The US needs livestock producers to develop an efficient and accurate animal tracing system before the lack of one causes significant harm to the US economy, say a variety of traceability proponents.
In a worst-case scenario of a Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak in the US, all commerce could be shut down immediately until things were sorted out. Such an event could cost the US economy about $1.425 million a minute, according to a study by Nevil Speer, president of Turkey Track Consulting Services, a private advisory firm in Bowling Green, KY.
Kansas and Texas already have laws demanding a complete shutdown of interstate and intrastate commerce if FMD is even suspected. From there, movement would be allowed to resume once it was determined that such movement would not exacerbate the problem.
A swift, accurate system of tracing livestock through all their many possible paths would minimize the effect of a disease, even FMD, the most contagious disease known to man, by allowing isolation and elimination of exposed animals quickly, Speer said.
Without such a tracing system, any shutdown of commerce could affect milk, food and fuel deliveries, potentially leaving store shelves bare and gas stations empty.
Of all nations, the US needs an accurate tracing system in its cattle industry, Speer said. While a system is needed to trace individual animals back to their point of origin, he didn’t think this would happen any time soon. Rather, he is focusing for the moment on feedlot to finish traceback.
OBSTACLES, THY NAME IS LEGION
There are many obstacles to a nationwide tracing system in the US, but Speer said one of the primary sticking points is technology. Not a lack of technology, but ample, incompatible systems. No one really wants to commit to an expensive system without knowing it won’t be obsolete in a few years.
Some electronic systems are high frequency and some are low frequency, he said. And the capabilities of both are getting better all the time.
In a sense, it would be like buying a betamax video player only to find out the real market was in VHS that soon would give way to DVDs and Bluetooth.
And the USDA has said many times that it does not want to be the one to pick a technology. Officials there want the industry to figure out what works best.
Another primary obstacle is the cost, Speer said. Buying an electronic ID system is expensive, and the single-use tags aren’t cheap either.
Producers don’t see a direct return on investment and are reluctant to purchase the readers, tags or computer programs to keep the data.
There also are many producers who are afraid of the liability if a disease could be traced back to them. And they worry about the cost of euthanizing diseased or exposed livestock.
Industry leaders must to a better job of communicating the risks of an ineffective system, Speer said.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
Cash cattle trade took place late last week at mostly $126 to $126.50 per cwt on a live basis, up $0.50 to $1 from the previous week, and at mostly $202, up $2 to $4.
The USDA choice cutout Tuesday was up $0.12 per cwt at $219.67, while select was down $0.84 at $213.73. The choice/select spread widened to $5.94 from $4.98 with 110 loads of fabricated product sold into the spot market.
There were no CME delivery notices, retenders or demands on Monday.
The CME Feeder Cattle index for the seven days ended Friday, was $140.33 per cwt, down $0.09. This compares with Tuesday’s Mar contract settlement of $143.45, up $0.95.