R Calf: ‘Cull A Cow' To Stop Neighboring Trade
BILLINGS, MONT. – Starting this week, a number of South Dakota auction yards will host rollover auction fund-raisers to support the lawsuit that R-CALF USA and the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association filed in the U.S. District Court – District of South Dakota, Northern Division (District Court) to stop the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s OTM Rule, which would open the Canadian border to unlimited numbers of older cattle and beef products just a week from today, on Nov. 19 – right at the peak marketing time for U.S. cull cattle.
15 November 2007
2 minute read
"Research by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shows that Canada’s cattle herd is 26 times more likely to test positive for BSE than U.S. cattle,"
R-CALF USA member Allen Lund
Mobridge Livestock Market will host a calf sale at 1 p.m. CST on Thursday, Nov. 15, in Mobridge, S.D. Faith Livestock Commission Co. will host a cull cow sale at noon MST on Monday, Nov. 19, in Faith, S.D. Philip Livestock Auction will host a cull cow sale at 1 p.m. MST on Tuesday, Nov. 20, in Philip S.D. Herreid Livestock Market will host a cull cow sale at 1 p.m. CST on Friday, Nov. 30, in Herreid, S.D., at which Russell Schumacher and Harry Schumacher will donate a cull cow to be auctioned off. Belle Fourche Livestock Exchange will host a calf sale at noon MST on Thursday, Dec. 13, in Belle Fourche, S.D., at which Ray and Linda Gilbert, Lloyd and Pattie Gilbert, Sawyer and Grey Gilbert will donate a heifer calf to be auctioned off.
R-CALF USA member Allen Lund, of Selfridge, N.D., donated a cull cow at the Mobridge Livestock Market in Mobridge, S.D., last week that raised over $500.
“If this border is allowed to reopen at this time, it is going to severely depress our market just at the time when many of us normally sell our culls,” Lund said. “It is estimated that 16 percent of ranchers’ incomes comes from the sale of culls. Knock this market down to the low 20-cent range, and this is going to affect each and every one of us.
“Research by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shows that Canada’s cattle herd is 26 times more likely to test positive for BSE than U.S. cattle,” Lund continued. “Import another case of BSE into this country and we are going to lose any export markets that we have regained. We will not only lose on the cull cow market, but on the feeder cattle market as well.
“As we all know court cases are expensive, so this is where you and I come in,” Lund said. “A cull cow is not a fancy cow – as far as producing a calf, she is used up. I’m hoping that she will give a little more of herself toward this court case. I would ask all of you producers out there to do the same. We, as producers, have to back up R-CALF USA financially, and by doing this, we are showing USDA that if they back us into a corner, we will push right back to protect our industry.”
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