At it Again – Thoughts From The Middle of Nowhere

Well R-calf is at it again. n n<a href="http://www.r-calfusa.com/News%20Releases/071306-canada's.htm">Canada’s Latest <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> Case in Youngest Animal Yet; <acronym title="United States Department of Agriculture, Bought and Paid for by The Big Meat Packers">USDA</acronym> Must Rescind Final Rule</a> n n<blockquote>Today the Canadian government confirmed its fourth positive case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (<acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym>) detected this year, Canada’s ninth <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> case overall. Canada’s first case was detected in 1993 in a cow imported from the United Kingdom (UK). Eight other cases followed in Canadian-origin cattle, including the December 2003 case in Washington state that was detected in a cow imported from Canada. n nThis latest case occurred in a 50-month-old cow, the youngest Canadian animal yet – barely over 4 years old – that was born well after 1997 when Canada implemented its feed ban. Unfortunately, this case like most others found in Canada came from the Province of Alberta, the source of a large percentage of the cattle and beef products imported into the U.S. from Canada. n n“Canada has had a high level of <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> infectivity circulating within its domestic cattle herd as recently as 2002,” said R-CALF USA President and Region V Director Chuck Kiker. “<acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> has now been confirmed in eight other Canadian-born cattle from a sample of only about 115,000 Canadian cattle tested since 2003, which represents one positive case detected for every 15,000 cattle tested, versus one case per 400,000 U.S.-origin cattle tested.”</blockquote> n nCanadian cattle producers always get mad at me for pointing out R-Calf's position but it's something that's going on and it's an opinion that needs to see the light of day. Any more I don't know the right position on this at all. In a way I harken back to <a href="http://nowherethoughts.net/sarpysam/archives/1883-Canadian-<acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym>.html">my question</a> "why does Canada have such a higher incidence of <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> than the US?" <a href="http://completerunning.com/Loping-LouBob/">Linda</a> thinks we have as many in the US but just hide the evidence. I have never heard this claim before so can't really comment on it. A couple of more quotes form R-Calf's press release. n n<blockquote>4. <acronym title="United States Department of Agriculture, Bought and Paid for by The Big Meat Packers">USDA</acronym> assumed Canada’s <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> problem is not comparable to the <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> problem experienced in European countries – countries <acronym title="United States Department of Agriculture, Bought and Paid for by The Big Meat Packers">USDA</acronym> considered to have “widespread exposure” to <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym>. n n“Canada’s ratio of positive <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> cases under its enhanced testing program over the past 12 months is now 0.72 cases per 10,000 cattle tested, higher than the 12-month ratios reported by many EU countries for 2004, which is the latest data available,” said Kiker. “A comparison of Canada’s <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> statistics with data compiled for each EU member shows Canada’s ratio of <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym>-positive cattle for the past 12 months is now comparable to, or higher than, the 2004 ratios reported by 18 of the 25 EU members, including the Czech Republic, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, and the Netherlands – all countries with known <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> problems.” n n5. <acronym title="United States Department of Agriculture, Bought and Paid for by The Big Meat Packers">USDA</acronym> implicitly assumed Canada’s <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> risk profile is no different from that of the U.S. n n“That assumption was never logical because Canada had confirmed <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> in a cow imported from the UK in 1993, and apparently slaughtered and rendered numerous other cattle from the same UK farm,” Kiker commented. “But clearly, this assumption by <acronym title="United States Department of Agriculture, Bought and Paid for by The Big Meat Packers">USDA</acronym> is even more wrong now, with Canada’s detection of <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> in four cattle born after its feed ban, versus the only two cases in the U.S., which were in cattle born long before our domestic feed ban. </blockquote> n nR-Calf's solution to these problems is to just ban all Canadian Cattle. Like I said, at this point I don't know. It will be interesting to see what happens but I don't think R-Calf has enough prestige or pull with the <acronym title="United States Department of Agriculture, Bought and Paid for by The Big Meat Packers">USDA</acronym> or the Federal Government to get anything accomplished. The <acronym title="United States Department of Agriculture, Bought and Paid for by The Big Meat Packers">USDA</acronym>/meat packers perceive their positions to be radical so they will never be acted upon. There points are interesting though but I sometimes wonder about taking such a radical position about <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> and export. What if all of a sudden there is a bunch of <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> cases found in the US? Then there position will backfire on them. Wouldn't that be funny. n nDid anyone feel like this might backfire? Jimmy Carl Black