FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Texas Cattle Raisers praise access to Mexican trade market

FORT WORTH, Texas, March 28, 2008—The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association praised the major trade agreement between the United States and Mexico that will immediately allow breeding cattle from the United States to be exported to Mexico. Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples announced yesterday that the stalemate over banned beef cattle exports to Mexico was over.

            “We applaud Commissioner Staples for being instrumental in working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to re-establish beef cattle breeding stock trade with our fellow beef producers in Mexico,” said TSCRA President Jon Means of Van Horn.

             “This association has long considered the normalization of livestock trade with Mexico to be a top priority and has worked with USDA and TDA to achieve this goal,” said Means. “It was imperative that Texas cattle producers have access to the Mexican trade market.”

            In 2002, prior to BSE, 58 percent of Texas cattle were exported to Mexico, according to TDA and Texas A&M University. In 2006, that number dropped to 3.6 percent. And, the Texas value of cattle exports to Mexico declined from $10.7 million in 2002 to $100,000 in 2006.

            After BSE was diagnosed in Washington State in 2003, Mexico closed the border to the import of all live cattle and beef. However, the import of dairy cattle breeding stock less than 30 months of age has been allowed since October 2006.

            Recently, a trading protocol was signed between Canada and Mexico that allowed Canadian cattle to go into Mexico on a more lucrative basis than the United States. Consequently, Commissioner Staples, on March 4, 2008, issued an order banning the movement of Canadian cattle through TDA export facilities along the Mexican border, an act that TSCRA publicly supported. New Mexico, Arizona and California officials later joined in this effort.

            Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association is a 131-year-old trade organization whose 15,000 members manage approximately 3.7 million head of cattle on 96.5 million acres of range and pasture land, primarily in Texas and Oklahoma. TSCRA provides law enforcement services, livestock inspection, legislative and regulatory advocacy and education opportunities for its members.

TSCRA—13-2008