A3O-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 8, 2003 COOL (Continued from Page A 1) kets, small volume food stores and exports. The marketing administrator said they are in the process of es tablishing voluntary guidelines that will provide a framework for the mandatory guidelines which are to take effect October 2004. The key issues involved are the defining the products with the mixed ingredients and the meth ods of notification. Without the slides that accom panied his talk, Sessions would probably been engaged in a real exercise in futility. The slides de noted the specifics in the COOL program and explanations of the terminology, which his audience could follow along with his com ments. Getting down to the specifics on labeling beef products, the congenial Sessions was barraged with comments and questions. He reminded his audience that he was “just the messenger.” The beef animal must be bom, raised and slaughtered in the U.S. for the product to carry the U.S. label of origin, Sessions said. A verifiable record keeping audit trail Would be required. Identifi cation of each animal from birth to slaughter would be necessary. In answer to one question, Ses sion responded that a beef car cass imported from Canada and fabricated into cuts in the U.S. would have to be labeled a prod uct of Canada. Also, ground beef would need to have all its compo nents identified, namely that im ported lean ground stuff from other countries (that was consid ered a good thing). And so it went, one scenario after another questioned. The ap proximately 100 cattle feeders (out of 150) who remained for the entire program are now not so sure that COOL is a good thing for U.S. beef producers. Sessions said there is an ex tended comment period on the COOL voluntary guidelines. It will end April 9. Cattle feeders can respond with comments to: William T. Sessions, USDA/A MS, Room 2091-S, 1400 Indepen dence Ave., Washington, D.C. 20250; or http:// www.ams.usda.gov/cool Moore’s Upbeat Outlook Penn State ag economist Lou Moore opened this year’s annual Cattle Feeder’s Day program, Lancaster Farming Ghecl* oul our Website www.lancasteriannlno.com Lancaster Farming's Classified Ads Get Results! Hot Topic At Cattle Feeder’s Day William Sessions Al Kober with his always popular cattle in dustry analysis as he has been doing for more than 45 years. With the aid of projected charts and his detailed lists, Moore presented the positive and negatives in the general economy as well as the agricultural econo my with his perennial good humor. Assessing the current cattle market, Moore said 2003 will be a better year for beef. The condi tions are more upbeat than they have been in the last five years for the cattle business, he said. USDA Market Reporting Taylor Cox, officer in charge of the USDA’s Market News Of fice in New Holland, gave a de tailed account of compiling a ALUMINUM GRAIN BODIES & ALUMINUM REPAIRS by These ultra-light bodies are designed for strength through engineering, not strength with bulk. For example, a 16' grain body with tailgate and 48" sides weighs only 1490 lbs, complete length or any side height up to 60“ Also • Double swinging hay hauling tailgate • Barn door type tailgate • Slide out cattle chutes HEWEY WELDING 1045 Wampler Rd. Lebanon, PA 17042. m (717)867-5222 market report and explained its terminology, including trends, demand, activity, and also the quality grades and yield grades. Cox talked about mandatory packer reporting (MPR) from its beginning in 1999 and the neces sary adjustments that were made to include more reported prices. He said the livestock reports are sent from the St. Joseph, Mo. market news office and the meat reports from the Des Moines of fice. To supplement the mandatory reports, Cox said the USDA has returned to some voluntary mar ket price reporting with reporters manning the phones to contact buyers and sellers for informa tion. They began Monday, Feb. 3, phoning contacts in Texas and Nebraska with the possibility of going to other areas. For marketing information, Cox said producers can call his office at (717) 354-2391 and/or the MPR office at St. Joseph, Mo., (816) 238-0678. Retailing, Consumer Trends A 1 Kober, retail director, Certi fied Angus Beef (CAB), spoke on consumer trends in the beef busi ness and the changes in retailing that have taken place, namely consolidations, buyouts, and for eign owners. Kober is well known to area producers as the retired meat man at Clemens Markets. The number one change and the one having the greatest impact on the beef business is Wal-Mart, Kober said. He addressed this at some length. He also talked about food safety and the use of irra diation. In ending his discussion, Kober stressed producing a quality product, and he told the beef producers, “We are all in the food business, one bite at a time every time.” Other topics at Cattle Feeder’s Day included: An update by Scott Wright on the Pennsylvania Beef Council’s Beef Quality As surance program and the Blueprint for Success pro gram; John Comerford, Penn State extension beef specialist, speaking on Marbling and Beef Quality We'll build you any ivailable: • Diamond flooring • Puli out panel tailgates • Any size grain chute Taylor Cox in place of Robbi Pritchard, South Dakota State University, who was grounded by airline complications; and Jay Smoker, Lancaster County extension, who briefly spoke on his field of ex pertise, West Nile Virus. Chet Hughes, livestock exten sion agent, chaired the program and acknowledged the following members of his planning commit- Agricultural Generators . Detroit Deisel Spectrum ■wemßumpHT Automatic PTO Generators L.P. Gas, Diesel 25 to 135 KW Units Natural Gas Generators In Stock! 5 to 2,000 KW Service - Rental - New & Used Units In Stock! Power Generation Systems Specialists 330 Founderwhite Road, Lebanon, PA 17042 Call Leonard Martin 717-273-4544 Fax: 717-273-5186 e-malt: lmertln@pennpowecsyttems.com MANADA CONSTRUCTION CO, 1942 Camp Swatara Road • Myerstown, PA 17067 Ph: (717) ?39 : 8853 •, Fax:(7l7) 933-8078 tee: John Comerford; Jim Hogue, Agri-Basics; Bob Livingston, South Branch Farms, York Co; Bill McCoy, McCoy Cattle Com pany; Bernard Nissley, Nissley Bros. Feedlot; Paul Slayton, Pennsylvania Beef Council (PBC); Steve VanLannen, Pack erland Packing; and Scott Wrig ht, PBC. Large dairies often require a huge labor force. How do dairies deal with communication management issues involving Hispanic labor? What are the challenges other producers have faced and what are their suggestions? See the next issue of Lancaster Farming's Dairy Plus, geared toward large-scale dairy operations, in the Feb. 15 issue. Also scheduled: news from the Penn State Hispanic Workforce Management Conference and what's required for the survival of the Northeast dairy industry.
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