14 CapitalPress.com
February 19, 2016
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Dairy/Livestock
Lawmakers loat 3 bills amending Top bull goes for
Idaho’s animal cruelty statute $12,500 at sale
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
BOISE — Three separate
proposals that would amend
Idaho’s animal cruelty law are
loating around the Idaho Leg-
islature, and the controversial
issue is simmering again.
Two have been printed and
one is being re-drafted with
input from representatives of
the state’s main agricultural
groups.
A proposed bill by Rep.
Ken Andrus, chairman of the
House Agricultural Affairs
Committee, was pulled from
that committee’s agenda Feb.
10 because of opposition from
farm groups, Andrus said.
Idaho lawmakers in 2012
passed a bill that makes a
third offense for animal cruel-
ty a felony. It addresses com-
panion animals and exempts
production agriculture.
Some national and Idaho
animal rights groups have
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
Idaho’s Capitol in Boise is
shown in this Feb. 8 photo.
said they might push a ballot
initiative if the state doesn’t
strengthen the law.
Andrus, a Republican
rancher from Lava Hot Springs,
introduced legislation in 2013
that would have amended Ida-
ho’s animal cruelty law to in-
clude a second-offense felony
provision and deine torture.
It died because the former
chairman of the Senate Agri-
cultural Affairs Committee, a
retired farmer, refused to intro-
duce it in the Senate. He said
he believed it was the irst step
in a plan by animal activist
groups to keep chipping away
at the law until it hampers pro-
duction agriculture.
Andrus was ready to intro-
duce a similar bill this week
but pulled it to see if he can
work with opponents to alter
it into a version they can sup-
port.
“We’re going to see if we
can work something in the bill
so we can get more support,
especially from the produc-
tion agriculture people,” he
said.
The current chairman of
the Senate ag committee, Sen.
Jim Rice, R-Caldwell, told the
Capital Press he also won’t
allow a bill similar to the one
Andrus introduced in 2013 to
be heard in that committee.
Rice instead introduced his
own bill Feb. 11 that would al-
low a judge to order a pre-sen-
tencing psychological evalu-
ation for people convicted of
animal cruelty. His bill would
also allow prosecutors to re-
quest an evaluation.
He said people who commit
heinous acts of animal abuse
are almost always mentally ill
and without appropriate treat-
ment, they will come out of
prison the same or worse.
“You have to address the
mental health issue and you
don’t deal with that without
psychological evaluations,” he
said. “This allows us to actu-
ally address the root problem.”
A bill printed last week by
Rep. Ilana Rubel, D-Boise,
would make it a felony to be
convicted of a second animal
cruelty offense and it deines
torture and includes a irst-of-
fense felony if the offense is
committed in the presence of
a minor.
R-CALF leader: TPP would be ‘death knell’ for industry
Bullard: Trade deal
benefits global
interests, not
U.S. ranchers
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
SPOKANE — Approval
of the Trans-Paciic Partner-
ship trade agreement would
be a “death knell” for U.S.
ranchers, an industry organi-
zation’s leader says.
Under TPP, meat pack-
ers could slaughter for-
eign-sourced beef in the
United States and have it be
considered a U.S. product,
shipping it to other countries
duty-free, said Bill Bullard,
CEO of R-CALF in Billings,
Mont. R-CALF represents
independent cattle producers.
“The TPP is a license
for the multi-national meat
packers to steal from you,
your good name, your im-
age, your reputation and af-
ix your good name, image
and reputation on beef from
animals sourced anywhere in
the world with a USA label,”
Bullard said.
Lamb, mutton and pork
would also be affected, he
told Eastern Washington cat-
tle producers.
Others in the beef industry
have voiced support for TPP,
saying it would increase ac-
cess and decrease tariffs on
U.S. beef when shipping to
other countries. The National
Cattlemen’s Beef Association
said that the agreement is not
perfect, but represents a “vast
improvement” over current
tariff rates in Japan.
Bullard said the trade
partners in the TPP don’t rep-
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
R-CALF CEO Bill Bullard outlines some of the problems with the Trans-Paciic Partnership trade
agreement for U.S. cattle producers Feb. 10 during a meeting in Spokane.
resent much more marketing
opportunity for U.S. ranch-
ers. Australia, Canada, Mex-
ico and New Zealand are four
of the largest beef and cattle
exporters in the world and the
12 countries included in the
TPP produce more beef than
they can consume, he said.
Without the United States,
they represent 103 million
head of cattle, third to India
and Brazil in herd size.
“Is that what you would
select as an ideal group of
countries to have a free trade
agreement so we can lift our
economy up domestically?
Absolutely not,” Bullard
said.
Vietnam and Japan are
the most meaningful oppor-
tunities, Bullard said, but the
United States already has a
third of Vietnam’s beef mar-
ket, while Japan’s population
and beef consumption are de-
clining.
The number of cattle
Online
http://www.r-calfusa.com/
ranchers and size of cattle
herds have declined in the
wake of previous trade agree-
ments, Bullard said.
He said the industry now
consists of four large nation-
al packing companies, which
slaughter roughly 85 percent
of all U.S.-fed cattle.
It’s in beef packers’ in-
terest to source foreign live-
stock against domestic live-
stock, Bullard said.
“Producers want the meat
packers to source their cattle
domestically,” Bullard said.
“Meat packers want to ex-
pand their access to sources
around the world, so they can
leverage those foreign sourc-
es to lower the prices of the
domestic product.”
Bullard said he would like
to see meat packers and feed-
lots separated, as they were in
the early 1980s, or regulated
as “monopolistic structures.”
R-CALF believes the U.S.
should withdraw completely
or scale back from the World
Trade Organization instead
of giving up its negotiating
authority, he said. The U.S.
repealed its country of origin
label law after the WTO ruled
it was unfair to Canada and
Mexico because it depressed
their cattle prices.
Bullard doesn’t expect
the TPP to be brought up in
Congress until after the pres-
idential election. He expects
President Barack Obama to
try to get the Senate to rati-
fy the agreement during the
lame-duck session after the
November election.
Bullard spoke before a
joint meeting of the Spokane
County Cattlemen and Cattle
Producers of Washington in
Spokane. He recommended
that ranchers contact their
members of Congress.
By LEE JUILLERAT
was up over 2015. “I expected
it would be lower than it was,”
he said of the sale prices.
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore.
“We had a great turnout,”
— Lee and Glenda Stilwell Moxon said, noting there were
of Country Inn Cattle Co. 114 registered buyers and
were surprised and pleased strong participation in a vari-
after their success in the 56th ety of sale-related events, in-
annual Klamath Bull r Se- cluding a ranch rodeo she said
lect Ranch Horse Sale at the drew thousands of spectators.
Klamath County Fairgrounds.
Other activities includ-
The Stilwells, who have a ed stock dog trials, a Beef N
small ranch in nearby Algoma, Brews, brandings, Klamath
had the sale’s supreme bull that County Cattlewomen’s dinner
sold for $12,500, the champion and dance, an “amazing” trade
halter Limousin
show and sever-
“I think this
bull that sold for
al kids functions,
$7,500, and the year’s sale was including
goat
top judged pen
roping and a stick
of replacement
an outstanding horse boot race.
heifers that sold
Erin Daughtery
event with all the of Bly was named
for $10,250.
“We had an activities. ... It’s a the contributor of
outstanding
the year for the
day,” said Glen- good event for the four-day.
da Stilwell, a
“People really
f o u r t h - g e n e r- entire community.” seemed to enjoy
ation rancher,
Glenda Stilwell the variety of ac-
who said the
tivities,” Moxon
showing was un-
said.
expected because of the sale’s
“The whole event ran re-
many outstanding bulls and ally well,” Chapman agreed,
heifers. “It’s always a sur- who credited bull sale chair-
prise — and always a good man Stan Gorden and other
committee members. “We had
surprise.”
Pleased, too, was Jolene great participation in all the
Moxon, the sale’s cattle events. It was really a well-
manager, who said 90 bulls run, smooth sale.”
were sold for a total price of
Glenda Stilwell, who said
$403,850, an average price of her family has participated in
$4,487.22.
sales for many years, shared
Eight pens of replacement Chapman’s and Moxon’s en-
heifers, including the Stil- thusiasm.
wells’, were sold for $62,300,
“We’ve been participating
an average price of $7,787.50. in the bull sale as long as I can
Four horses were sold in the remember,” she said, giving
select horse sale for a total credit to event organizers with
of $22,550, an average of the Klamath Cattlemen’s As-
$5,637.50.
sociation. “I think this year’s
In comparison, last year’s sale was an outstanding event
sale price for 56 bulls aver- with all the activities.”
aged $5,397, the select ranch
Winner in the ranch ro-
horse sale averaged $6,090 deo was Gorden Ranches of
for ive horses while replace- Bonanza with team members
ment heifers sale averaged Clay and Steve Gorden and
$2,480 per head on six pens. Flint Lee.
This year’s sale was Feb. 4-7.
In the stock dog inals,
Jason Chapman, a bull Kathy Garner took irst in the
sale committee member, said open and nursery divisions
he expected prices would be with Rango and Vaquero
lower this year but noted the while Gayle Hybarger and her
overall total sale prices, be- dog Zeva won the intermedi-
cause of the volume of bulls, ate category.
For the Capital Press
Idaho Dairy Council
hires wellness manager
Chelsea Schoenfelder has
joined the Idaho Dairy Council
as its new manager of health
and wellness.
She will serve as a link sup-
porting nutrition science and
research to educators, school
food service professionals and
health professionals, the coun-
cil stated in a press release.
“Chelsea brings a deep
knowledge of nutrition, and
community outreach experi-
ence that will be a great addi-
tion to our team,” said Crys-
tal Wilson, senior director of
health and wellness with the
Idaho Dairy Council, said.
Schoenfelder previously
worked as a clinical dietitian
for St. Luke’s community
outreach program. She also
helped develop nutrition edu-
cation curriculum for the Af-
terschool Meals Program and
created dairy lessons that are
now used by the Idaho State
Department of Education
statewide.
She holds a master’s degree
in public health and a bache-
lor’s degree in dietetics from
Idaho State University, as well
as a bachelor’s degree in sci-
ence and nutrition from the
University of Idaho.
Dairy prices slipping, even butter
By LEE MIELKE
For the Capital Press
C
8-2/#4N
ME cash block Cheddar
cheese inished the Fri-
day before Valentine’s
Day at $1.49 per pound, up 2
cents on the week but 4 cents
below a year ago. The Ched-
dar barrels closed at $1.48, up
1 1/2-cents on the week and a
half-cent below a year ago.
Thirteen cars of block trad-
ed hands on the week at the
CME and none of barrel.
The markets were closed
Monday for President’s Day
but the blocks were unchanged
Tuesday, while the barrels lost
2 cents and dipped to $1.46, as
traders anticipated Friday af-
ternoon’s January 2016 Milk
Production report.
Cheese production is
steady, with milk supplies re-
maining mostly even, accord-
ing to Dairy Market News.
“Demand is slower at many
packaging irms, which has
rippled back to manufacturers.
Concern with inventory levels
is increasing in many cheese
plants.”
Western cheese is active
and stable. “Cheese makers
are hoping domestic demand
Dairy
Markets
Lee Mielke
can continue to be strong but
concern is building somewhat
over limited export opportuni-
ties and heavy cheese invento-
ries.”
Cash butter saw continu-
ing weakness, inishing Friday
at $2.11 per pound, down 6
cents on the week but still 39
cents above a year ago. Twen-
ty-three cars traded hands on
the week at the CME, 15 on
Thursday alone.
The spot butter dropped 6
cents Tuesday, sliding to $2.05,
the lowest price since Jan. 12.
The Dairy and Food Market
Analyst’s Matt Gould, said in
Friday’s DairyLine the CME
grading rule change has result-
ed in increased liquidity and
“that’s a good sign,” but he
adds that his ear-to-rail says,
“Lower butterfat prices are
coming.”
Central region cream sup-
plies are readily available,
according to DMN. “Western
butter output is strong and run-
ning at full schedules.