Protect your cows grassfarmer!

[15444]

Damn friggin government. Rather then work on viable solutions that could help the industry on a long term basis (like banning all animal protein in feeds or universal testing), the Alberta goverment and CCA are once again suggesting we kill our problems. Time to protect our productive and profitable old girls once again grassfarmer!

On a separate note:

Although I don't agree/disagree that the animal feed transmission theory is correct over Purdey's theories, I have always believed that force feeding animal remains to herbivores is unethical and should be considered a crime.



Klein, cattle industry officials say cull of older animals needed

Judy Monchuk
Canadian Press

January 12, 2005

CALGARY (CP) - Alberta's premier and the cattle industry believe it's time to look at a cull of older animals to restore international confidence in Canadian beef after two cows tested positive for mad cow disease in the last 10 days.

"Is a cull necessary? Yes," Klein said Wednesday in Toronto following a luncheon speech in the heart of the country's business district. "I think the ranching industry will come to that conclusion and will devise a way to achieve that cull."

Klein said earlier he would be discussing a cull with federal Agriculture Minister Andy Mitchell and Alberta Agriculture Minister Doug Horner.

Once rejected as an extreme reaction, a cull is being considered after another Alberta cow tested positive this week for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), even though it was born after feed bans aimed at preventing the disease were implemented.

Stan Eby of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association says a cull would send a strong message to Canada's trading partners, especially the United States, where protectionist interests are fighting plans to reopen the border to Canadian cattle.

"The perception and reality would be that Canada is taking very aggressive steps to clean up a potential problem," said Eby.

The cull idea is likely to be discussed Thursday during a meeting of beef industry officials in Ottawa.

"It may gain momentum now," said Eby.

Federal officials have stressed there is no threat to Canada's food supply and that the positive tests are proof that increased surveillance is working.

© The Canadian Press 2005

[Cattleman]

Why is everyone seem to be reacting so quickly and harshly to this latest announcement....even the U.S. has not said anything very negative yet. They created a large document to allow science prevail, and has recognized Canada as a minimum risk country. This allows us 11 or 12 positive BSE test per year. In the last 12 months we have found 2 not 12, I hope people settle down and continue to look at the science!!

[jensend]

ralph and stan should step back and each take a deep breath. the same thing would be accomplished by testing all otm's at slaughter and our bse rate would probably look a lot lower because we wouldn't be testing just 4d animals. some of our best genetics for fertility and longevity are stored in the older animals and they shouldn't be sacrificed. these guys should take time to think and look for a solution that will leave the industry stronger, rather than shooting their mouths off just because they feel stressed. they're not the ones under the gun.

[ianben]

Where did BSE come from?

CJD we know occurs naturally in humans in very small numbers 1/million/year is about the average I believe.

Is the same true in cattle?

Humans who eat human brains have much higher cases some canibals had very high number of CJD cases

Here in UK I can see meat and bone meal being responsible for the high numbers but not the original case.

I believe BSE is like CJD and has always existed in very small numbers.

If a country is responsible and tests for BSE correctly eventually they get unlucky and find the one in a million. Then increase testing and find a few more which if I am right is what would be expected. No where has had an epedemic like us.

Who now has the safest beef us in UK where we test and only eat under 30 months
Canada who test and remove the one in a million or
US who pretend?

I would think that if you where really really unlucky the animal you kill for the freezer then your family eat whole thing could just be that one in a million. A bit like winning the lottery in reverse.

We dont do it any more. Still eat lots of beef from lots of animals

[grassfarmer]

Well said Cattleman and Jensend - hopefully cooler heads will prevail.

[grassfarmer]

It's OK 15444 my cows are all born after 1997 ;o) They'll need to prove otherwise before they can slaughter them. Let's face it apart from a few pedigrees we haven't a clue what age most cows are in Alberta.

[rkaiser]

I cannot beleive they are starting to yap about a cull again now after finding one born after the feed ban. What will happen when they find one 5 years old.
I guess it may be a suggestion from the USDA. "Put those darn things in a hole so we can get on with this harmonization of deception issue."
You can bet there won't be a mass test on the ones that go in the hole.
It is getting more and more difficult to deal with this BS every day. Almost time to shut off the TV, unplug the computer, and just feed and bed my cattle.

[grassfarmer]

I think it's a lot of hot air rpkaiser, it's only Ralph and the media talking this nonsense as far as I've seen. Thankfully the people making the decisions work slowly and methodically -look at how long USDA took to conduct their assessment. In reality what can the US say? - "our packers don't want your utm cattle?" - they are no risk. "We don't want your OTM cattle in a box with the SRMs removed?" - can't say they are unsafe either as that is the same process used on the stuff US burger joints are currently serving.
Any "closing" of the border now would look not only political but ridiculous.

[blackjack]

...grassfarmer is right on the mark...if the US fail to open the border there will be a lot more serious issues... like a loss of consumers when the US find that accidental case of BSE...

[kato]

Gee, I haven't felt the need for a rant for quite a while now, but I sure do now.

"The perception and reality would be that Canada is taking very aggressive steps to clean up a potential problem," said Eby.

That makes me very angry.

The 'perception' would be that we have decided our cows are not safe to keep, and that we are willing to roll over and give up like whipped puppies.

I don't know about anyone else here, but I haven't slugged through the past darn near two years just to give up now. The worst is behind us, we are starting to stand on our own two feet, and this is not the time to back down.

If we really want to send a message to the world, it should be that we are open for business, we will test if they want it, and that we will not be intimidated.

We have already shown our integrity by standing up and letting ourselves get beat over the heads again and again for actually facing this BSE issue. The world knows that the more cattle we find, and face up to, the less credible the American "surveillance system" is. They know that the reason the Americans have not found a cow yet is that they are not prepared for it. No traceback, serious credibility problems, and the potential to lose domestic markets are what's really keeping BSE out of their herd.

Whether the protectionists in the U.S. like it or not, America is not the center of the universe.

Who gives a rat's a*&s if the American packers don't want us testing for export? That's their problem, not ours. We are not a colony of the USA, we are a sovereign country, and it's time we started acting like one.

How can our 'leaders' prefer to kill off perfectly good productive animals and dump them in a landfill over running a simple BSE test? Shame on them!

End of rant. I feel a bit better now.

[kato]

Ralph did more harm than the Innisfail cow as far as I am concerned. What incentive are they going to give cattleproducers to offer up good productive cows to be culled, particularly at this time of year when they are in calf...or are they going to be allowed to have one more calf then sacrificed ????? I wish that the Premier would just get on with doing what he plans to do about Health Care Reform. I think that Doug Horner would have dealt with the media a lot better than the Premier did yesterday.
Friends of mine came back from the US yesterday and there were already news casts about how the Premier of Alberta says to cull cows !!!!!
RCALF will gobble that up !!!

[Horse]

Wouldt it be something if we could trace BSE back to the Bull from the UK in 93 when you think about it all the cases came from central alta where the bull touched down back in 93 except mabey the sask cow that no one is sure just where she came from mebey he brought a bug with him if no cases show up in the rest of Ca there just may be a link.

[ALICIA]

Horse you just could be right.

[cowman]

Before we all brand Ralph as a complete idiot, maybe we should consider that the CCA as well as the Alberta Cattle Feeders Association have also endorsed a pre feed ban cull? I assume the ABP is probably onside?
Good science or not, doesn't really matter does it? Isn't it really all about perception...as well as getting our supply back into some sort of balance with demand?
Instead of outright condemning the idea, maybe we should hear the offer first? Consider this scenario: The government offers $1,000 for each cow born pre-1998. Totally voluntary...but the catch is any pre-1998 cow not culled can never enter the food chain? In other words if you just can't bare to part with Old Bossy, then you keep her until she dies!
I suspect, with such a deal, that we could get rid of a lot of cows and it would look pretty good to our trading partners? The figure I heard for pre-1998 cows was 900,000? If we could eliminate 700,000 of those it would sure be helpful on the supply side?
Grassfarmer: I'm shocked you don't have any idea how old your cows are! Don't you keep any records?...or were you just referring to the rest of us dumb redneck Albertans?

[cowman]

Do you honestly think that there would be consideration given to paying $1000 per cow ? My bet is that if a voluntary cull program is implemented the figure would be more like $500 per cow if that !
IT will be interesting to see how the subject is dealt with at the Beef Industry Conference coming up in February.