But to be quite frank, somedays, I just have to shake my head at the craziness and pray for better days ahead. Browse through these headlines and let me know what you think in the comments section below.
According to the AP, “The world’s largest meat processing company is getting back online after production around the world was disrupted by a cyberattack just weeks after a similar incident shut down a U.S. oil pipeline.”
“Our systems are coming back online and we are not sparing any resources to fight this threat,” Andre Nogueira, CEO of JBS USA, said in a statement.
USDA Agricultural law expert Janie Hipp promised on Thursday to be “a big voice at the interdepartmental table” in dealing with cattle prices and biofuels if she is confirmed by the Senate to lead the USDA’s legal shop. “I commit to you that I will get on this [cattle price transparency] as one of my very, very top priorities,” said Hipp at a confirmation hearing, adding, “My phone is blowing up as well” with complaints from producers. Ranch and farm groups have complained repeatedly during the pandemic that high beef prices at the grocery store have not translated into higher prices for fed cattle. Last week, six farm groups called on the Justice Department to investigate the highly consolidated meatpacking industry, where four companies slaughter more than 80% of all beef cattle and only a fraction of cattle are sold on the spot market.
Posted: May 28, 2021 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: May 28
There is talk again the United States about resurrecting mandatory country-of-origin labelling for beef, a discussion that has the Canadian sector watching closely.(Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)
In the annals of North American trade disputes, the fight over mandatory country-of-origin labelling on beef and pork probably deserves its own chapter.
When the U.S. wielded the rules early in the last decade, it cost Canadian producers dearly and was blamed for sharp declines in livestock exports south of the border.
Ultimately, it took the World Trade Organization, which ruled the U.S. violated international trade law, and the threat of hefty sanctions for American lawmakers to repeal the regulations in 2015.