Announcement from Tyson Foods

I don't think this was intended as any sort of press release.  It was a statement made on the FB page of Fairview sale barn and they were repeating what was told to them by the Tyson buyers.  Fairview isn't the problem here.

I agree it is common sense not to sell your livestock into the food chain when you haven't followed the rules and regulations.  However we all know when the money goes up common sense goes down.  Mistakes happen but I don't understand giving your animal something and not knowing the withdrawal.  It takes a phone call to your vet or 5 minutes to look up the label on google.  We keep a calendar specifically for this in the dairy barn.  I use CattleMax for the beef cattle with the withdrawal section. 


Remember the clen issues of the 90s?  Again it was a common sense vs. profit thing.  I would hope the guys that sat in jail would highly recommend you follow the rules.

A post on a Facebook page of a sale arm is essentially a press release.

Does it matter if this is an official press release or is this about people giving their livestock medication without knowing and/or caring about the long term implications?

I am not a Tyson fan.  We sell a small amount of hogs to Tyson direct.  They are confusing, loaded with double standards, and do whatever they want and don't have to explain a thing.  I wish there were alternatives. 

The bottom line is follow the labels!  The Zilmax thing is confusing but as someone mentioned earlier Tyson gets to make the rules. 

http://www.fairviewsalebarn.com/

Not from Illinois, but I googled Fairview Sale Barn, and this announcement is right there on the front of there website as well.

These are the lines out of it that make me concerned for the near term.    Their value will not be near that of the going market for fat cattle. With Tyson, the biggest handler of fed cattle out of the market, finding a home for these animals at a big price is going to be very difficult. 

I know that locally exhibitors already have about a 10 to 20 cent dock on show steers with our packer bids.  Fair I was at this week had 1.40 across the board on all steers, while our market is 1.60 for choice steers and 1.50 for good steers.  Potentially how much more of a dock could the exhibitors be looking @?   

Reality

It costs more to feed show cattle and with a lower price the cascade effect will start to snowball, starting with a much crisper culling of the low end participants. Coupled with attracting new participants an increasingly difficult problem, people better start thinking fast, especially requirements of notebooks and not helping naive newcomers and parents. 

The pyrimid scheme has disguised this for longer than one could imagine.

This is a much bigger problem than PHA and TH combined.

To clarify something…

Despite what some have said, Banamine is not an antibiotic, it’s an anti-inflammatory.  It’s made to treat the symptoms, not the illness itself.  It doesn’t treat the actual sickness like antibiotics do any more than taking Dayquil treats the underlying illness of a cold.

Regardless, making that statement another soap box against “steer jockeys” shows a pretty severe lack of understanding of feeding calves in the first place.  If you know jack squat about feeding calves, the problem Tyson is having is almost certainly with Zilmax.  It’s A LOT more likely that a high percentage of steers would test positive for that than antibiotics.

Not accepting cattle fed Zilmax is a decision made by a company to protect their export markets.  If they make it clear that they won’t accept Zilmax fed cattle, that’s their choice.  But that doesn’t turn this into another clichéd “steer jocks are terrible people that should all die” situation.

Regardless of your personal feelings Zilmax is a legal and FDA approved additive that even when fed properly would run afoul of Tyson's policies.

If you can’t sell your calves because they were fed a legal drug according to label, the problem is with the lack of competition among packers, not “steer jockeys”.

If there is a lack of options to sell calves, steer jocks may end up with no competition either.

I could be wrong but I don't think people were singling out jocks.

A few careless or non-caring show jockeys have created havoc for a great many innocent youngsters who follow the rules costing them dearly as they are now ready to cash in their years’ labors.

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http://www.fairviewsalebarn.com/

sorry, i was referring to this site.


they were also referring to antibiotics.


key quote.


"Illinois State Fair officials have been notified as it will be one of the losers along with every small show hereafter."

I guess for me, since this affects the income of show jocks, what will they do to protect that stream with regard to changing practices, outreach, testing, inspections etc, which downstream segments were forced to absorb the costs of monitoring.  going forward, lawyers, government etc, increasingly are finding ways to ensure the practicer absorb a larger negative cost of their practices.


if show cattle start to disappear due to the hassle, cost, whatever, i expect there will be some sort of change or it really will disappear. an old-timer friend of mine who used to make a decent chunk of change in the show industry can't believe the show steer industry is still around. nationally, it sort of isn't remotely the same as it used to be.


i guess really the key take home message is that exports are an infinitely more important market than a few animals from the show world. 


the show world better figure this out or it's going to get tough.

The quote I posted is in the first post in this thread on this site.  I just linked to the original.

I agree with Jeff. 

That being said Fairview is my sale barn of choice in Illinois.  We normally get along very well there and anytime we haven't done well in a weight group is because of feeding mistakes I have made.  Their feeders want compensatory gain which in Illinois is not the norm in the other sale barns in my area.  They are a very solid operation that I like because they know their feeders and they know their buyers. 

They do not like club calves because their feeders and buyers don't like them.  I respect that and won't take my clubby calves there. I don't think this is new or unusual.  I've been around show cattle since the 80s and I don't remember it being any different.  I also don't remember anything other a discount from packers and/or buyers on show cattle. 

I do think careless administration of supplements and drugs will hurt all of us in more ways than one.  The vet profession plays a major role in this.  We have one joke of a vet in our area that will off label anything.  He will import drugs from Canada and repackage them as something legal here.  He stood chute side and told me to ship a sick cow he had loaded up with everything under the sun to make sure I got a paycheck out of her.  I could go on and on.  We reported him with the drug in hand with his clinic label on the bottle and not a thing happened to him. 

Unfortunately the fallout of those not willing to hold themselves personally accountable seems to be more laws and regulations.









 

ejoe326 said:

I agree with Jeff. 

That being said Fairview is my sale barn of choice in Illinois.  We normally get along very well there and anytime we haven't done well in a weight group is because of feeding mistakes I have made.  Their feeders want compensatory gain which in Illinois is not the norm in the other sale barns in my area.  They are a very solid operation that I like because they know their feeders and they know their buyers. 

They do not like club calves because their feeders and buyers don't like them.  I respect that and won't take my clubby calves there. I don't think this is new or unusual.  I've been around show cattle since the 80s and I don't remember it being any different.  I also don't remember anything other a discount from packers and/or buyers on show cattle. 

I do think careless administration of supplements and drugs will hurt all of us in more ways than one.  The vet profession plays a major role in this.  We have one joke of a vet in our area that will off label anything.  He will import drugs from Canada and repackage them as something legal here.  He stood chute side and told me to ship a sick cow he had loaded up with everything under the sun to make sure I got a paycheck out of her.  I could go on and on.  We reported him with the drug in hand with his clinic label on the bottle and not a thing happened to him. 

Unfortunately the fallout of those not willing to hold themselves personally accountable seems to be more laws and regulations.

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Is this barn owned by the Hugo's?

Maybe I'm missing something here, but how are 4-h/FFA steers selling below market value? I grew up showing in central and southeastern ky. Kids in our areas always sold steers through the county show and sale at quite a nice premium, $2.00/lbs for fat steers was the norm. It seemed people in the community were always willing to support the youth and the meat was usually in high demand. However, I also feel pretty safe in saying that us and the majority of the people around us followed drug labels closely. Are most people not marketing show steers through an avenue similar to this?

In our county, the cattle are sold for a set market price .. plus whatever premium they bring through the sale.  So basically if the packer will not take the steer, all the kid gets is the premium.  They then have to find another place to market the live animal. 

My problem with the announcement is that #1.  Zilmax is not illegal, but a packer is choosing not to accept any cattle that have been fed it.  and #2..  this is really late in the feeding cycle/show season to come out with an announcement like this.  Someone who is feeding this and doing it right could stand to loose and there isn't a thing they can do about it.  On that note, I've seen several new craigslist ads just the last day or so trying to sell market steers after a given fair date. 

I wonder if there is anything that can be done?  ie contacting Tyson? writing letters to whoever might be in a position to change the decision?   

kanshow said:

In our county, the cattle are sold for a set market price .. plus whatever premium they bring through the sale.  So basically if the packer will not take the steer, all the kid gets is the premium.  They then have to find another place to market the live animal. 

My problem with the announcement is that #1.  Zilmax is not illegal, but a packer is choosing not to accept any cattle that have been fed it.  and #2..  this is really late in the feeding cycle/show season to come out with an announcement like this.  Someone who is feeding this and doing it right could stand to loose and there isn't a thing they can do about it.  On that note, I've seen several new craigslist ads just the last day or so trying to sell market steers after a given fair date. 

I wonder if there is anything that can be done?  ie contacting Tyson? writing letters to whoever might be in a position to change the decision? 

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When I spoke with my friend last night she stated they were evaluating the rest of the cattle on a case by case basis. They have had 6 head in the last week test positive for drug residues and all of which were fair cattle. She did not say how many tested positive for zilmax. It's not hard to follow the rules in my mind. I know when we did steers we had to sign off on papers saying we did everything ethical during our project. I guess winning is more important now.

In regards to the comments hinting that the show industry will disappear, don't hold your breath.  It has changed greatly in the near 50 years I've been around, but it will not go away, at least not in the next 50.  Numbers at our fairs have fallen, keeping pace with the decline of the farm population.  People have done things to their calves, and pigs, sheep, chickens, rabbits, and anything else they've used for competition for as long as I've been able to keep my eyes open.  They even try to sneak water into their pumpkins, for heaven's sake.  Some are always going to try to get away with something.  Some people quit because of it.  I keep plugging away because I like the cattle, I like the people, I greatly enjoy the family and friends getting together over a cold Coke and riding the old mill.  I marvel at what some people can accomplish.  I envy the amount of time they have to spend with their animals.  It's just down right fun for me to be involved.  If somebody has more money to spend, more time to brush, whatever, as long as it's legal, more power to them.  I am concerned about the drug use, though, and truly believe every precaution should be taken to keep them out of the food chain.  It won't kill the show, though.  After all, football, baseball, basketball, soccer, swimming, track and field, bicycle racing, you name it, have all survived.  As far as getting a lower market price for your show steer, if you've paid $30,000 for a steer to show, what difference does it make to you if you get $1,900 at the market or $1,700?   

It's not hard to follow the rules in my mind. I know when we did steers we had to sign off on papers saying we did everything ethical during our project.

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The problem is that the rules were changed at the end of the game.  If someone is/was feeding Zilmax, they are/were not doing anything wrong.  They can still show legally and if they win, fine.  The problem will be when they try to sell the steer because the packers are not wanting those steers.  Its more than likely a PR move more than anything on the packer's part. 

kanshow said:

It's not hard to follow the rules in my mind. I know when we did steers we had to sign off on papers saying we did everything ethical during our project.

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The problem is that the rules were changed at the end of the game.  If someone is/was feeding Zilmax, they are/were not doing anything wrong. They can still show legally and if they win, fine.  The problem will be when they try to sell the steer because the packers are not wanting those steers.  Its more than likely a PR move more than anything on the packer's part. 

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So tell me... what are the long term effects of consuming cattle that have been fed Zilmax?  You've made the definitive that there is nothing 'wrong' with feeding it-- so please tell me how you concluded your opinion---  or do you just feel as if the FDA's 'approval' of the product protects you from granting any ethical consideration to the matter?

So tell me... what are the long term effects of consuming cattle that have been fed Zilmax?

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There are no known long term effects of consuming beef that has been fed Zilmax.

If you know of any actual studies or facts that indicate otherwise, please educate everyone.

Just because Tyson is no longer accepting show cattle does not mean the others will stop also. Tyson is just one of the big four (Cargill, JBS, National). Plus all the other smaller packers out there. Just because one decided not to take the cattle does not mean everyone will be stuck with these show steers after the fairs.