So I got my serious #agnerd geek on this month in looking at the continuing story in the beef industry about using a controversial growth promoter to bulk up cattle.
I鈥檝e been since Tyson, one of the top four beef producers in the U.S., announced it would no longer be buying cattle treated with Zilmax, a drug that can add another 30 pounds on an animal just before slaughter.
Other companies soon followed 鈥� all citing scattered reports of animal welfare issues. Cattle treated with the drug became lame and lethargic, and there were problems at the packing houses. The drug鈥檚 maker, Merck Animal Health, pulled the drug and is now auditing its use.
So during a visit to Colorado, I stopped at and talked to manager Tyler Karney. He runs an enormous feedlot out on the eastern plains 鈥� some 6,500 Holsteins on 2,000 acres. My story about Tyler鈥檚 use of .
Now that it鈥檚 off the market, Tyler鈥檚 switched to Optaflexx 鈥� another growth promoter used to bulk up animals for more pounds and profits. Zilmax and Optaflexx are part of a family of drugs called beta-agonists 鈥� Zilmax in generic form is zilpaterol, Optaflexx is ractopamine.
Why are the beta-agonists interesting? Well, there are several billion reasons why 鈥� most of those about international trade.
Some 160 countries ban the use of beta-agonists in beef and pork production, most often because the countries determined the drug can affect human health, such as creating rapid heart rates. The bans have created several trade barriers, most recently when .
So it certainly piqued my interest when last month, the . It鈥檚 the latest addition to the government鈥檚 program that includes other marketing claims, such as .
So that could help open up some foreign markets again, right? Philip Karsting with the USDA鈥檚 foreign agricultural service told me that it鈥檚 hard to say.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 know until we figure out how many people are signing up for it, how soon they would make a transition to it and it still depends on how the Russians react to this beat-agonist free framework,鈥� he said.
U.S. officials 鈥� and many in the cattle industry 鈥� bristle at the talk about banning beta-agonists, especially in Russia. As Karsting pointed out, there are already international standards for the use of beta-agonists. That was , which sets international standards for food, on what鈥檚 called acceptable 鈥渕aximum residue levels.鈥�
鈥淚t shouldn鈥檛 be a problem in the first place,鈥� Karsting said. 鈥淏ut if we鈥檙e going to sell overseas, we鈥檒l try to get people what they need, what they want, or what they think they need and want, and so that鈥檚 what this effort was about.鈥�
What鈥檚 next in this story? I think it will be interesting to watch if Russia reacts and starts accepting U.S. grown beef. And I wonder if consumers will care about this issue. Would there ever be a 鈥渘ever fed beta-agonist鈥� label? Again, hard to say.
