Greg Henderson tackles the important issue of traceability in the beef markets. He notes the impact of the Chipotle fiasco and the impairments that reluctance to trace activity places on exports and vertically integrated meat supply chains. Steve Williams, JBS USA head cattle buyer, names three rationales for animal identification standards:
- Export customers demand ID; a national system would make it so much easier to sell American beef
- Disease containment
- Financial institutions want ID for asset management
None of the reasons for identification reluctance have changed much in the last 25 to 30 years. But, the marketing of beef has changed. Large organizations, like Walmart or Whole Foods, now demand traceability from their suppliers. Pork, chicken, turkey and eggs are years ahead in this regard.
Source: Drovers, February 20, 2018.
Every week there are thousands of cattle sold at auction markets, and within 24 hours those cattle can be scattered a thousand miles from the auctions,” says Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University agricultural economist. “A disease outbreak at one of those locations means it would take weeks to trace those cattle in an effort to contain the disease. That’s the shadow the livestock industry is living under [without animal ID].”
Purdue University economist Jayson Lusk profoundly states, “No producer has an absolute right to be able to sell cattle.”