Nearly two years after losing accredited-free status due to an outbreak of bovine tuberculosis (TB) among dairy herds in Kings and Tulare Counties, California has regained that status, following publication of an interim rule in the April 15, 2005, Federal Register. As a result, a federal requirement that cattle leaving California be tested for TB has been lifted.
Following the bovine TB detections, veterinarians tested 876,069 cattle from 688 herds to make sure the disease had not spread further. In addition, new rules were put in place requiring breeding dairy cattle entering California be tested to prevent the reintroduction of the disease.
In publishing the interim rule, the U.S. Department of Agriculture noted that California has zero prevalence of affected herds and has had no findings of TB in any herds in the two years since the depopulation of the last affected herd.
Cargill to Purchase Better Beef
Cargill, Ltd., based in Winnipeg, MB, Canada, and Better Beef, Ltd., have reached an agreement for Cargill to purchase beef processing and related assets operated by Better Beef, headquartered in Guelph, ON, Canada. The agreement is subject to normal government approval and other conditions.
The combination will significantly enhance product and service offerings for food customers and producers both in Canada and around the world. Better Beef, Ltd., was established in 1972. Cargill, Ltd., is a subsidiary of Cargill, an international provider of food, agricultural, and risk management products and services.
Craig Mostyn Group Awarded
Family Business Australia, a non-profit organization for family business owners in Australia, has named Craig Mostyn Group the winner of the Third Generation category in the Family Business of the Year award for New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. The company will now compete in the same category at the National Family Business of the Year awards to be held in August.
The awards were created to celebrate the unique achievements of family businesses and their contribution to the economy and culture of Australia. The Third Generation category focuses on the children or family relations of the second generation who manage the business and is judged on aspects of “business renewal.”
A privately owned diversified food, agribusiness, and logistics company, Craig Mostyn Group exports tallow and protein meals, operates a rendering operation and yellow grease recycling facility in western Australia, and is comprised of five divisions – pork, seafood, shipping, rural, and export trading. The company has been family owned and operated since 1923 and currently serves customers in over 60 countries around the world.
Indiana Creates Ag Department
For the first time, Indiana has a department of agriculture. Governor Mitch Daniels signed a bill in late April creating the Indiana State Department of Agriculture and separate Office of Rural Affairs.
“Our agriculture department is the vehicle to comeback for Hoosiers in this important sector of our economy,” said Governor Daniels. “There’s so much more that we can do to develop the untapped potential we have in Indiana agriculture, such as expanding production of bio-based fuels and food processing facilities.”
Until the bill was signed, Indiana had been one of four states without a stand-alone agriculture department. Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman will hold the position of secretary of agriculture and rural affairs, and Andy Miller has been named as the department’s first director, a cabinet level position.
Kemin Appoints Research Director
Dr. Alan Bergold has been named director of research and development for Kemin Nutrisurance. He was most recently a consultant with his own firm, Bergold and Associates, and also previously served as the director of research and development for Sigma-Genosys, Life Sciences Division of the Sigma-Aldrich Corporation of The Woodlands, TX.
Bergold will assume responsibility for research, product development, and formulation activities, from concept to commercialization, for the Kemin pet food and companion animal efforts.
Netherlands Company Buys Tank Terminal
According to Oils & Fats International magazine, Dutch by-products and trading company Biox acquired Modern By-Products’ tank terminal in the Netherlands and its trading company, Modern By-Products NL, at the end of November 2004.
Biox procures, processes, produces, stores, and delivers vegetable oils and fats, animal fats, by-products, and solids specifically for non-food applications. The tank terminal, located in the Port of Zeeland, Vlissingen, is used to store and process by-products for biofuel and oleochemical applications. Biox also operates a tank terminal and processing site at the port of Vlissingen and is planning a tank terminal at Vlissingen harbor near the open North Sea to be operational by the end of 2005. The new terminal will be a modular storage and processing site for the storage of vegetable and animal oils and fats.
Smithfield Achieves Certification
Smithfield Foods, Inc., has achieved International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 certification for all of its U.S. hog production and processing facilities. ISO 14001 is the international gold standard for environmental management.
The ISO, based in Geneva, Switzerland, promotes the development and implementation of voluntary international standards for environmental management systems. If a facility receives ISO certification, it means that facility has implemented state-of-the-art environmental management systems that include formalized practices to protect the environment.
In 2001, Smithfield began voluntarily implementing a comprehensive environmental management system (EMS) on all of its Murphy-Brown hog farms, Smithfield’s livestock production subsidiary.
Swift CEO Resigns
John N. Simons, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Swift and Company and a member of the company’s board of directors, has resigned his positions. Dennis Henley, president of Swift’s North American Red Meat division, and Danny Herron, executive vice president and chief financial officer, will serve as co-CEOs on an interim basis while a search is conducted for Simons’ permanent replacement.
While no reason was given for the resignation, company officials applauded Simons’ strong leadership of Swift and Company.
“John’s guidance was critical during the company’s emergence as an independent organization after its separation from ConAgra Foods in 2002,” said John R. Muse, a member of the Swift board of directors and chairman of the board of Hicks, Muse, Tate, and Furst, Inc., the majority owner of Swift. “Largely because of his efforts, Swift today is a company in a very solid financial condition and with a skilled and successful management team. We wish John well in his future endeavors.”
Simons joined ConAgra Beef Company, predecessor to Swift and Company, as president in May 1999.
Tyson to Close Rendering Plant
Tyson Foods, Inc., will close its River Valley Protein Plant in Noel, MO, no later than June 3, 2005, and will shift production from the by-product rendering facility to a similar plant in Arkansas.
“After months of consideration, we determined it will be more cost-effective to close the plant and move the production to another facility,” said Bill Lovette, Tyson Group vice president-Foodservice. Instead of investing more money in the Noel plant, which was built in 1963, Tyson will consolidate the operations into the company’s newer and larger rendering operation in Scranton, AR.
“This decision has the added benefit of addressing concerns from some neighboring businesses about the Noel rendering operation, which we inherited when our company bought Hudson Foods in 1998,” Lovette added. Tourism related businesses have developed nearby along the Elk River since the plant was first built.
Tyson’s Scranton rendering plant has five times the production capacity of the Noel operation. The plant closing will affect about 45 employees, most of whom will be given the opportunity to remain with the company, either transferring to another Tyson plant location or taking jobs at the company’s chicken processing plant in Noel, which currently employs more than 900.
June 2005 Render