Denver Post: Put off plan to track U.S. meat

The Obama administration wants to create a federally mandated system of tracking the nation's meat supply, but producers say such a requirement would swell food costs and cut profits. It's an important debate, but we question its timing. The middle of a recession seems a poor time to implement a system that could raise food prices for shoppers and cuts profits and salaries for American ranchers and their employees. Presently, cattle ranchers, sheepherders and hog farmers voluntarily tag their animals and keep track of the animals' immunizations through a unique identification number. The ID number is recorded at the feedlots, slaughterhouses and within the batch numbers of the boxes of steaks, shanks and slabs of bacon sent to market. We think market-savvy ranchers ought to start implementing computer tracking on their own. Growers say the cost of the registration and tracking gear would add $10 to $20 to each head of cattle, according to The Post's Michael Booth. That's huge compared to the $40 to $50 per-cow profit margin growers hope to reap...DenverPost