Wrong.
Fri, 27 Aug 2010 5:06:54 CDT
James Herring of Friona Industries in the Texas Panhandle is one of the panelists at the USDA-DOJ Competition Workshop focusing on Livestock that is being held in Ft. Collins, Colorado later today. He was one of several presenters at a special forum sponsored by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the National Pork Producers Council that addressed the problems these groups see with the proposed marketing rule issued back in June by GIPSA and the USDA.
Herring told those at the forum Thursday afternoon that he has 41 years of experience in the cattle industry and has had 10 million head of cattle come through his operations- and that he believes that earns him the right to comment and fight for market structure that makes up today's beef cattle business.
Herring gives those who have written this rule the benefit of the doubt- he says they don't understand today's cattle industry and how important the ability to differentiate cattle by the value they offer the packer, processor and end user. For example, he says that Angus breeders know that their cattle are worth more than cattle that are not black- and Herring says that is all because of the branded programs that have been built up for decades around the Angus quality characteristics. He claims that the GIPSA rule assumes all cattle are created equal- and he says that is simply wrong.
We talked with Herring after the Thursday evening forum about the GIPSA rule and the threat that he sees to his business- and to cow calf producers that he buys cattle from across the United States. Click on the LISTEN BAR below to hear that conversation.
For more on the USDA-DOJ workshop going on in Ft. Collins on Friday August 27, click here.
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