—Lancaster Fannins, Saturday, July 28,1979
124
Livestock cycles the topic at marketing congress
DENVER, Colo. - Can
livestock cycles be
eliminated? Probably not
but they can be altered or
modified, a variety of
speakers said during the
recent Livestock Marketing
Congress 79, held here.
Livestock industry of
ficials, spokeswomen for
consumer groups, members
of the academic community
and several other speakers
gathered here June 13 to 15
to discuss this year’s
Congress theme, “Riding the
Cycle: Are there Workable
Alternatives for the Industry
and Consumer?”
Conducted by Livestock
Merchandising Institute,
Kansas City, Mo., this year’s
Congress probed three
possible alternatives to
boom and bust cycles: more
government involvement, or
better management, either
by producers or the industry
itself.
Several nationally-known
speakers offered their
suggestions for controlling
the cycle during a final
session moderated by Bill
Monroe, executive producer
and moderator of
television’s “Meet the
Press.” In general, they
called for such things as
better dissemination of
information and more
cooperation among various
sectors of the industry.
Given the diversity of this
panel, many Congress ob
servers were surprised to
learn that the panelists were
in agreement on two con
troversial issues their
opposition to meat boycotts,
and their support for
deregulation of the trucking
industry. Polling the session
five panel, Monroe also
found they agreed in prin
ciple on the need for the
countercyclical meat import
bill, currently before
Congress.
Kathleen O’Reilly,
executive director of Con
sumer Federation of
America, told over 550
registrants at the Denver
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Marriott that they should
work for “consistent,
comprehensive and stable”
policies in all sectors af
fecting the livestock in
dustry. “Consumers want
high quality, nutritious and
fairly-priced” livestock
products, she said.
More study of livestock
cycles and better education
of the industry itself was
called for by Lauren
Carlson,, president of the
National Cattlemen’s
Association. He also
suggested that the financial
community, a vital part of
the livestock industry,
should have a better un
derstanding of how cycles
work.
Tom Dougherty, counsel
for the National Center for
Economic Alternatives,
offered a three-point
program for controlling the
cycle: the continuation of the
domestic gram reserve,
better management of the
nation’s livestock product
import and export
programs, and the passage
of the countercyclical meat
import bill.
Barbara Keating,
president of Consumer Alert,
Inc., warned the audience to
avoid government in
volvement in the livestock
industry a hotly debated
topic in an earlier session
and advocated “a com
bination of industry and
producer cooperation.”
William Rusher, publisher
of the National Review,
called for attempts to make
the marketplace “more
sensitive and more
responsive.” Also warning
against government in
volvement, Rusher echoed
the request for “improved
information and improved
decision making” by
livestock producers as a way
to tame the cycle.
The vice chairman of the
board of lowa Beef
Processors, Dale Tmstman,
asked for “open cooperation
between all segments of the
industry,” as well as “more
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research, education and
communication.”
Other program sessions
dealt with alternatives to
“riding the cycle.”
Dr. Edward Uvacek, Jr.,
livestock marketing
specialist and associate
professor at Texas A&M,
followed an audio-visual
history of livestock cycles
and gave the opening session
audience an update on the
current cycle. He said retail
prices for choice beef should
be between $2.50-$2.60 per
pound for the rest of the
year, up abouMO cents per
pound from current price
levels.
Warning the audience to
be wary of federal price
controls on beef, he said such
controls “are not necessarily
economic, (but rather)
political decisions, and they
do buy some votes
sometimes.” Uvacek also
said the best price levels for
producers m the current
cattle cycle should be bet
ween 1980-1984.
Noting that beef prices are
“high ... and of course we
are going to see some
reaction from it,” Uvacek
added that “the best cure for
high prices, as far as the
consumer is concerned, (is)
high prices,” which
stimulate production.
The pros and cons of
more government in
volvement in the livestock
industry was the theme of
the second session, and it
found the two speakers
sharply divided. Dr. Murray
H. Hawkins, marketing
professor at the University
of Alberta, said “govern
ments and other regulatory
bodies must be involved” in
taming the cycle, while
Orville K. Sweet, executive
vice president of the
National Pork Producers
Council, flatly rufled out
such assistance.
“Government, with all its
good intentions, has a real
struggle when it comes to
being efficiently helpful,” he
said.
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Government involvement But Sweet, saying that
“would be welcome” in the citizens “have begun to
areas of international organize and build defenses
market development and against the continued en
forward contracting. Dr. croachment of the dollar-
Hawkms said. He added' gobbling bureaucracy,”
however, that government claimed that government
“price and supply controls regulation “has become a
have httle future in the major factor” in the nation’s
livestock industry, (and) rate of inflation,
marketing orders and Opening luncheon speaker
growth stimulation policies Dr. Sheldon Stahl, director
have also fallen into of economic studies for the>
disrepute in some quarters.” Tulsa-based Williams
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inflation m his address.
“Inflation is public enemy
number one ... if we are
serious about fighting in
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we think we can get rid of
this monster without en
during pam, then maybe we
believe in the tooth fairy
but I don’t.”
An industry-managed
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