COOL, Smithfield's Chinese Connection, Cattle Feed

"We have this huge growth in imports, this huge growth in trade; at the same time we have severely cut back on our regulatory agencies and their ability to do their job, especially the food portion of the Food and Drug Administration. If they are only checking 1 percent of the stuff and finding lots of problems, then ... there are a lot of problems that are never caught.”
(Source: Dallas Morning News, July 1, 2008)
Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives for Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, talking about a critical failure of the food inspection system.
>PS: More American-produced food is recalled because more of it is inspected. Got a problem product? Simply take production off-shore. No problem.

"China is experiencing rapid growth in pork consumption and consumes more pork than the rest of the world combined. COFCO has introduced Smithfield to many opportunities in China and we look forward to continue working together.”
(Source: Forbes, July 2, 2008)
Larry Pope, Smithfield President, announcing that he’s selling almost 5% of his company to COFCO, a Chinese ag company.
>PS: The Chinese are coming! The Chinese are coming! And Smithfield’s stock drops 12% on the news.

“All these cattle will eat 40 lbs. of feed a day and it went from two cents to nine cents a pound for that feed, that's a big, big difference."
(Source: CBS News, July 2, 2008)
Steve Foglesong of Black Gold Ranch, Illinois, talking about the dramatic increase in the price of feed caused by the increased demand for corn to feed ethanol plants.
>PS: He raises 4,000 head of cattle but he’s planning to cut way back on that number ASAP.

"We demand that you do not reference this fine company in your press conference tomorrow. This is notice that Caviness Packing Co. will hold legally responsible you, your organization and any investigators or other personnel for any damages to its name and reputation caused by any false or misleading statements made about the cattle slaughtered at its official USDA establishment."
(Source: MEAT&POULTRY.COM, July2, 2008)
Rosemary Mucklow, director emeritus, National Meat Association, strongly cautioning HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle about the perils of linking Caviness Packing to the animal handling offenses videotaped at Las Portales during a scheduled press conference.
>PS: In an emailed response, Pacelle said he wouldn’t. A furious Mucklow said he did, anyway.
>PPS: CN published an op-ed piece written by Steve Dittmer taking Pacelle to the wood shed for this one, calling it something like guilt by association. We’ve offered Pacelle equal time. Stay tuned for his response.

“(Caviness has) ceased purchasing from the Portales auction market and did not participate in their last sale and (has) no plans to participate until Portales can show that they’re meeting the same animal handling procedure that they (Caviness) meet in their own business.”
(Source: Clovis News Journal online, July 2, 2008)
Jeremy Russell, NMA Communications Director, affirming the action Caviness took against Portales Livestock Auction.
>PS: Wayne, it’s your turn.

"The products subject to recall may have been produced under ‘insanitary’ conditions."
(Source: Associated Press, July 3, 2008)
Statement by the Food Safety and Inspection Service claiming that Nebraska Beef's production practices were ‘insufficient to effectively control E. coli bacteria.’
>PS: The result? 5.3 million pounds of ground beef produced between May 16 and June 26 recalled and another black eye for the beef business.
>PPS: ‘Insanitary?’ As in insane?

"Then we would be talking about a corn supply crisis that would probably require some type of government intervention."
(Source: Marketwatch, July 4, 2008)
Shawn Hackett, president of agriculture futures brokerage Hackett Financial Advisors, warning of the potential of a major crisis in corn production if bad summer weather manages to push corn to $10.
>PS: Corn futures hit an all-time high of $7.548 on CBOT last week, up 21% for June, 28% higher in the second quarter and surging 60% in the first half of the year.

“If all that carbohydrate could be extracted into ethanol, then we estimate you could get about as much out of an infested field of kudzu as you could from an intensively managed field of corn. The difference is that the field of kudzu is there for the taking, while the field of corn has to be planted and maintained.”
(Source: The Chattanooga Times Free Press, July 6, 2008)
Dr. Rowan Sage, University of Toronto researcher, proposing that kudzu’s starch-filled roots and green leaves are perfect for ethanol production.
>PS: As one who has lived below the Mason-Dixon line for much of my life, I can attest to this: If Dr. Sage is right, South Carolina will become the Saudi Arabia of ethanol production.