01/31/06 Cattle numbers up; tough talk on Japan

Washington Ag January 31, 2006 There were just over 1.1 million head of cattle and calves in Washington state as of January 1st of this year. And that was an increase of four percent over year earlier numbers, according to the USDA's Agricultural Statistics Service. The semi-annual inventory showed a 22 percent increase in beef cow numbers from 2004. The number of dairy cows that have calved was up one percent over a year ago. Washington's calf crop in 2005 was pegged at 240-thousand, a five percent increase. One category that showed a decrease was the feedlot inventory as of January one, that was down 21 percent from a year earlier. U.S. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte is talking tough about Japan's new ban on U.S. beef. Goodlatte: "I hope they get it reopened soon. If not I think they are facing a very dramatic response from the United State's Congress which is very tired of having to deal with this bureaucratic protectionist matter that is using alleged public health concerns in Japan as a pretext for what is clearly protectionism for Japanese beef producers." Earlier this month Japan again banned all U.S. beef because of the inclusion of some bone-in veal in one shipment of U.S. beef from New York. I'm Bob Hoff.