It seems like Canada has a <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-02-07-mad-cow-canada_x.htm">new case</a> of <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> cropping up. This time it is in a bull of an uncertain age, they think 5 to 7 years, and are starting to try and figure out where it got the infected feed. The report indicates that the animal never entered the food chain and I have no reason to doubt this.<br />n<br />nI was truly hoping that we wouldn't see any more of this here or in Canada but that's not the case. This will really rally people against cutting off Canadian cattle from coming into the US again. Not that it takes this kind of announcement to do that. Recently Senator Mike Enzi of Wyoming wrote a letter to the <acronym title="United States Department of Agriculture, Bought and Paid for by The Big Meat Packers">USDA</acronym> <a href="http://www.cattlenetwork.com/content.asp?contentid=103191">critisizing the proposed plan to expand beef imports from Canada</a> and asking Johanns to re-evaluate this decision. <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> was the main concerns driving the letter. With the announcement of a new case in Canada the position of Enzi will only be strengthened.<br />n<br />nThe real concern in the industry that drives this is cattle prices. Let's get real. There can be a lot of talk behind it about the chances of older cattle having <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> and being shipped to slaughter in the US and how our trade with Canada hurts our foreign markets, but the real thing is prices for the cattle producers.<br />n<br />nHow do I feel about the Canada cattle situation? I feel that Canada is getting the situation under control and meeting the standards to prevent their feed from being contaminated with the material that causes <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym>. That is not going to stop cases from appearing for a while yet so there is a definite concern. The real concern comes down to the perception in foreign markets and here in the US of older cows from Canada having a greater risk of having <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym>. If we slaughter them here in the US and mingle the beef with US beef it causes concern in what foreign markets we are winning back and it hurts us. So, I have to come down against letting older cattle in from Canada like the <acronym title="United States Department of Agriculture, Bought and Paid for by The Big Meat Packers">USDA</acronym> wants to let happen. It has the potential to hurt the US beef industry more than I would like to see.<br />n<br />nAnother <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> case is a bad deal for the beef industry as a whole. It ignites tempers on both sides of the border and makes life difficult for us all. One thing we know though, is that American and Canadian consumers don't over-react to such things and continue to buy our good, wholesome beef and enjoy consuming it. Beef, it's what's for dinner you know.<br />n<br />n<strong>Bad news isn't wine. It doesn't improve with age. Colin Powell</strong>