Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Microcap & Penny Stocks : Rat dog micro-cap picks... -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bucky Katt who wrote (16659)	12/24/2003 9:56:54 AM
From: tsigprofit	Respond to of 48461

US beef industry holds its breath The Far East is a key market for US beef The discovery of mad cow disease in the US could be a devastating blow for the flourishing American beef industry. Always a main component of the American diet, sales of beef have soared even higher over the past year as more and more people from California to Miami adopted the red meat-rich, high protein Atkins Diet. The $38bn a year US beef industry had been further boosted this year by the discovery of a single case of BSE in Canada last spring, which saw Canadian imports dry up. American cattle ranchers are now hoping that the case in Washington state remains an isolated exception. Immediate reaction The US has already been hit by the immediate halting of imports of American beef by two of its main export markets - Japan and Korea. US BEEF INDUSTRY 97,276,500 beef cattle are raised in the US every year There are 1,050,000 cattle farmers and ranchers Beef is the largest volume item sold in US grocery stores Through beef and beef by-products close to 99% of each cow is used Source: California Cattlemen's Association The loss of Asian markets is a blow to America's beef industry, especially Japan which takes a third of American beef sold abroad. The European Union already bans most imports of American beef because of long standing concern about the use of growth hormones in cattle feed. However, the US only exports about 10% of its beef, making the reaction of American consumers the single most important factor. Many in the industry are already worried. Jim Olson, a rancher in Stanfield, Arizona, who owns about 150 cattle, said: "I think it has the potential to hurt our industry." 'Setback' Thad Cochran, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman admitted the discovered BSE case is "going to be a setback." If Americans panicked and stopped eating beef, 200,000 jobs could be at risk in the industry. The ultimate nightmare would a repeat of what happened to British agriculture after the discovery of BSE in the 1990s, says BBC business correspondent Mark Gregory. Consumption of beef within Britain collapsed. Export markets were lost and have still to recover, even though outright bans on British produce were lifted sometime ago. In America, a lot will depend on whether consumers believe the industry's assurances that the systems are in place to stop one case becoming an epidemic. And only time will tell whether Americans keep on eating one of their favourites meals. news.bbc.co.uk