McDonald's reportedly is close to paying more than $12 million to settle lawsuits filed by vegetarians who accused the chain of concealing the use of beef flavoring in its French fries.

The Chicago Tribune reported that of the $12 million, $10 million will go to charities that support vegetarianism and $2.4 million to plaintiff's attorneys.

McDonald's was first sued last year over the use of beef in its french fries in Seattle by three vegetarians, including two Hindus, who don't eat meat for religious reasons. Lawsuits were subsequently filed in Illinois, California, New Jersey and Texas.

The lawsuits were filed on behalf of any vegetarian who ate McDonald's fries after 1990. That was the year the company announced its restaurants would no longer use beef fat to cook fries and that only pure vegetable oil would be used. But McDonald's continued to add a small amount of beef tallow to its fries for flavoring.

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A group of investors, including private equity firm Hicks, Tate & Furst Inc. and businessman George N. Gillett Jr., is reportedly in the early stages of talks to purchase the meatpacking business of ConAgra Foods Inc. Various sources say ConAgra might sell a 51 percent stake to the investor group. ConAgra, however, would neither deny nor confirm such reports.

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Terry L. Stokes has been named chief executive officer of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. Stokes, 47, most recently served as the organization's executive vice president and chief financial officer and has served as interim CEO since the departure of Chuck Schroeder last month.

Before joining NCBA, Stokes was the executive vice president and CFO for the Texas Beef Council, a position he held for three years.

A native Texan, Stokes' career spans all segments of the cattle and beef industry, including cow-calf, feeding and packing. He currently partners with his brother-in-law in a small stocker operation in southern Texas.

A graduate of Angelo State University with a degree in animal agriculture, Stokes also has an MBA with emphasis in operations management and managerial accounting from the University of Texas at Austin. He and his wife, Beverly, reside in Denver. They have two children.

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An article in the Wall Street Journal focuses on how one transatlantic trade dispute fuels another. It notes that European Union anger over steel tariffs President Bush imposed last week will make it tougher for the EU to take a low-key approach in a separate and potentially huge U.S.-EU trade dispute where the EU has considerable leverage over the U.S. That matter — tax breaks allowed U.S. companies that set up Foreign Sales Corporations — comes to a point April 29, 2002. Europe has long contended, and the World Trade Organization now agrees, that the FSC tax breaks are an illegal export subsidy.

The Journal article said the tax case is widely believed to have been initiated by the EU as payback for U.S. efforts to open the EU beef and banana markets. Just as the U.S. is about to slap 30 percent tariffs on billions of dollars of EU steel that the U.S. says is damaging its industry, the EU must decide whether to impose retaliatory tariffs, specifically authorized by the WTO, on an array of U.S. goods to force elimination of the FSC tax breaks. A WTO arbitrator will decide by April 29 how much retaliation the EU can take against U.S. goods. The EU has asked for authority to impose 100 percent tariffs on $4 billion worth of U.S. imports. The U.S. countered that that would be the largest ever WTO-authorized retaliation. The arbitrator's ruling will be final and will set the stage for the EU's next move.

In a separate but related action, the U.S. ambassador to the WTO in Geneva yesterday rejected EU claims that the U.S. owes it $2 billion in immediate compensation for EU trade loss due to the steel duties. The EU contends that the U.S. violated international trade rules in imposing the steel duties, and must either promptly compensate it by lowering U.S. duties on products of interest to Europe or face retaliation from penalty duties on U.S. trade. At the same time, the EU and several other countries are challenging the legitimacy of the U.S. steel duties through the WTO dispute settlement process, where a definitive conclusion may not be reached for 18 months or more.

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USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has announced that it would seek mandatory authority to collect blood and tissue samples in slaughter plants that receive livestock moved in interstate commerce. APHIS intends to publish a proposed rule that would require plants to enter into an agreement to permit APHIS personnel or their designees to collect samples for disease surveillance.

APHIS said it can no longer rely on voluntary cooperation from slaughter plants because some plants have refused to voluntarily allow sample collection.

Publication date for the proposed rule appears to be several months away. Interested parties will be afforded an opportunity to comment on the proposal.

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Scientists with the Agricultural Research Service and the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute in South Africa have undertaken a two-year cooperative study to produce new vaccines for hoof and mouth disease.

Constant mutation by the HMD virus makes it hard for a vaccine to remain effective. The cooperating scientists are using genetic engineering to develop better vaccines that respond to changes in the virus.

A South African laboratory was chosen because of its international status and its work on a number of HMD strains indigenous to Africa. Another reason for partnering with an international laboratory is that U.S. companies cannot produce vaccines from killed HMD virus on the U.S. mainland. The Plum Island center is the only place in the United States where HMD can be studied.

The cooperative agreement with South Africa lasts through May 30, 2003.

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The Kansas Livestock Association's weekly newsletter reports that a Wal-Mart vice president told those attending the recent Kansas State University Cattlemen's Day that the company is interested in forming alliances with suppliers, including independent beef producers. Ken Parnell said new partners will be needed to supply quality beef items if the company's aggressive growth projections hold true for the next three years.

Wal-Mart plans to open 180 new Supercenters worldwide this year, an average of one every other day. Parnell suggested that cow-calf producers, feedlot operators and others in the beef sector can "all make money" by providing local, value-added items to the company.

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Texas Cooperative Extension has scheduled a set of Quail Appreciation Days at four locations over the next three months. The host counties and their meeting dates are: Atascosa County, March 22; Erath County, April 9; Travis County, April 30; and Uvalde County, May 21.

The meetings are designed to update quail enthusiasts on matters, good and bad, now affecting the popular game birds. Each meeting will have a similar format.

Registration for all meetings begins at 8:30 a.m. Two Texas Department of Agriculture CEUs will be offered at each site.

Pre-registration is $10, $20 at the door. More information is available from the county Extension office in the respective counties.

Information on quail decline in Texas is available from Dr. Dale Rollins at (915) 653-4576 or via e-mail at d-rollins@tamu.edu.

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A complaint was filed last week with the Internal Revenue Service requesting that the tax exempt status of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) be revoked in light of the group's alleged violation of tax laws and other activities.

"Tax exempt status is for charitable purposes. There's nothing charitable about encouraging arson. Enough is enough. PETA should be stripped of its tax exempt status," Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise executive vice president Ron Arnold said in a press release.

PETA has been in the news recently for alleged connections to the North American Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and Animal Liberation Front (ALF). The FBI considers both groups to be domestic terrorists.

The House Resources Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health sent a letter last week to PETA president Ingrid Newkirk asking her to explain the animal rights group's connection with ALF and ELF.

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Agricultural Research Service scientists have developed a rapid, easy-to-use test to detect and count E.coli 0157:H7 bacteria in natural and constructed bodies of water. ARS microbiologists Dan Shelton and Jeff Karns in the Animal Waste Pathogen Laboratory, Beltsville, Md., developed the test, which uses magnetic beads to detect the pathogen.

The magnetic beads are coated with anti-E-coli monoclonal antibodies that bind to the bacteria, making it possible to count the bacteria. Current testing methods are designed only to detect the bacteria, not to measure how many are present. The number of E. coli bacteria present is crucial information, since the levels that cause infection can vary from person to person, depending on the person's health status. Also, the new method makes it possible to detect E. coli in water samples in a day or less, compared with traditional testing that can take up to four days to complete.

Investigations are under way to assure no other bacteria cross-react with the magnetic beads. However, if this test proves to be accurate and selective, it should allow for detection of E. coli in a variety of liquid samples, such as swimming pools and other recreational water.

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Texas A&M's Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Vernon will host a cool-season forages and stocker cattle management field day April 18.

Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. at the Texas Foundation Seed facility next door to the Extension Center. Vans will take participants to the nearby Smith-Walker Farm for monitoring field presentations focusing on grazing studies, small-grain varieties, tillage studies, cool-season forages, and an overview of current research on stocker cattle and wheat.

The tours return to the foundation seed facility around 11 a.m., where participant will learn about the latest opportunities in wildlife management and stocker cattle management and budgeting.

A featured luncheon speaker will address the farm bill.

After lunch, representatives from the Texas Department of Agriculture, Oklahoma Wheat commission and the Texas Wheat Producers Board will discuss current regulations on karnal bunt and the possibility of deregulation of this crop disease.

More information on the field day is available from the center at (940) 552-9941.

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