The outbreak of the HPAI H5N1 virus in dairy has sent cattle prices on a rollercoaster ride the past two months with the market fueled by both negative and positive news.
You may recall, USDA recently announced it would collect samples of ground beef at retail stores to test for the virus. USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) said it collected the samples from “states with dairy cattle herds that had tested positive for the H5N1 influenza virus at the time of sample collection. The samples were sent to APHIS’ National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) for PCR testing.”
Even though the agency maintained its stance on the U.S. meat supply being safe, the news sent cattle markets sharply lower. Then, after testing was completed, the USDA FSIS announced the 30 ground beef samples tested all came back negative for the virus. That news pushed cattle prices sharply higher.
"Thank goodness," says Don Close, Chief Research & Analytics Officer, Terrain Ag. "There's just a combination of factors we're dealing with in the cattle market. The tight supplies, where we're at seasonally with that April/June rollover and the basis switch there, and then we add the H5N1 outbreak in dairy on top of it, volatility is going to continue to be a mega factor in the market."
According to AgWeb, USDA is still conducting additional beef safety studies. According to the information posted online, these include:
- Beef muscle sampling of cull dairy cows condemned at select FSIS-inspected slaughter facilities. This sampling is conducted on dairy cows known to have H5N1,
- Ground beef cooking study: The USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) will be conducting a beef cooking study and will be using a virus surrogate in ground beef and cooking it at different temperatures to determine log-reduction of the virus. The results will be posted as soon as they become available.
As the story continues to unfold, Close says the cattle markets could have more HPAI news to digest. "We're still waiting on the results of the testing of the muscle cuts from the dairy cows and the cow plants. If we get a green light there, it's going to take a huge level of stress out of this market."
Close says when you consider where we are in the whole cattle cycle, even when the market gets past the H5N1 in livestock situation, he thinks market volatility will be a major factor for cattle producers. "Certainly, there's further summer price risk," Close adds.
EDITOR’S TAKE:
So far, so good! The release of negative test results from the ground beef samples was very good news for consumers and the cattle industry. We certainly hope the good news continues with the additional testing taking place. This outbreak of H5N1 has been a lesson in just how vulnerable our food supply might be to viruses that are out of our control. And scientists are now saying that there is no way to completely shield our poultry and dairy operations from this disease. This is precisely why we must maintain a vigilant watch over the safety of our food supply. One can only imagine what the panic would be like if something devastated or interrupted our food supply for a sustained period of time. You can help ensure food safety by promoting sound science and research coupled with adequate food safety protocols at the local, state and national levels by working through your universities and legislators.
