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Cattle producers were cautiously optimistic about consumer
reaction to the news that a presumably American animal had
tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy. The
beef futures market actually rose, by 0.7 cents per pound,
to 80.57 cents on Monday. That follows a 2 percent decline
in price since the original announcement of a "weak positive"
result nearly three weeks ago.
But Texas ranchers saw a sharp decline of $4 per hundredweight
at auction on Monday, to $109, and many were holding their
cattle off the market to try to weather the news.
Overseas Reaction
South Korean consumers reportedly hardened their resistance
to American beef, and the government canceled planned meetings
with U.S. negotiators aimed at reopening the market to U.S.
beef, and Korean cattlemen threatened to mount a major campaign
against imports if the government does not guarantee that
any resumption of trade will be accompanied by a laundry
list of safeguards.
The Australian beef industry, which could have been expected
to have been gloating over the news of the positive test
results, took a far more nuanced view. The industry is already
exporting as much beef as it can, according to an ABC News
Online report, and there are worries that lower demand in
the U.S. for beef could hurt Australia's exports far in
excess of the good done them by markets closed to U.S. beef.
In reality, apart from Taiwan's re-closing of its market,
which had only been open for a month or so, the news has
had little or no impact on U.S. exports.
The same source reports that some cattlemen in the U.S.
feel betrayed by USDA. Shane Sklar of the Texas Independent
Cattlemen's Association said that members resented being
kept in the dark by USDA as to test results, and worry that
there will be a downward trend in demand for beef. The Livestock
Marketing Association quotes a spokesman for the Cattle
Council of Australia as saying, "It's a terrible thing when
a whole nation's industry can be brought to its knees by
one old animal with this disease that doesn't really mean
much in the scheme of things anymore."
In Taiwan, President Chen Shui-bian said that the ban on
U.S. beef was reinstated not because Taiwan officials think
that it is dangerous, but because the agreement that reopened
the market included a clause that it would be reimposed
if another case of BSE was found in the U.S.
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