Current Cattle Market Daily Headlines for Tuesday September 1, 2020

Mackenzie Johnston

6 years ago

Cool case vs. big packers is appealed

Two lawsuits brought against the big four beef packers (JBS, Cargill, Tyson, and National Beef) over packages of their beef labeled “Product of the U.S.A.”, have been appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10^th
- A cattle producer and a consumer filed these two lawsuits separately in February in U.S. District Court in New Mexico. The lawsuits were later consolidated.
Both parties claimed that labeling beef products “Products of the USA” misleads consumers because the beef can be raised and harvested in another country, yet it is still eligible for a “Product of the USA” label.
Last week, the District Court judge agreed with the defendants that the federal law that allows such labeling supersedes the State of New Mexico’s laws regarding consumer protection.
- The labels were considered lawful at the federal level since the USDA had approved them.
The cases were dismissed with prejudice, meaning they were dismissed permanently.
The plaintiffs were seeking compensatory and punitive damages treble the compensatory damages, and an injunction barring packers from continuing the alleged consumer deception and requiring them to disclose the origin of products from foreign cattle.

The British Meat Processors Association recently launched a website in hopes of dispelling negative notions about eating animal protein.
The website promotes British meat highlighting its sustainability, high standards and support for the nation’s farmers.
According to Nick Allen, the association’s CEO, most people look to the media for help with their diet and lifestyle choices, but much of that information tends to be misleading.
The British Meat campaign makes the case for a “balanced approach” in feeding the world’s nearly 10 billion people and addressing climate change

The U.S. has become one of the largest agricultural importers in the world over the last quarter century.
In 1994, imports totaled $27 billion. In 2019, imports reached a level of $128 billion.
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) signed in 1994, which was then replaced by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in July of this year, has played a key role in this surge of imports.
- S. imports from the North American region increased more than six-fold from $8.2 billion in 1994 to $52 billion in 2019.
Consumer oriented products such as fresh fruits and vegetables, beef products, and wine and beer have led the increase.

Choice boxed beef: $227.95 (-1.45)

Select boxed beef: $215.32 (+0.46)