Pat on the Back

I routinely rail against the Government and meat packers particularly when it comes to <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> and Canadian cattle. Any body who reads here knows this. Today I will have to give credit to them for their efforts in further reducing <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.com//index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/03/01/build/nation/84-ecoli.inc" target="_new">E. coli</a> in ground beef. <br />n<br />n<blockquote>Of 8,010 ground beef samples analyzed last year, 0.17 percent tested positive, compared with from 0.3 percent the year before, the Agriculture Department reported Monday. That is a 43 percent decline.</blockquote><br />n<br />nThis is one of those things as a cow-calf man I don't have much control over but all beef producers carry the blame when there is a contamination issue at the plants so reductions help the reputations of us all.<br />n<br />nThis doesn't mean I am going soft on the meat packers but when a pat on the back is warranted it should be given. Now onto the battle with them over Canadian cattle , <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym>, and the border opening to a flood of cattle.<br />n<br />n<b>The pat on the back, the arm around the shoulder, the praise for what was done right and the sympathetic nod for what wasn't are as much a part of golf as life itself. Gerald R Ford</b>