What Iowa Beef Producers Need to Know About County of Origin Labeling

AMES, Iowa – Beef producers have heard a lot about Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) and it’s ramifications lately. What hasn’t been specifically outlined, however, is what changes if any need to be made and how exactly beef producers will implement these changes practically on their farms.

“Many Iowa producers have received letters in the mail from packing plants asking for documentation on animals as we reach the Sept. 30, 2004 deadline for possible mandatory COOL compliance,” said John Lawrence, director of the Iowa Beef Center. “Feedlots will be asking for country of origin confirmation on calves purchased this fall because packers need verification on any animals in the fall of 2004.”

USDA has not yet specified what record system to use. At a minimum, cowherd owners should develop a record system to document that the calves born on their farms are “products of the U.S.A.”

“Tagging calves and recording birth dates, tag number, and description of the calf in a calving book would be a good place to start,” Lawrence said. “Another strategy may be an established record system like the Iowa Green Tag program or the Iowa Quality Beef electronic identification program. In both cases the cattle are entered into a formal database. Keep in mind that you likely will be asked for this documentation if you sell the cattle.”

Some of the letters sent by meat packers asked for third party verification documentation proving where animals were born and raised. As of yet, approved third parties have not been released, however, producers may use programs like Cow Herd Improvement Program Services (CHIPS), your local veterinarian or breed associations to document where calves were born and raised. For more information about CHIPS, please see their web site at www.chipsbeef.com or contact Dave Juelsgaard at the Union County Extension Office, 641-782-8426 or email juels@iastate.edu.

Country of Origin Requirements At-A-Glance

Cow-Calf Producers: COOL requirements may affect calves born this spring. To begin building a good foundation for verification, producers can begin with:

Ear tags
Calving books
Herd inventories
Purchase receipts of herd animals
Sale bills from sold animals

“Creating a paper trail leading from birth to the feedlot will ultimately save producers much time and effort if and when country of origin documentation becomes mandatory,” Lawrence stressed.

Feedlots: Cattle feeders will also need to document that cattle were "raised" in the U.S. Appropriate documentation can include...

Scale tickets with in- and out-weight.
Closeout records.

However, feedlots will need documentation on where the cattle were before the feedlot, place of birth and stocker operation. Because cattle are often co-mingled, this may require individual animal identification.

“Feedlot owners need to begin thinking about what type of documentation they will require from sellers and how that information will be transferred through the marketing channel (auction market, order buyer, trucker),” Lawrence said. “Cattle feeders should also discuss COOL with their buyers to determine what information must be forwarded with the cattle when sold.”

As proposed, COOL will require retailers to develop and maintain an audit trail on the products they sell to verify the label indicating the country of origin. Members of the supply chain will have to keep sufficient records to support the audit trail. Animals without adequate records cannot be sold through retail grocery stores and will be sold through food service, processed meats or other exempted outlets.

“In this case, we believe it’s important for producers to err on the side of caution and start implementing a record keeping system as soon as possible to avoid problems later,” Lawrence emphasized.

For more information, contact the Iowa Beef Center at 515-294-BEEF or see our web site at www.iowabeefcenter.org.

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