Lets rasie the standard

[lonewolf]

From the news I have been getting a rendering plant in Edmonton is linked to the feed company that is possibly linked to the feed that is suspected of contaminating both animals. Does any one know what is the name of the feed company? What products did they sell and where? We should find out if there is any animals on our farms that have been fed the above mentioned feed and record the number and then pass it on to our government experts so they can come up with an appropriate way to get these animals out of the food chain with appropriate compensation.

[WoolyBear]

We should remember that the rendering plant had no way of knowing that there was a problem. Neither would the feed mill that bought the meat meal. Sure they should have been prepared for the obvious like salmonella, and botulism bacteria, but how would they be expecting the prions? We should remember this before taking them to task.

[lonewolf]

I think you misunderstand me. I am not trying to lay blame on the feed company but rather take an initiative to say hey let's look at this feed which we are almost sure held prions and of which we fed to our animals and then look at these 6 and 7 year old animals and find a way to dispose of them in a way that shows the consumer that we as farmers are taking a pre emptive initiative and are trying to eliminate animals from the food chain that may prove to be a risk to safety.

[WoolyBear]

Sorry........ I'm just thinking about how the media has taken all the "facts" and turn it all into a circus. Surely to goodness we can get the system back to order with a plan, much like you have suggested where we can focus on on the possible recipients of the MBM products, several years after the fact. But just think of the numbers that will entail.

[Muttley]

The sooner we know the name of the plant the better. I myself would like to go back to my suppliers and see if my feed has a link to this plant.

Better safe than sorry.

[countryguy]

From what I gather the name of the plant is West Coast Reduction.

[cowman]

So what are we talking about in regards to feed? Was it a protein supplement or could it have been in a mineral mix? Does a mineral mix contain anything that is organic like ground up bones?
I assumed most protein suuplements were made from synthetic protein(urea). Like in 32% beef supp?

[kato]

Actually,the feed was used before the ban came in to effect, wasn't it? There's not much sense in slagging the feed mills. Technically they didn't break any laws, but morally they were slack due to the fact that since they probably knew the ban was coming anyway, they should have quite importing product ahead of time. If it is found that they did use banned feed after it was legal they should be nailed to a wall.

There is a lot of sense in tracking down where the feed went to. I'd sure like to know if we got any.

Remember back in 96 and 97, cattle weren't worth much. That's a benefit, because maybe there weren't a huge number of heifers kept back. I think the last couple of years of drought probably cleaned out a bunch of cows as well. I think we ourselves only have about a dozen of that age out of 180 cows.

[pandiana]

I must admit that my perception of the Canadian media for the most part has once again been measured and responsible and very supportive of the agriculture industry. I think we all know that careless journalism can create the impression of fact when non exists, and a lot of this seems to be happening south of the border.

[pandiana]

Like those of you above, I would really like to know what has been in these protein supplements. I have assumed like cowmen that added protein would have been urea. I would not be happy to think that I was or am feeding blood meal, bone meal (the source of blood cells), gelatin or fats from ruminant sources. Despite not having found a definitive link to BSE from these materials, I would much rather err on the side of safety. In addition, apparently bovine serum is used for a huge array of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and other food additives. This adds another dimension to the economic fall out of this cattle industry disaster.