Ag. Economists at Kansas State University and Oklahoma State University released a paper in November 2012 on the impact of the mandatory country of origin labeling (MCOOL) on consumer demand that is worth reading by both meat producers and consumers. MCOOL requires grocery retailers to provide country-of-origin labeling information for fresh beef, pork, lamb, chicken, goat, wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish, peanuts, pecans, ginseng, and macadamia nuts. See http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5074925.

Authors Tonsor, Lusk, Schroeder and Taylor summarized the following key findings of economic importance to consumer demand response to MCOOL implementation:

"1. Demand for covered meat products has not been impacted by MCOOL implementation.

• Across a series of demand system models estimated using retail grocery scanner data of MCOOL covered products, changes in consumer demand following MCOOL implementation were not detected. That is, no evidence of a demand increase in covered beef, pork, or chicken products, as a result of MCOOL, was identified.

2. Typical U.S. residents are unaware of MCOOL and do not look for meat origin information.

• In an online survey, 23% of respondents were aware of MCOOL, 12% incorrectly believed MCOOL was not law and nearly two-thirds of respondents "don't know" whether MCOOL is a law. Similarly, the majority of in-person experiment participants did not know whether MCOOL was in place, despite the fact that they were standing near a retail meat counter. Furthermore, the majority of in-person participants also stated they never look for origin information when shopping for fresh beef or pork products.

3. Consumers regularly indicate they prefer meat products carrying origin information. However, consumers reveal similar valuations of alternative origin labels.  

• In both online and in-person assessments, research participants regularly select meat products carrying origin information over unlabeled alternatives consistent with previous research. However, in an online assessment, consumers revealed valuations of meat products labeled "Product of North America" to be approximately the same as "Product of United States."

4. Our conclusions hold across the species and products evaluated.  

• In our in-person and online based assessments, we obtain the same conclusions whether evaluating beef steak, pork chop, or chicken breast products – there was no change in demand following implementation of MCOOL. Similarly, in estimated demand systems we regularly found no change in demand for beef, pork, or chicken products."

They concluded the following from their study:

"The overriding finding of limited awareness of MCOOL, narrow use of origin information in purchasing decisions, and no evidence of a demand impact following MCOOL implementation is consistent with the argument that voluntary labeling by country of origin would have occurred if it were economically beneficial to do so. More broadly, the findings of this project generally support the assertions of MCOOL opponents who have asked "where is the market failure?" While no one project can resolve all the political and economic issues surrounding the MCOOL situation, it is our hope that the findings of these studies will be utilized to improve decision making regarding the policy going forward."

Their full report is available at: http://www.agmanager.info/livestock/policy/Tonsor_KSU_FactSheet_MCOOL_11-13-12.pdf

The following came from the NORTH AMERICAN MEAT ASSOCIATION Lean Trimmings Newsletter and is an important read for North Coast producers doing direct marketing.

TOP 2013 RESTAURANT MENU TRENDS

The National Restaurant Association (NRA) released its “What’s Hot” culinary forecast of menu trends for 2013. The NRA surveyed more than 1,800 professional chefs, members of the American Culinary Federation (ACF), to find that children’s nutrition and local sourcing will continue to be the hottest trends on restaurant menus for the upcoming year.

The top 10 menu trends for 2013 include:

1. Locally-sourced meats and seafood

2. Locally-grown produce

3. Healthful kids’ meals

4. Environmental sustainability as a culinary theme

5. Children’s nutrition as a culinary theme

6. New cuts of meat (e.g., Denver steak, pork flat iron, teres major)

7. Hyper-local sourcing (e.g., restaurant gardens)

8. Gluten-free cuisine

9. Sustainable seafood

10. Whole grain items in kids' meals

Not making the top 10 but in the top 13 was Farm/Ranch/Estate branding.

Also included in the surveys were questions about other restaurant trends. More than half (55 percent) of the chefs surveyed said they always make efforts to adjust dishes and recipes to be more healthful, while 37 percent said they cook with nutrition in mind, but that not all recipes are easily adjusted. When asked how to best handle the increasing cost of ingredients, 32 percent of the chefs said changing menus, 25 percent said adjusting plate composition, and 24 percent said exploring new sourcing options. Only four percent said that raising menu prices is the best strategy. The survey can be viewed at http://www.restaurant.org/pdfs/research/WhatsHotFood2013.pdf.

 

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n an earlier post, I had provided a link to the Beef Quality Audit Executive Summary. The final reports are now available at the BQA web site (http://www.bqa.org/audit.aspx). Each of them is listed below:

Phase 1 - Face-to-Face Interviews to Determine Factors Influencing Quality

Phase 2 - Carcass Quality Survey and Evaluation of Instrument Grading

Phase 3 - Quality Enhancement by the Seedstock, Cow/calf, and Stocker Sectors

Also a summary of significant findings is located here:

Significant Findings

Extension Hydrology Specialist Dr. Ken Tate recently shared via his web site (http://rangelandwatersheds.ucdavis.edu/main/IGERT_Williamson_Act.html) the results of research on what would happen if the Williamson Act ended. This is important to share with policy makers and for ranchers and environmental stewards to read. As most of you know, the Williamson Act (WA) is a land conservation program.

Private landowners sign contracts with counties, promising to keep their land in agricultural use for set periods of time. In exchange, they receive a significant reduction in property taxes. The state subsidizes individual counties, paying them for some of the property tax base they lose by having landowners enrolled in the program. The WA protects more than 10 million acres in California classified as "non-prime" land. This "non-prime" land is predominantly used for cattle grazing.

To understand rancher responses to the loss of the WA, researchers at UC Davis surveyed 700 members of the California Cattlemen's Association. The results of that study are reported in a recent Cal Ag paper that can be downloaded here: http://rangelandwatersheds.ucdavis.edu/publication%20list%20and%20files/CalAG_WillaimsonAct_Wetzel_et_al_2012.pdf.

Also a fact sheet or policy brief was recently released on October 15, 2012 that summarizes the results. It is available at: http://reach.ucdavis.edu/downloads/WilliamsonActFactsheetUCDavis.pdf