Activists may be to blame for bird flu in bovines: US cattlemen at Beef 2024

Wyoming cattle rancher Mark Eisele, president of the US National Cattlemen's Beef Association, told the Queensland Rural Press Club breakfast his organisation had information that activists may have moved ducks into dairy regions in the US.

The beef industry across the globe is on high alert following confirmation of cases of the highly-pathogenic disease in US dairy animals.

Mr Eisele, and NCBA executive director of government affairs Kent Bacus, reiterated bird flu had not been found in any beef cattle and the US Department of Agriculture had reported the risk to humans from avian influenza remained low.

Mr Eisele's family runs 500 head of Red and Black Angus cow-calf pairs, 400 retained yearlings that sell into branded programs and a custom haying operation on the historic King Ranch Company at Cheyenne.

As part of his appearance at the RPC event, he signed a statement of priorities with Cattle Australia for Australian and American cattle producers to continue working together on key issues, including promoting sustainable global trade that encourages efficient production practices, combating devastating foreign animal diseases and ensuring science-based food safety and marketing regulations of emerging food technologies such as lab-grown proteins.

"We are competitors but we are also colleagues," he said.

"Our real adversaries and enemies are animal activists and anti-agriculture activists.

"In our country, these people have collectively raised $600 million to use against us and another $70m in offshore accounts - and that's just what we know of.

"They do all kinds of things - misinformation, sabotage.

"We need to hit this head on."

Mr Eisele also spoke about the pending US cattle herd rebuild that many in Australia are hopeful with deliver big opportunity for our exports.

He expected it would unfold slowly, given the way interest rates were and the fact drought was still present in parts of the States.

Mr Bacus told Queensland Country Life US ranchers had faced big challenges over the past few years, including drought, wildfires and high inflation making input costs more expensive.

"Currently, producers are seeing record high prices for their cattle, which we expect will motivate some shift to rebuild the herd," he said.

"We also see challenges from lack of labor and severe weather conditions. All of these are factors in producers' decisions on when to rebuild their herd but thankfully they are seeing some higher cattle prices and greater profitability."

Mr Eisele told the RPC breakfast it was a misperception US cattle were grainfed all their lives.

He said 60 to 90 days was the most they were fed.

"We produce 18 to 20 per cent of the world's beef with 6pc of the cattle and we contribute just 2pc of the US's total greenhouse gas emissions," he said.

Yet incorrect information that emissions from US cattle were a big driver of climate change continued to be pushed, Mr Bacus said.

"At 2pc, our cattle are hardly the problem," he said.

"One of the benefits from raising cattle are what we call ecosystem services, or the environmental benefits that farms and ranches provide like preserving greenspace, creating wildlife habitat, and naturally filtering water.

"If it weren't for the cattle, these environmental benefits would be lost due to development.

"We also know that cattle producers are America's original conservationists. For generations, producers have been caring for the land and making decisions that benefit the land. After all, when you make your living from the land you have a vested interest in its long-term health."