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Texas Agriculture Archive

July 4, 2003

COOL major focus
of Beef Short Course

Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL), an issue that has an immediate impact on Texas and U.S. beef producers, will be a featured topic at the 49^th Annual TAMU Beef Cattle Short Course, August 4-6 at the TAMU University Center and Rudder Tower in College Station.

To date, COOL has been voluntary. However, on October 1, 2004, it becomes mandatory for retail cuts of fresh or frozen beef, as part of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002.

Though this is a retail-labeling law, all beef producers that market cattle must provide the information required to verify country-of-origin throughout various segments of the beef industry, said Dr. Ted McCollum, Texas Cooperative Extension beef cattle specialist.

To date, there is no firm indication of the type of documentation that will be required as cattle move through the production system.

"The law prohibits the USDA from requiring a mandatory identification program, yet states retailers should maintain a verifiable recordkeeping audit trail," McCollum said.

Dr. Larry Boleman, associate department head-extension, beef cattle specialist and conference coordinator, said COOL will impact every Texas cow-calf producer, stocker operator and feedyard manager.

"Many producers are worried about COOL, and need to know what is expected of them to avoid marketing problems or fines," Boleman said. "There are a lot of unknowns and questions about the implementation of COOL."

This year's Short Course will feature United States Department of Agriculture representatives and a panel of beef industry experts to provide insight on what lies ahead for Texas cattle producers, according to Boleman.

The conference features the popular "Cattlemen's College," where participants can choose workshops and topics from a field of approximately 15 different topics on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. These workshops feature information on nutrition, reproduction, management, marketing, genetics, selection, pastures, carcass evaluation, hands-on live cattle demonstrations and more.

Monday's general session will address issues challenging producers, and Tuesday's general session will feature a genetic and breeding seminar.

BQA training and CEU credits are available in the conference's 50 other topics.

The Short Course begins August 4 at 8 a.m. and continues through noon on August 6. Registration costs $110 per participant, and includes educational materials, conference proceedings, trade show admittance, tickets to a special prime rib dinner, additional meals and refreshment breaks.

Participants may register online at http://animalscience-extension.ta-mu.edu/ or contact Boleman's office at 979-845-6931 for more information.