Tyson has informed its farmer suppliers that it won’t buy any cattle
treated with growth promotant Zilmax after Sept. 9.
Cargill has been accepting them since last year and appears inclined to
keep buying them despite some concerns about the product’s impact on meat
quality.
Zilmax is a product marketed by Merck. It is allowed in Canada.
The Tyson ban is likely to increase cattle prices in the short term,
says one market analyst, Dennis Smith of Archer Financial Services, who wrote
“if the use of Zilmax is dropped by the industry, it's going to be very bullish
for the deferred cattle contracts.”
Tyson’s letter to farmers said “there have been recent instances of
cattle delivered for processing that have difficulty walking or are unable to
move.
“We do not know the specific cause of these problems, but some animal
health experts have suggested that the use of the feed supplement Zilmax, also
known as zilpaterol, is one possible cause.
“Our evaluation of these problems is ongoing but as an interim measure
we plan to suspend our purchases of cattle that have been fed Zilmax.
“This is not a food safety issue,” the Tyson letter noted. “It is about
animal well-being and ensuring the proper treatment of the livestock we depend
on to operate.”
