New Zealand suspends live cattle exports after ship capsized off Japan

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/04/world/asia/cattle-ship-capsized.html

• New Zealand has suspended the export of live cattle after a ship carrying 43 crewmembers and almost 6,000 head of cows capsized off Japan last week.
• Animal activists have raised concerns about the safety and ethics of transporting livestock by sea.
  • According to Will Applebe, a spokesperson for an animal welfare group in New Zealand, this type of trade must be banned.
• The ship, the Gulf Livestock 1, left Napier, New Zealand, in mid-August and sent a distress call early last Wednesday near southern Japan.
  • An air-and-sea rescue mission was launched and so far two crewmembers have been rescued and hospitalized.
  • As of last Friday, cow carcasses were scattered atop the water.
• Since the news of the missing ship broke, New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries said that it would temporarily stop considering export applications for live cattle as they work to determine what caused the ship to capsize.
• New Zealand has numerous restrictions on the export of livestock, effectively outlawing the trade since 2007. However, many live cattle are sent abroad for breeding.
  • According the ministry’s data, approximately 40,000 head of cattle have been exported so far this year.
• Gulf Livestock 1 was supposed to reach China in about 17 days, but instead, the ship found itself in the midst of a typhoon.
  • One of the survivors told the Japanese Coast Guard that the ship had lost an engine as it navigated choppy seas. A wave flooded its deck in the middle of the night, eventually causing the vessel to sink.
• The Japanese Coast Guard suspended the search on Friday for more survivors as a typhoon approached.

Canadian packer’s Covid-19 cases double

https://www.meatingplace.com/Industry/News/Details/94261

• On Friday, Harmony Beef north of Calgary, Alberta, saw their Covid-19 cases double in a week’s time, according to the CBC News.
  • The processing facility had 66 active cases and eight recovered as of Thursday. The week before they had 36 active cases.
• This is the second Covid-19 outbreak at Harmony Beef since the pandemic first hit.
• Alberta’s chief medical officer, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, feels that one of the factors leading to these outbreaks is workers fearing the loss of income and coming into the plant to work while infected.
  • Harmony Beef released a statement claiming that any workers with coronavirus will be compensated under Canadian law.

Boxed beef prices

www.nationalbeefwire.com

• Choice boxed beef: $225.85 (-1.39)
• Select boxed beef: $209.30 (-3.20)