YELLOWSTONE BISON GOING TO TURNER'S RANCH
Source: Associated Press

Billionaire Ted Turner is getting 88 bison from Yellowstone National Park from a faltering Montana program that was supposed to put the disease-free animals on public or tribal lands.

Fish, Wildlife and Parks Director Joe Maurier announced the decision Tuesday.

The animals were spared several years ago from a periodic slaughter of bison leaving Yellowstone because of worries about animal disease. They're now in a joint federal-state quarantine compound in southern Montana's Paradise Valley.

Montana officials didn't want them on state land. They also turned down requests for the animals from a Wyoming state park and at least two Indian reservations.

Turner will care for the animals for five years and in return wants 75 percent of their offspring, an estimated 188 bison. He already owns more than 50,000 bison but wants the Yellowstone animals because of their pure genetics.

HSUS BACKS NEW LIVESTOCK REFORM INITIATIVE IN OHIO
Source: DVM Newsmagazine

A ballot initiative that would further define what livestock housing systems would be permitted in Ohio was announced Feb. 1 by collaborating humane groups.

A petition was submitted to the Ohio Attorney General by Ohioans for Human Farms, says The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). It proposes a ballot measure for November 2010 in which voters could vote to force the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board - formed through a 2009 ballot measure and currently in the organizational stage - to adopt certain minimum standards to prevent "cruel and inhumane treatment of farm animals, enhance food safety, protect the environment and strengthen Ohio family farms," says HSUS.

About 400,000 signatures are needed to get the proposal on the November ballot, and HSUS says the group will seek 600,000 signatures. The petition is being backed by HSUS, Farm Sanctuary, the Ohio Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Toledo Area Humane Society, Geauga Humane Society, Ohio League of Humane Voters, Center for Food Safety, United Farm Workers, Consumer Federation of America, and the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

BEEF INDUSTRY HOPEFUL FOR 2010 RECOVERY

Source: Chris Hurt, Purdue University

The cattle industry should be on the mend in 2010, says Purdue University Extension economist Chris Hurt. Available supplies of beef will drop in the United States as production declines and exports increase. Demand will be better at home as the U.S. economy continues to climb back from the depths of the recession, he said.

The beef herd continues to drop slowly. Beef cow numbers on January 1 were estimated at 31.4 million head, down another 1 percent from last year. Over the past four years, the beef cow herd has dropped 5 percent. Dairy cow numbers were down 3 percent in 2009 as herd reductions resulted from large financial losses.

The number of heifers being retained by beef cow producers is down 2 percent, indicating that beef cow numbers will continue their slow decline through this year. On the other hand, milk cow replacement heifers were up 2 percent.

Does this mean milk cow numbers will rise this year? Hurt said. Probably not, it is just a reflection that modern dairy production requires a higher replacement rate.

FILM SHOWS MANY SIDES OF RENOWNED CSU PROFESSOR
Source:  Northern Colorado Business Report
  
It's been a long time coming, but it looks like it was well worth the wait.  HBO Films will debut "Temple Grandin" on Feb. 6, a movie based on the life of the renowned designer of humane animal-handling facilities who also teaches at Colorado State University.
 
Grandin, 61, has been working with writers and producers on a possible movie for almost a decade. "The project's actually been in the works for about nine years," said Grandin in a phone interview during a whirlwind speaking tour ahead of the film's debut. "They finally got the right team put together."
 
Grandin's especially pleased with the choice of Claire Danes, a talented, up-and-coming Hollywood actress, to portray her during her late 20s and 30s. "I think she did a really good job, and another thing I like in the movie is they show how my mind works," she said.
 
Grandin, a 20-year CSU professor of animal sciences who lives in Fort Collins, is a high-functioning autistic person who didn't begin talking until the age of four. While some autistics can barely communicate with the outside world and live deeply within their own minds, Grandin's autism actually worked to her advantage, helping her to focus on the world from an animal's perspective.
 

"Getting started in the '70s was not easy," she said. "Nobody in the cattle industry actually ever threatened me, but one time someone put bull testicles on my car to let me know I wasn't wanted."
 
MCDONALD'S CANADA SUPPORTS MANDATORY GOVERNMENT LIVESTOCK TRACEABILITY Source:  CambridgeNow.ca 
 
McDonalds Canada, one of the world's largest buyers of Canadian beef, is supporting the Canadian government to implement mandatory livestock traceability by 2011.
 
What does this mean? In short, the people who sell you a hamburger will be able to know the origin of the beef you're eating.
 
"McDonald's believes that a robust, national traceability system is critical to ensuring consumer confidence and building brand trust in the beef industry," says Jeff Kroll, senior vice-president of McDonald's Restaurants of Canada guest speaker to the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association.
 
"McDonald's Canada proudly supports the Canadian beef industry," says Kroll. "Beef is at the core of our menu and with the help of our dedicated Canadian partners in the industry, we are meeting the needs of our customers by delivering safety, quality, consistency, and innovation in our varied beef offerings."
 
"While it's an additional cost, we believe that it's simply the right thing to do. Traceability is the right thing for all of us to do for our businesses and our customers, both domestically and abroad," Kroll says.
 
 ANIMAL ACTIVISTS GET RELIGION

Source:  AgriTalk Radio

In an attempt to make consumers feel guilty about their choice of meat and dairy consumption, animal rights groups are driving their argument onto moral grounds. The Humane Society of the United States and other animal rights groups are using religious arguments to advance their anti-meat campaign.

The effort is designed to make the public back away from, or feel guilty about consuming meat or dairy products derived from animals reared in confinement settings. Animal-rights groups are using religious arguments to get people to change their behavior, says Wes Jamison, associate professor, Palm Beach Atlantic University, in an interview with AgriTalk radio.

According to Jamison, animal rights groups are using the approach that confinement rearing of animals is sinful or immoral. The HSUS has worked with liberal or progressive denominations to increase donations to HSUS and even provided messages for sermons.

The tactic forces livestock producers to defend themselves even though they have done nothing wrong. Jamison urges livestock producers to feel comfortable with revealing their own thoughts on the subject of meat consumption because consumers often only need permission to consume meat.

Canada's Beef Industry Calls On Ottawa To File Trade Challenge

Source:  Canadian Press

Only a week after expressing hope that U.S. President Barack Obama would soften a trade rule that is already hurting Canada's ailing beef industry, worried producers say they've learned that Washington's final plan will hurt them even more.

The final U.S. Country-Of-Origin-Labeling rule, which takes effect March 16, would effectively force all American meat companies to label beef with a sticker that states where the product came from, the Canadian Cattlemen's Association said Tuesday.

Some companies have already stopped buying Canadian beef and cattle due to the extra cost of meeting an interim version of the trade rule that was introduced in September. The final rule will be even more costly and onerous, CCA President Brad Wildeman said Tuesday.

HSUS Extends Efforts to Ohio, Illinois

Source:  Pork news staff

Representatives of the Ohio Pork Producers Council, along with representatives from other Ohio livestock and poultry industry groups met with representatives of the Humane Society of the United States this week in Columbus.  HSUS asked the groups to have dialogue on the elimination of gestation stalls for sows, veal crates and cages for layers through legislation in an effort to avoid a ballot initiative in Ohio. 

At the request of the Humane Society of the United States and with the initial involvement of the Ohio Farm Bureau, I attended a meeting (Tuesday) with representatives of HSUS on behalf of my members, said Dick Isler, executive vice president of the Ohio Pork Producers Council. The Ohio Pork Producers Councils participation in this meeting was solely to listen to HSUS. Ohio hog farmers work every day to ensure the well-being of their animals and provide a safe, nutritious, affordable food supply for consumers.

In an apparent effort to extend the success of Californias Proposition 2 ballot passed last year in that state, HSUS is attempting to advance the groups agenda in other agricultural states. On Tuesday, Feb. 10, a bill initiated by HSUS was introduced in the Illinois Senate that would ban the use of gestation stalls in Illinois.

The legislation is similar to the ballot initiatives banning the use of gestation stalls, stalls for veal calves, and battery cages for egg laying hens that have passed in California, Arizona, and Florida. The proposed legislation in Illinois would become effective Jan. 1, 2010.

Bible Pork Prevails

Source:  Illinois Pork Producers Association

The Illinois Pork Producers Association reports that a jury decision in Clay County Illinois has ruled in favor of Bible Pork, a swine farm located near Louisville, Ill. A lawsuit brought forward by 15 neighbors claimed that the swine farm was a nuisance under Illinois law due to alleged odor. IPPA officials cite the farm as a state-of-the-art production system. 

This ruling is great news for the livestock industry and all of agriculture, says Phil Borgic, a pork producer from Nokomis and current IPPA president. Many times, as in this case, livestock operations are wrongfully attacked by people with misinformation and emotional rhetoric. This jury proved that in the end, facts will prevail. We believe that this ruling will set precedent for future livestock-related cases.

IPPA officials contend that the ruling "is a significant victory for Illinois livestock farmers that have operated their farms in good faith under the Illinois Livestock Facilities Management Act." This ruling also reinforces the clear protections provided under LMFA for both livestock farmers and their rural neighbors, say IPPA officials. The case has drawn much attention from across Illinois and the nation. 

We are pleased that the jurys decision reiterated the importance of livestock production to rural communities in Illinois and recognized the best management practices that pork producers, such as the Bibles, have taken to be good neighbors and stewards of the environment, says Borgic. 

In these tough economic times for our country, pork producers play a pivotal role in providing a safe, quality, affordable protein source for many Americans. As pork producers we take the responsibility of helping feed this country and others around the world seriously. We do this with pride, while caring for our animals, the environment, and our communities, he adds.