{"id":55624,"date":"2020-06-10T09:00:25","date_gmt":"2020-06-10T14:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=55624"},"modified":"2020-06-02T09:00:20","modified_gmt":"2020-06-02T14:00:20","slug":"%ef%bb%bfwheres-the-beef-been","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=55624","title":{"rendered":"\ufeffWhere\u2019s the beef \u2013 been?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Derek Pfeifer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ellis senior<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steak: Everybody loves\nit. The vast majority of people in today\u2019s society can walk into a restaurant\nor grocery store and have a big, juicy steak on their plate within the hour and\nthink nothing of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the surface, the\nbeef industry looks fairly straightforward. Cattle are raised on farms and end\nup in the aforementioned restaurant or grocery store. However, the beef\nindustry is extremely complex, with many different stages of production where\ncattle are always being bought, sold and hauled all over the country. The\ndifferent phases of beef production are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.  \nCow\/Calf Phase \u2013 <\/strong>Calves\nare born and raised on a ranch, where they stay until they are weaned off the\ncow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.  \nBackgrounding Phase \u2013 <\/strong>Calves\nare weaned at around 650 lbs. and transition from a milk diet to a low-cost\nforage-based diet and prepared for a feedlot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.   Feedlot\nPhase \u2013 <\/strong>At about 850\nlbs., calves enter the feedlot for intensive feeding for rapid and efficient\ngrowth and finishing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.   Packer\nPhase \u2013 <\/strong>At around 1400\nlbs., calves are sent to a packing plant to be harvested and processed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between these four\nphases, cattle are typically sold at a sale barn and then sent to the next\nphase. Cattle can change ownership two or three times and end up at up to five\nor six different locations throughout their lives. This constant moving and\ncomingling brings up the need for traceability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the outbreak\nin 2003 of BSE, otherwise known as Mad Cow Disease, and seeing its effects on\nexport markets, the USDA started a preliminary traceability program, but it\nfailed. However, in 2013 the USDA launched the Animal Disease Traceability Program\n(ADT), which is \u201ca useful but extremely limited program that remains in place\ntoday,\u201d wrote John Maday in Bovine Veterinarian magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He continued, \u201cThe\ncurrent ADT program focuses on interstate movement of breeding\u2013age cattle, 18\nmonths of age or older, and dairy cattle. The program exempts beef calves and\nfeeder cattle, which travel in the greatest numbers and pose the greatest risk\nfor spreading disease as they move through marketing channels and co-mingle\nwith cattle from multiple sources.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recognizing the need\nfor a traceability program for the feeder cattle industry, the state of Kansas,\nKansas State University\u2019s Beef Cattle Institute, and other partners began\nworking on a traceability system called CattleTrace. Brad White, DVM, MS,\ndirector of the Beef Cattle Institute at Kansas State University, said,\n\u201cCattleTrace is important because it can protect export markets, bring feeder\ncattle into the traceability world, allow for a faster and more targeted\nresponse to disease outbreak, and facilitate faster resumption of commerce in\ncase of a disease outbreak. CattleTrace is pilot program focused on\nranch-to-slaughter traceability for disease surveillance and intervention.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program works by\ntagging cattle with ultra-high-frequency tags. The program is designed to\ncollect an individual animal\u2019s ID number, a GPS location, date, and time, which\nis the basic information necessary for tracking a disease outbreak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe know for a\ntraceability system to be effective, it needs to be simple, fast, and affordable\nto make its adoption within the industry as seamless as possible,\u201d said White.\nUsing UHF tags and readers at sale barns, feed yards, and packing plants, the\nprogram has three primary objectives:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.   Develop\n<\/strong>an infrastructure for\nan animal disease traceability system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.  \nEvaluate <\/strong>the efficiency\nand capabilities of the animal disease traceability system and infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.  \nDetermine <\/strong>the value of\nan animal disease traceability system throughout the supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The need for a\ntraceability system, such as CattleTrace, to prevent or contain a disease\noutbreak is extremely important. Infectious and contagious diseases such as FMD\n\u2013 foot-and-mouth disease \u2013 a highly contagious viral disease that can cause\nillness in animals with divided hooves, can have a devastating economic impact\non individual cattle producers as well as the whole agricultural industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dustin Pendell, a\nKansas State University agricultural economist who specializes in animal health\neconomics, used data from FMD spread models to examine the economic impact of\nan outbreak. He estimated that an FMD outbreak in this region, with no\nemergency vaccination program, could result in losses to producers and\nconsumers of approximately $188 billion and additional government losses of $11\nbillion due to controlling livestock movement and depopulating infected\nlivestock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, if an\naggressive emergency vaccination program was implemented, such as a 30-mile\nvaccination zone from the outbreak, losses could be reduced to approximately\n$56 billion for producers and consumers and $1.1 billion in government costs. A\ntraceability program would be a huge aid in implementing an emergency\nvaccination program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A traceability program would have inherent costs to producers. From buying UHF tags and readers and possibly added labor, cost of production would slightly increase. A National Cattlemen Beef Association feasibility study on traceability systems estimates increased costs of $2.65-$4.65 per head for cow-calf operations, 15 cents-82 cents per head for stockers and backgrounders, 13 cents-82 cents per head for feedlots, and 19 cents per head for packing plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, these extra\ncosts could end up being small compared to the gains made for producers. With\ntraceability, producers could have easy entry into value-added programs, easy\nand efficient herd record-keeping systems, and increased export markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most importantly, a\ntraceability system would effectively help ensure a safe food supply for\nconsumers at restaurants and grocery stores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Derek Pfeifer, a 2017\nEllis High School graduate, is a senior majoring in general agriculture at Fort\nHays State University. He is the son of Dave and LuAnn Pfeifer, Ellis.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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