What are the ramifications?

[farmers_son]

Marwyn Peaster... Remember him? His name will live on in infamy. Of course Peaster is the idiot that sent a downer cow to a plant where she tested positive for BSE. Now I see producers discussing sending heads of dead cows to be tested. I guess you want your name to be in the history books like Peaster.
And if your neighbours turn their backs on you when they find out you send the head of a dead cow to be tested and it was positive then you asked for it and you deserve all you get. You never thought about your neighbours, you never thought about the industry. You never thought about the financial ruin that sending in the head of a dead cow would cause, that more producers will loose their farms, marriages wrecked, children not able to continue a farming tradition that had lasted for generations. You just never thought.
Well maybe you do want to think about sending in the head of a dead cow. Maybe $50 or $150 or free dead animal pickup is not worth having your entire herd destroyed and the herds of anyone who has ever bought an animal from your place destroyed. Maybe, just maybe you would have been better off if you had buried her.

[cswilson]

farmers_son quit being a bonehead and realize that if we do not meet our testing quota's for world trading rules-no border anywhere is going to open-do you actually think people are sending heads in for the $75 bucks-not hardly now quit your damn crying and stay with the tour. How can people argue for 100% testing then refuse to submit samples-I might be lots of things but I'm not a hypocrite-so maybe try a little thinking yourself.

[cowman]

Well I guess that post was tongue in cheek or something, but the fact is Alberta better get their act together and do some testing. The whole thing about no place to get the cows is sort of BS? A good portion of the cows from Alberta being slaughtered go to Moose Jaw? How hard is it to send a truck and trailer and bring back a load?
It would seem that in Alberta the testing thing is business as usual...in other words pay lip service to it and do little? But then what can you expect when the premier says to shoot, shovel and shut up?

[cowman]

Peaster could be called a dumb ass for getting greedy with his downer cow, but BSE was, and still is inevitable. Even the good old USA will find their own domestic case some day. Cswilson is right, time to deal with the present, not the past.

[farmers_son]

I think the U.S. had already found their own case of BSE, maybe as many as three or more. They just aren't owning up to it. Or worse, blame their positives on Canada.

My post was not tongue in cheek. There are very serious consequences to finding BSE positives. We cannot ignore that. Last time I checked, no country in the world was accepting our live cattle so I question what we have to loose. We have plenty to loose every time we find a positive, it makes world wide news and the cattle markets collapse overnight. Borders slam shut etc. Been there, done that.

Canada's policy is to check 4D cows, and the science says that is the way to go. But we might consider what the U.S. is doing, only checking healthy cows but checking more of them. Not good science but great marketing. I guarantee you no downer cows will be checked for BSE in the United States of America this year or in years to come. Something we should learn from?

Or do what Australia does, only check 500 head a year. That makes Australia the worlds number 1 exporter of beef. We have to wake up and smell the coffee people.

The consequences of having a BSE positive come from your herd are extreme, the international reaction is extreme. No matter what the industry tells you 3S is still the way to go. If we find another BSE positive you really do not want it to be from your herd. And that is the truth.

[farmers_son]

farmers_son, you have hit the nail on the head. What you are saying here is exactly what I am hearing across the province.

[cswilson]

Well emerald you and farmers_son can join the pissers and moaners when we give the U.S. some more leverage to keep the border closed besides politics-of course there are ramifications to finding a positive but just as great are the ramifications of sitting on our ass and not making an effort to meet world standards-'It may not be right but that's the way it is.'

[grassfarmer]

Surely not ? Ignorance is not the answer. Lets have a little confidence in our product and our systems - if producers don't believe in the quality of their produce why should anyone else?

[blackjack]

father_son...maybe the americans can ignore the IOE standards on BSE but what other choices to we have... whether we like it or not we have BSE so if we do the shoot shovel shutup we better be prepared to downsize our herds... again the cattle associations need to tell us if they can get contracts into the Asian markets by testing ... also what other alternatives do we have...do we just keep on raising cheap feeders and culls for the packers to pocket the profits...

[farmers_son]

Like it or not I believe every country has a low level of BSE in their herds. Just some countries have been looking for BSE harder than others. Maybe we have been looking too hard.
The message I see from beef importing countries is we don’t want you to find any BSE and as long as you don’t we will buy your beef. Find BSE and we stop buying your beef. Science or no science, OIE, WTO or NAFTA that is what is really happening in world. Test and you will find positives. Find positives and no one will import your beef.
Cswilson, do you want to be the next Marwyn Peaster? How well do you really know your cows? What about Rpkaiser? Are you so sure that your cows are BSE free that you are willing to spin the wheel and be the next idiot who has a BSE positive? Grassfarmer, how much confidence do you really have in your cattle, ever bought any or bought any prepared feeds? Or maybe you are the lucky one who has a spontaneous BSE. You send your heads in and collect your $150 head fee for your dead BSE cow. Do you think you would still have a beef herd? Do you think you could ever walk into an auction market again? Do you think the neighbours are going to give you a friendly wave as they pass you on the road after you send your BSE positive to the renderer for a lousy $150. Do you really want to get on the CBC National that bad? I, for one, never want to be that famous.