Sunday, December 21, 1997

Cattle barns are shutting down for the holidays

By J.T. Smith / Abilene Reporter-News

Santa Claus may be a busy guy this week.

But as is traditional, cattle auction barns will be taking a break for the Christmas holidays.

Several will take two weeks off because of the way Christmas and New Year's Day fall during the work week this year.

Abilene Livestock Auction will not have a sale either Dec. 23 or Dec. 30, said Randy Carson, president of the Abilene auction.

Brownwood Cattle Auction also will be shut down both those Tuesdays.

Sweetwater Cattle Auction will be closed Dec. 24 and Dec. 31, said Darren Stevens.

Coleman Livestock Auction also will take off Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.

No Ranger Livestock Auction on Dec. 25 or Jan. 1. The Ranger auction will resume selling cattle on Jan. 8, said owner David Coan.

Stamford Farmers and Ranchers Livestock Auction also will be closed on Christmas and New Year's Day. Andy Holloway will announce when sales resume there in the new year.

Haskell Livestock Auction, Mineral Wells Stockyards, McDougal's Auction Barn at Comanche and Colorado City Livestock Market are all closed Dec. 27. But all four of those auction barns will resume cattle sales on Jan. 3.

So in the immediate Abilene region, the auction barns are going to be pretty quiet places from now until Jan. 3 when all the noise cranks up again.

<B>Canada makes beef deal<B>

While the United States put off more congressional debate on fast-track trade authority for President Clinton until 1998, our northern neighbor hasn't wasted any time.

Canada has inked beef trade deals with three different nations.

The Canadians have signed beef pacts with the United States, China and Argentina.

So far, the cattle trade with Canada has been heavily lopsided in Canada's favor. But a new agreement should change that for the better.

A plan to speed up U.S. cattle shipments to Canada has been agreed upon.

Trade in U.S. feeder cattle exports to Canada has been severely limited by the $24 per head fee on Canda's required health tests and certification.

This created a large bilateral trade imbalance.

For example, the United States took 1,220,642 head of slaughter cattle and 177,929 feeder cattle from Canada in 1996. But in return, the United States only shippped 37,226 feeder cattle to Canada that same year.

A new "Northwest Pilot Project" is a two-year experimental program that will make it easier to move cattle from Montana and Washington to Canada.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency will designate special feedlots in Canada which will be eligible to import U.S. feeder cattle without tests for anaplasmosis, bluetongue, brucellosis or tuberculosis.

Meanwhile, USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will recognize Canada's disease-free status for brucellosis and tuberculosis.

Montana State University estimates that up to 270,000 cattle per year could be shipped from Montana to Canada under this new program.

In another program, Canada and Argentina have agreed to lift some health-related barriers in one another's beef and pork trade for a year.

And finally, the Canadian province of Alberta and China have signed a technical accord on beef to help China expand its commercial livestock industry.

In return, Alberta will have easier access to the Chinese market with its beef products.