New South Wales cattle producer John Carter writes:
“This is the fourth in a series of articles written after my return from the USA where I attended and was a key note speaker at R-CALF USA’s 3 day annual conference held in Omaha Nebraska. I participated and spoke as a representative of the Australian Beef Association (ABA).”
Video that Sparked 62million Kg Beef Recall
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) was really hammered by speaker after speaker at the conference and they deserved it.
As I waited for my connection in Los Angeles I read the Los Angleles Times and was amazed to read the story of the 62 million kgs of beef recalled due to a Federally inspected Californian abattoir killing downer cattle for the food chain!
The USDA recall is not because of it’s rigorous inspections but instead a video secretly taped by the Humane Society of the United States. The video showed Hallmark/Westland plant workers prodding downer cattle to get them to stand, and moving downer cattle with machinery, such as a forklift.
Click here to see the video that sparked outrage. (Thanks to Agmate Paul Williams for putting us onto this footage. WARNING - Footage shows cows too sick to stand being shoved by forklifts at a slaughterhouse….. Graphic footage … 2/2008)
I later phoned a retired friend who was a USDA employee and in a sad tone he said the the USDA was no longer the independent body admired worldwide for its integrity.
My friend said, “They (sic USDA) are now under the influence of the crooks in Washington.”
Conference delegates were most critical of the USDA reopening of the Canadian border against their own BSE rules. This was easier to understand than was their refusal to allow Independent meat packer Creekstone’s request to be able to test all their beef for BSE (at their own cost) which would have gained them access to lurative Japanese export markets.
Also delegates were furious about the USDA’s delaying of the Mandatory Country of Origin Legislation (MCOOL) for beef that was passed five years ago, but as yet due chiefly to USDA opposition is to be implemented.
My admiration for the independent R-CALF USA lone battle against bureaucracy on behalf of producers has grown enormously.