Tag: feedlots

September 3, 2012 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Australian sheep stranded in the Gulf

Two Australian ships holding thousands of sheep have been rejected from loading in Kuwait and Bahrain and remain at sea.

The Australian ship Ocean Drover, carrying 22,000 sheep, has been blocked from unloading in Bahrain since the end of August.

The sheep have already been on the water for 33 days.

Kuwait has also rejected a shipment exported by the Australian company Emanuel’s on the Kuwaiti ship Al Shuwaikh. About 50,000 sheep are on board the ship and was due to dock a week ago.

There are unconfirmed reports that the carrier is now moving its cargo to shore.

According to the Australian agriculture department, the shipments are both infected with the disease scabby mouth.

After the Cormo Express case, in which more than 5,000 sheep died, Australia signed memoranda of understanding with destination countries that oblige them to accept live exports into feedlots within 36 hours, including into quarantine, if needed.

But the new cases suggest procedures for animal welfare in the live export trade have failed.

Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon says the situation is unacceptable.

“The memorandum of understanding now looks like worthless bits of paper,” she said.

“What they require is for the sheep to be unloaded within 36 hours of docking.

Australian sheep stranded in the Gulf – Middle East – Al Jazeera English

February 19, 2012 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Livestock production paves way for ripple effect of growth

Truckloads of cows and pigs rumble south every day on Highway 75 on their way to slaughterhouses in Omaha and Dakota City, Neb. Profit flows back into the towns of Rock Valley, Hull, Sioux Center and Orange City.

But something more than a livestock boom is going on. There’s an industrial revolution in one town here, where commuters travel from 66 ZIP codes to churn out hinges, valves, tractors parts and backhoe buckets. Scientists at local genetics firms sort eggs and sperm to improve herds and clone animals to find cures for human diseases.

In a part of the country where small towns are losing their factory jobs, their Main Streets and their people, this area, in the northwest corner of Iowa, is moving in the opposite direction. Dollars earned from cattle and hogs have fertilized a field of innovation and growth, and the recovery is blooming.

Unemployment here was 3.6% at the end of 2011, two points below the state average and less than half the national average. The population grew 6.7% in the 2010 Census, 63% faster than the rest of the state.

“They have embraced livestock production as a way of life, and it’s benefited them. They’ve also built up advanced manufacturing, and a commitment to entrepreneurship and re-investing in new biotech companies,”

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April 14, 2011 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Brazilian company JBS dominates world beef industry from farm to fork

The founder, who began by slaughtering one or two head a day in 1953, raises calves far in the countryside. Six of his children are in JBS’s management. And ranchers such as Edson Crochiquia, who is 69 but rounds up cattle on horseback near here, spare no detail to provide the company with healthy, 1,000-pound animals.

Even a decade ago, JBS was still mainly focused on selling in Brazil. But by acquiring American giants such as Swift and Pilgrim’s Pride, JBS grew from a $1 billion private company into a $40 billion behemoth that slaughters 90,000 head of cattle a day, employs 125,000 workers and exports to 150 countries.

JBS is now the world’s biggest provider of meat, its footprint felt by feedlots, packing plants and chicken processors from Argentina to Italy to the American Midwest.

In Brazil, it is not uncommon to find banks, steel mills and other companies that evolved from family businesses into global giants. But JBS stands out, using an alliance with Brazil’s development bank and an aggressive acquisition strategy to become a vital pillar of the country’s efforts to project its economic power abroad.

To Wesley Batista, JBS’s 40-year-old chief executive and the founder’s fourth child, the company is still run “a simple way,” using a management model without “a lot of layers, not a lot of fancy things, not a lot of time spent on PowerPoint presentations.”

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