Day 093 - 28 Feb 95 - Page 52


     
     1   Q.   An over-abundance of the dairy cows?
     2        A.  That is correct.  It is not only he dairy cow.  An
     3        abundance of meat, that could be the grain-fed and the
     4        grass-fed animal or any other part of the industry,
     5        including the dairy side.
     6
     7   Q.   On average if the price is not extreme or, you know, in any
     8        way, what percentage of culled dairy cows are you using?
     9        A.  It is a difficult question to answer because it
    10        changes, but if I may I can give you a range. It will
    11        probably go from 10 per cent to 30 per cent.
    12
    13   Q.   OK.  The percentage of different types of beef, the
    14        different types of animal that you would buy, I know in
    15        beef form, whether grain fed, grass fed or ex-dairy cows,
    16        is also dependent on getting the right mixture so you have
    17        the right fat content, is it not?
    18        A.  That is correct.
    19
    20   Q.   So does that vary?  The old dairy cows, are they usually
    21        quite a bit leaner than the grass-fed or grain-fed cattle?
    22        A.  They are about the same.  It is difficult just to
    23        compare one side.  Within the dairy industry when they cull
    24        a cow they can go directly to a feed lot or they can go
    25        directly to a slaughterhouse.
    26
    27   Q.   How old would that be, then, if some of them go to feed
    28        lots?
    29        A.  Old?
    30
    31   Q.   Yes.
    32        A.  It will vary throughout the years.  The beef industry
    33        is cyclic and it varies according mostly to the demand and
    34        the supply of meat.  Right now the latest estimates that
    35        I saw for the dairy cattle that is currently going through
    36        either to feed lots or slaughterhouse that are being
    37        culled, it is about seven and a half years.
    38
    39   Q.   Seven and half years?
    40        A.  Seven and a half to nine years.  That is about the
    41        range.  It depends on the farmer, whether he wants to keep
    42        the prices of milk, the cows or replace them, but that is
    43        what is currently -- during the last fall, when that
    44        normally happens during the fall when they cull the cows,
    45        that is what it was estimated.
    46
    47   Q.   Does McDonald's have any objection to the branding of
    48        animals?
    49        A.  We do not have an objection.  I do not know what you
    50        mean by that.  Do we have a specification that requires 
    51        that the animals are not branded?  No.  Branded is required 
    52        by law in the United States.  It even requires the size and 
    53        even one or two branding.  The states add to the branding,
    54        like Colorado where you have to brand on both sides of the
    55        cattle.
    56
    57   Q.   Not all animals have to be branded, do they?
    58        A.  That is correct.  If an animal goes to a feed lot it
    59        does not have to be branded, but the minute you put it on
    60        he pasture it has to be branded.

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