Gateway Beef Cooperative News

USDA Bars the Gate for Beef Exports

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is preventing access to America’s leading beef customer by refusing to allow cattle processors to test for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

Gateway Beef Requests Permission to Perform Voluntary BSE Testing

Overland, MO (April 30, 2004) – Gateway Beef Cooperative President Robbie Meyer today sent U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman a letter requesting permission to perform voluntary bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) testing of 100 percent of the cattle slaughtered at their facility.

In the News--National Public Radio Interviews Russ Kremer on BSE Testing.

Independent Packers Fight to Survive

JEFFERSON CITY, MO (April 23, 2004) – With breath held in anticipation, small packing plants across the nation exhaled sharply and explicitly when USDA denied Creekstone Farms Premium Beef from testing all of their cattle for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Small packing plants knew this decision could potentially place them on the auction block for giant packers to snatch up for even more consolidation.

Gateway Beef Cooperative Prepares for Equity Drive

The Missouri Farmers Union Family Farm Opportunity Center is facilitating the development of a beef processing and marketing cooperative that plans to sell premium niche beef products to restaurants and steak houses.

Farmers Union Begins Operation of Second Cooperative

Gateway Beef is a new Farmers Union project that has begun operations in the St. Louis area. The cooperative will focus on producing Certified Angus Beef (CAB), with an emphasis on CAB Prime Beef, a very valuable product in the restaurant and hotel market. The most tender and flavorful beef available, CAB Prime is also in demand around the world. The cooperative hopes to expand its markets to Europe and Japan eventually as their marketing and production system allows.