Canadian Beef Consumption Up Despite Mad Cow

Cattlemen can't do much about US owned Feed lots, or who buys their cattle, or US owned abattoirs. Organic farming is expensive - no pesticides for miles around and all that, but IIRC growth hormones were disallowed in cattle about the same time as cow cannibalism was.<p> Cattlemen in Alberta are trying to do something about it though, by trying to get investors in a new, huge, Alberta owned Co-Op type of a slaughterhouse and packing plant. That will eliminate their need to have cattle shipped to the States for slaughter, as local slaughterhouses are at capacity, and local butchers are at capacity . . .<p> It isn't nesessecary to check each cow for BSE, for some it's moot - pre 30 months is the general accepted time that the risk of BSE is zero, so testing cattle over that age might be of some vague usefulness. Since testing must be done by Veterenary Pathologists, and budget cuts mean less VP's, will you be willing to see an increase in the price of beef to accomodate Organic Farming methods and increased rate of testing?<p><p>---<br>"History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme" Mark Twain <br />
"The greatest price of not participating in politics is being governed by your inferiors." Plato

Who says its not necessary to test cows under 30 months old, where are there studies, lets have a look.

No cases under 30 months have been found in the UK since <a href='http://www.foodstandards.gov.uk/bse/bsearchive/116'>1996</a>.<p> 100 percent testing is <a href='http://www.newfarm.org/news/0404/041604/no_priv_tests.shtml'>not justified.</a><p> <a href='http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/topics/bse.htm'>USDA on BSE</a><p> <a href='http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=USDA+BSE+specified+risk+material+&btnG=Search&meta='>Google</a> is your friend.<p><p>---<br>"History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme" Mark Twain <br />
"The greatest price of not participating in politics is being governed by your inferiors." Plato

Dr Caleb, thanks for the response but might want to have a closer look at what those articles say. Cattle younger than 30 months have been found with BSE and the tests only detect BSE when the disease is almost full blown. Tests could be done on all the cattle and it would cost 99% less than the amount of aid our government has given to the industry in the last year. As for any credibility being given to anything the USDA says, have a look here: <a href="http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040511-015527-4917r">USDA gag order</a>

One more site to look at: <a href="http://www.cropchoice.com/leadstry.asp?recid=2579">Sane cow disease</a>

Dr. Caleb,

"...no pesticides for miles around...", you make that sound like a bad thing? And yes, I would pay more and do pay more for organic food when I can get it. It wouldn't cost so much if everyone was organic farming however.

A free book for the downloading:<a href="http://www.prwatch.org/books/madcow.html">MadCow USA</a> <p> I also would pay more for organically grown and fed food. posted by Milton who forgot to sign in, mea culpa.

I was just curious. I would too. Had my devils advocate hat on. I do buy from local farmers, and it's actually cheaper in the long run right now.<p><p>---<br>"History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme" Mark Twain <br />
"The greatest price of not participating in politics is being governed by your inferiors." Plato

I agree, full testing would be cheaper than subsidizing. But - my goal here was to dispell a myth of Mad Cow. Millions of people in Britan ate infected cow in the 80's. Millions of people times millions of meals. And ~180 people got vCJD. If the material that contains the prion is removed from the food chain, the risk is *zero* of contracting vCJD from an infected animal. It's very nearly zero even if you consume mass quantities of the infected material.<p> It'll take about 10 years to remove any infected animals from the population, and even then BSE ocurrs naturally to 1 in 4 million animals. Is it worth it to test every animal, when the risk is so low? Allowable mouse droppings in oats and grain are something like 10 per pound - and that can carry Hantavirus - which will kill you! How often is it tested?<p> It would be worth it though just to get the borders open to countries other than the US and have our cattle and farmers worth more than theirs <p> <p>---<br>"History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme" Mark Twain <br />
"The greatest price of not participating in politics is being governed by your inferiors." Plato

The cows eat the salad and we eat the cows!

heh.

Here is a link to a well researched article on the BSE situation in Alberta, written by a farmer/rancher. Long but worth the read if you really want to know some facts.

http://www.lgunderson.com/essay_3.pdf

---
If I stand for my country today...will my country be here to stand for me tomorrow?