WHAT’S IN THE VIRUS RELIEF BILL
FOR FARMERS? | OPINION, PAGE 6
EMPOWERING PRODUCERS OF FOOD & FIBER
CapitalPress.com
Friday, April 3, 2020
Volume 93, Number 14
$2.00
TRACING
CATTLE
Ranchers launch, with USDA help, national
drive to follow cows electronically
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
A
drive started by Kansas cattlemen to electroni-
cally track U.S. cattle has spread to the North-
west, pitching itself to sometimes skepti-
cal ranchers as an industry-led and voluntary
alternative to government monitoring.
US Cattle Trace Inc. leaders envision building a
nationwide, privately owned database of cattle move-
ments, from birth to slaughter. If a disease breaks
out, information could be parceled out to state vet-
erinarians to identify and quarantine exposed cattle,
according to organizers.
The database grows as beef cows with ultra-high fre-
quency tags are scanned as they move in and out of livestock
markets and feedlots associated with Cattle Trace in 10 states,
including several feedlots in southeast Washington and northeast Ore-
gon owned by Beef Northwest Feeders.
Brandon
Cattle Trace’s board chairman, Brandon Depenbusch, a Kansas feedlot
executive, said the COVID-19 global pandemic underscores the impor- Depenbusch
tance of preparing to limit a financially crippling health calamity.
“I can’t imagine a time that highlights the need for disease trace-
ability more than now, with the coronavirus,” he said. “I hope as an industry we can
at some point say, ‘Oh, goodness, what can learn from this?’”
Plans similar
Cattle Trace’s ambitions to tag and scan cows are similar to a now-sus-
pended plan by the USDA to prod ranchers into affixing radio-frequency
identification tags on calves, phasing out metal tags.
The plan was scheduled to take full effect in 2023, but was opposed
See Cattle, Page 11
CattleTrace data collection process explained
Formally established in 2018, U.S. CattleTrace is a not-for-profit corporation whose goal is to develop a national disease traceability system for
livestock. Ultra High Frequency Radio-Frequency Identification (UHF RFID) technology allows stakeholders to track livestock and manage
disease outbreak in the supply chain.
Cattle Trace
Kansas-based U.S.
Cattle Trace envisions a
national database that
tracks U.S. cattle with
ultra-high frequency
tags.
Cattle arrive
to feedyard
from producer
1a
1b
2
Scanning
Sightings
collected
Data
upload
Secure
Four data points
are collected at
each location
where cattle are
scanned.
The data is
uploaded to the
secure CattleTrace
cloud database
nightly.
The database is
only accessed in
the event of an
animal disease
outbreak.
Tagged cattle are
scanned as they
pass through the
readers.
Source: U.S. CattleTrace
Cattle move
on to packer
Alan Kenaga/For the Capital Press
Coronavirus shearing sheep industry
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Demand for lamb, wool and pelts
is tanking in response to the corona-
virus pandemic, industry represen-
tatives say, and prices are following
suit.
It’s having a tremendous impact
on the industry, said John Noh,
president of Idaho Wool Grow-
ers Association and a board mem-
ber of the American Sheep Industry
Association.
Wool has become unsaleable
because the agency in New Zealand
that does commercial testing of U.S.
wool has closed due to coronavirus.
Trade to major wool buyers in Italy
and China has shut down, as has the
pelt trade to primary markets in Tur-
key, China and Russia. Some trade
was shut down to a degree before
coronavirus, but it’s even worse now,
he said.
A large portion of the lamb mar-
ket is restaurants and cruise ships,
and they aren’t operating. The timing
is particularly difficult, as Easter is a
main event for lamb sales. Grocery
trade is up, but that’s for the lesser
cuts of shoulder and ground meat.
Sales of the more expensive middle
meats are at a standstill, he said.
On top of that, the second-largest
U.S. lamb packer, Mountain States
3
Hammonds may
face competition for
grazing allotments
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Capital Press File
A band of sheep grazes in the Boise foothills. The coronavirus outbreak
has hurt the markets for lamb and wool.
Rosen, filed for bankruptcy, and its
kill rate is way down.
In addition, Pendleton Woolen
Mills has temporarily shut down its
operations, he said.
“It’s about as rough as I’ve seen it
in my 30 years,” he said.
Mountain States Rosen filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on
March 19 with the U.S. Bankruptcy
Court for the District of Wyoming,
citing lost sales due to the COVID-
19 pandemic, according to court doc-
uments. Chapter 11 of the Bank-
ruptcy Code protects a company
from the threat of creditors’ lawsuits
while it reorganizes its finances.
A spokesman for Pendle-
ton Woolen Mills said the com-
pany closed its mills in Washougal,
Wash., and Pendleton, Ore., after
an employee at the Washougal mill
tested positive for COVID-19. The
mills are scheduled to reopen April 3.
Prices paid to producers are rap-
idly falling. Fat lambs, which were
selling for $1.45 to $1.50 a pound,
are now as low as $1.25 — “if you
can find somebody who will buy
them,” Noh said.
See Sheep, Page 11
Neighboring cattle pro-
ducers can apply to compete
for access to federal graz-
ing allotments that Oregon’s
Hammond Ranches lost in a
court decision last year.
However, those applica-
tions will be put on hold if
Hammond Ranches decides to
continue with an administra-
tive challenge against the U.S.
Bureau of Land Management.
Ranchers have until April
14 to apply to graze livestock
on the four allotments, which
include more than 26,000 fed-
eral acres, while Hammond
Ranches must decide by that
time whether to pursue its
appeal — or also submit an
application for a new grazing
permit.
Steven
Hammond,
co-owner of the ranch, said
he’s not sure whether other
cattlemen will seek to com-
pete for the grazing allot-
ments, which his family has
relied upon for decades.
Hammond said he’s also
undecided about which pro-
cedural action to take and will
be consulting with his attor-
ney to “try to understand how
much more complicated this
process is going to get.”
Hammond and his father,
Dwight, are well-known in
the ranching community for
their legal battles with the fed-
eral government and environ-
mental groups.
The two ranchers were
convicted of arson for setting
fire to rangelands and sent to
prison in 2012. After being
released, they were ordered
back behind bars when the 9th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
determined they must both
serve mandatory 5-year
sentences.
Demonstrations against the
federal government erupted
when the Hammonds returned
to prison in early 2016, lead-
ing to the occupation of the
Malheur National Wildlife
Refuge. One protestor was
See Grazing, Page 11