Why US hide quality will improve
17/12/2013
Mr Sothmann, until now vice-president of the organisation, will take over from John Reddington in January, when Mr Reddington retires. Just before taking over, Mr Sothmann said a series of factors should help the US hide industry bring better-quality raw material to market in the years ahead.
Tanners all over the world are still keen to work with hides from the US, but some have raised concerns in recent times over a perceived decrease in the quality of the raw material. “Hide quality in the US is determined by many factors, some that we are able to control and some that we are not,” Mr Sothmann explained. “Fortunately, we are experiencing a bit of a reprieve on the factors we are unable to control in late 2013 and will be working to address the controllable factors as an industry in the coming year.”
However, he made it clear that tanners are unlikely to see improvements in hide quality in the early part of 2014. Instead, he said the improvements will become evident gradually “in the coming years”.
Drought conditions that have ravaged parts of the US since 2010 have made an important contribution to poorer hide quality, but the situation is improving. Major cattle-producing areas of the country, primarily the Southern Plains region of Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska, have received significantly more rain in 2013 than in the previous two years. Looking at these areas at county level, Mr Sothmann pointed out that, according to the US Department of Agriculture, more than 80% of counties in this region were experiencing severe or extreme drought in December 2012.
One year on, the situation was much improved: the corresponding total for December 2013 was 16%. “This is a substantial improvement that will benefit the entire US cattle and beef industry, including the hides, and may help to spur herd-rebuilding efforts as well,” the new USHSLA president said.
Drought has also pushed cattle-feed prices high in recent years. Feed prices, particularly corn, have also been driven higher by US government policies related to ethanol production. “This has an impact on hide quality,” Stephen Sothmann continued, “because cattle producers and ranchers, facing high feed costs, in turn reduced pest-control measures in an effort to preserve operating margins. Towards the end of 2013, we saw corn prices in the US recede from the record highs recently experienced, which should help ease pressure on cattle producer margins and allow room for more pest control efforts.”
Another important development for 2014 will be that USHSLA will work on programmes to “educate cattle producers on the loss in hide-quality and value when they reduce or remove pest-control measures in an attempt to save money”.
He said again: “The improvement in these factors will take years to filter through to the final hide products. However, we seem to be moving in the right direction.”
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