China blocks US meat exports from west coast facility

Jun 17, 2024

Trace additive halts shipments through key port

By Farms.com

China has halted meat exports from a cold storage facility near the Port of Oakland, California. The move comes after Chinese customs officials detected ractopamine, a feed additive banned in China and over 150 other countries, in US beef shipments.

The ban, which took effect on May 27th, applies to Cool Port Oakland, a crucial West Coast hub for transferring meat from rail to cargo ships headed for Asia. This disruption impacts meat exporters throughout the United States, including those located as far away as the Midwest.

"China's suspension of this facility has caused disruption for beef, pork, and poultry exports," said Joe Schuele of the U.S. Meat Export Federation. Exporters are now forced to rely on alternative facilities within the Bay Area to handle their shipments.

The incident highlights the complexity of international food trade and the importance of adhering to strict regulations. The presence of a banned additive, even in trace amounts, can lead to significant disruptions for both exporters and importers.

Video: Cleaning Sheep Barns & Setting Up Chutes

Indoor sheep farming in winter at pre-lambing time requires that, at Ewetopia Farms, we need to clean out the barns and manure in order to keep the sheep pens clean, dry and fresh for the pregnant ewes to stay healthy while indoors in confinement. In today’s vlog, we put fresh bedding into all of the barns and we remove manure from the first groups of ewes due to lamb so that they are all ready for lambs being born in the next few days. Also, in preparation for lambing, we moved one of the sorting chutes to the Coveralls with the replacement ewe lambs. This allows us to do sorting and vaccines more easily with them while the barnyard is snow covered and hard to move sheep safely around in. Additionally, it frees up space for the second groups of pregnant ewes where the chute was initially.