Re: beltway backlash on farm states pork

[Jurriaan Bendien <bendien@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

You might find this story of interest:

When you think of cattle thieves, you think of the Wild West - cowboy films,
Rawhide and so on. But actually there are still cattle thieves in the USA
today. Since beef cattle prices this year reached record levels, there are
complaints in several rural states now about a strong increase in the number
of stolen animals. Cattle ranchers get 30 to 40 percent more this year for
their cows than a year ago, often more than $1000 per animal. The demand for
beef has increased, attributed in part to the popularity of the Atkins-diet,
which emphasizes protein-rich food such as beefsteak. At the same time, the
American Midwest wrestles with years of persistent drought. This means the
grasslands don't provide enough grazing for the whole herds. The discovery
of mad-cow disease in Canada also meant that this spring no meat could cross
the American border anymore. So, the total supply has declined, driving up
prices. To profit from higher prices, farmers slaughter more and earlier,
through which the cattle stock shrinks even more. According to the US
Ministry of Agriculture, the total number of calves this year at 38 million
is the smallest total since 1951. Cattle thieves profit from this buoyant
meat market. Nobody really knows how many cattle are stolen, but farmers
agree it occurs more frequently than before. If you know what you are doing,
it's apparently not very difficult to load up a few animals late at night
somewhere on the thousands of hectares of the larger ranches. In Texas and
Oklahoma, the authorities say that some tens of thousands of cattle are
stolen. But it's less simple to sell the booty than to steal it. The cattle
registration system is almost watertight. But, in contrast to the days of
Clint Eastwood's Rawhide cowboys, with the aid of a cattle truck, the
thieves can move rapidly across thousands of kilometers to a buyer. No
horses are involved anymore in this oldfashioned crime.

Translated from: Reinout van Wagtendonk, "United Sports of America" column,
Spits (Amsterdam), 21 november 2003, p. 5.