LMD May 2018

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Riding Herd

“The greatest homage we can pay to truth is to use it.”

by LEE PITTS

– JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL

May 15, 2018 • www.aaalivestock.com

Volume 60 • No. 5

When Amazon Sells Bulls

Hung With Their Own Rope H Learn this well, the E last ride is never the BY LEE PITTS

NEWSPAPER PRIORITY HANDLING

ver since they won their big 2005 victory at the Supreme Court those in charge of the beef checkoff have become downright cocky. No one more so than the NCBA who, according to a 2014 report, receive over 82% of their income from the government-mandated beef checkoff. Following that Supreme Court ruling the smug, packer-backing NCBA acted like they were bullet proof. This cockiness grated on some folks like R CALF, the Organization for Competitive Markets and this reporter, who believed the NCBA robbed the big checkoff bank and the USDA drove the getaway car. But what could anyone do about it? We could just let them self-destruct, and there are signs this is slowly happening. As often happens when someone gets cocky, they also get sloppy. That had to be the case when the Oklahoma State Beef Council let their checkoff compliance manager embezzle $2.6 MILLION DOLLARS worth of checkoff cash right under their noses. The checkoff folks knew if this got out it would be bad for business and they did a good job of keeping it quiet, but still a good percentage of Oklahoma ranchers found out because they voted down the opportunity to double the state checkoff. Here are two more instances of bad beef checkoff behavior

last ride. And the end is not the end.

in Ohio and Montana that the checkoff folks don’t want you to know anything about.

Getting Political Check-off boards are explicitly prohibited from using funds to influence any legislation, governmental action or election. That would be like letting the IRS use your tax dollars to attack someone whose political leanings didn’t agree with their own. The IRS would never do that, would they? Well, former IRS employee Lois Lerner seems to have gotten away with it in 2013, but not so The Ohio Beef Council in 2018.

Thanks to the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) we know that the Ohio Beef Council (OBC) illegally used government property to promote a fundraiser for the Mike DeWine gubernatorial campaign. And on April 6, 2018, the OBC used its email domain to circulate an invitation to a campaign fundraiser on behalf of the trade and lobbying group, the Ohio Cattlemen’s Association. According to its own website the OBC also actively engaged in soliciting campaign contributions for the Ohio Cattlemen’s Association’s Political Action Committee. According

to OCM, “The state agency and the lobbying group share the same address and headquarters and the staff members of both organizations are exactly the same and carry the same job titles.” The Ohio Farmers Union and OCM released a paper demonstrating how Ohio cattle producers’ tax dollars are being used illegally to prop up the Ohio Cattlemen’s Association. According to OCM, “The Ohio Beef Council is funneling taxpayer dollars through payroll expenses and rental costs to fund the trade and lobbying group, Ohio Cattlemen’s Association.” In addition to those charges OCM also said that Ohio Beef Council employees go to work every day for the Ohio Cattlemen’s Association, a state trade and lobbying organization. And even though the Supreme Court ruled that the checkoff was a government program, “state and federal checkoff funds are not appropriated by the legislature

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Some Animal Viruses May Survive in Imported Feed Ingredient

A journey over land and sea may not keep animal diseases away.

R

esearchers from South Dakota State University, Pipestone Veterinary Services in Minnesota and Kansas State University found that seven of the 11 animal viruses tested can potentially survive the transglobal journey from Asia or Europe to the United States in at least two commonly imported feed ingredients. The scientists examined virus survivability in 11 imported feed ingredients and products by replicating the environmental conditions in shipping containers. “The findings of this study show that feed biosecurity should be a major priority for pork producers and ultimately, the livestock industry,” said assistant professor Diego Diel, DVM who led the SDSU team. Scott Dee, DVM, director of research at Pipestone Veterinary Services, said, “For the first time, we have data to support that certain feed ingredients are risk factors for moving viruses between farms and around the world. ”Diel and his team at the South Dakota Animal Disease Research and Diagnostic Laboratory assessed the ability of 10 viruses to survive the 37-day journey from Beijing, China, to Des Moines, Iowa. One postdoctoral researcher, three research associates and a microbiologist worked on the project. Kansas State University, which has a Level

3 biosecurity laboratory, evaluated the ability of African swine fever virus to survive the 30day trip from Warsaw, Poland, to Des Moines. In previous work, Dee and ADRDL researchers discovered that porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) can survive the simulated trip from Beijing to Des Moines in five feed ingredients—vitamin D, lysine, choline and organic and conventional soybean meal. That National Pork Board-funded research led to this larger study, which is supported by the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC). The study results are published in the March 20 issue of PLOS ONE at http:// journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/ journal.pone.0194509. Paul Sundberg, DVM, SHIC executive director, said, “This is foundational research. Dr. Diel and Dr. Dee identified a new avenue through which we may be transporting pathogens around the country and the world.” The researchers are now looking for cost-effective ways to mitigate this risk through continuing support from SHIC.

Identifying high-risk ingredients Dee worked with a colleague at the Lincoln Memorial University College of Veterinary Sciences to expand the list of ingredients beyond those in the PEDV study. The researchcontinued on page four

igh tech has destroyed businesses, turned Main Street into a ghost town, and driven your Fed Ex and UPS delivery person to sheer exhaustion. Forget the mall, Americans are shopping on their cell phones. One of the few industries high tech has not tipped over yet is the bull business, but it’s only a matter of time. Here’s how, and who, you’ll be buying your bulls from in the future. Amazon - You’ll buy your bulls on your cell phone and Amazon will deliver them free if you are a member of Amazon Prime Bulls. (But not Amazon Choice.) To join Amazon Prime Bulls you must pay $10,000 up front before buying a single bull. Your bulls will be delivered by your Postal Service mail carrier and I hope your bulls arrive in better shape than my mail does. Apple - When you buy a bull from Apple it will be the very best you can buy and it won’t come with any viruses or infections. Apple bulls will have all the bells and whistles, will get their work done fast, be simple to use and will have no disposition problems. The only downside is they’ll cost a fortune with the Apple 8 Bull selling for $9,999. You could buy IBM for what a golden Apple 10 Bull will cost. Samsung - Your Samsung bull, imported from China, will do all the same things that the Apple Bull will do for half the price. The only downside is the bull may self-destruct at any minute. Microsoft - Microsoft bulls will be crossbred and complex, difficult to control and you may have to re-boot them with your Tony Lama’s to get them to work. You’ll have to keep sending your Microsoft bull back until they send you one that will work. This will usually happen after the sixth try but in the meantime your cows will either die of old age or get bred by your neighbor’s Samsung bull. You’ll need to buy lots of wormer and antibiotics because your Microsoft bulls will have bacterial infections, numer-

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