Agricultural News
The Cow That Stole Christmas- Ten Years Later
Mon, 23 Dec 2013 06:29:17 CST
Today's date is one that changed the beef cattle business in the United States forever- as the USDA introduced the "Cow that Stole Christmas" to the world. December 23, 2003 was the day that we heard from then Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman(pictured here), who anounced a "presumptive positive" for BSE regarding a dairy cow in the state of Washington.
While there were fears that there would be major fall with consumers in this country- the long lasting impact turned out to be in the international marketplace. This event closed nearly all international markets for U.S. beef and had a profound impact on the U.S. industry. Although U.S. beef exports are expected set a new record this year (approaching $6 billion), the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) estimates the cumulative, 10-year loss in U.S. beef trade due to BSE to be at least $16 billion.
USMEF President and CEO Philip Seng says it has been a decade long effort that has been required to restore access to most major markets and laments the fact that several destinations that are still closed to U.S. beef. Squarely at the top of this list is China, the fastest-growing beef market in the world. Other markets that never reopened to U.S. beef include Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Israel, Morocco, South Africa and Uruguay.
One market that reopened to the US in the fall of 2006 was South Korea- but that restart was not without its problems. We reported on that as Ag Secretary Mike Johanns was very upset with the Koreans rejecting multiple loads of US beef due to small bone chips found in the shipments. You can go back and listen to our Beef Buzz in mid Deember 2006 to hear that frustration spill over into a call for to stop playing political games with US Beef imports. Click here for that report.
Saudi Arabia quickly reopened to U.S. beef in mid-2004, and became a $31 million market by 2011. But access was lost again due to the BSE case detected in California in April 2012, and this once-promising market remains closed today.
Despite the United States gaining the World Organization for Animal Health's (OIE) lowest BSE risk classification (negligible risk), many markets still restrict the range of U.S. beef products allowed and limit the age of eligible cattle. Seng cites Mexico as one example, and says he hopes to regain full access to the Mexican market in 2014.
Domestically, the beef industry was ready for the announcement made on that afternoon of December 23, 2003. Kendall Frazier was a senior staffer already at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (and remains so here in 2013) and says that years of planning was quickly set in motion.
Kendal recalls that NCBA received a phone call from USDA at 1:30 pm on December 23, 2003. "We immediately started to implement a crisis management plan that we had worked on for nearly 10 years in anticipation of that moment," he said.
Frazier contends that by taking action to get accurate information out to the public, the beef industry was able to calm American consumers' fears about so-called mad cow disease,
We have a special audio overview of this anniversary and hear from both Phil Seng and from Kendall Frazier. Click on the LISTEN BAR below to hear more about the Cow that stole Christmas ten years ago.
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