8,000 Canadian Cattle Quarantined

[Willowcreek]

CFIA Shuts Nine Saskatchewan Farms Down
March 01, 2007

A huge mistake on the agriculture front has resulted in nine Saskatchewan farms and as many as eight thousand cattle, deer, and other ruminants, being quarantined.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has shut them down, after ruminant meat and bone meal was mistakenly shipped out to those farms by a Saskatoon feed mill.

Those materials have been banned from cattle and other ruminant feed since 1997, due to the threat of mad cow disease.

The affected farms include two in the Swift Current area, the rest are around Saskatoon.

Doctor George Luterbach speaks for the C-F-I-A, he says a risk assessment on the affected animals is now taking place.

Luterbach says the feed mill had ordered "feather meal" from the rendering plant that supplies it.

"Feather meal" is not prohibited from entering cattle and ruminant feed.

Brent Pushkarenko reporting.



http://www.newstalk980.com/index.php?p=ntnews&action=view_story&id=7673

[coppertop]

And your point is ? It appears to me that Canadian authorities are on top of this issue, which should give your country confidence in our industry.

[rkaiser]

Read my new post on ranchers.net Oldtimer. Time for Rcalf to show some guts.

[catlman]

Check cattle today OT. The sky isn't falling. How is the violation going in georgia. Pay a fine and what about the feed recall. how much was used and what happens to the exposed animals. how many farms involoved can be found, why the cover up?

[Willowcreek]

saskartoon-- We don't have new cases of BSE jumping out monthly- 1/2 of which are POST feedban either...Which so far indicates the US feedban has worked and Canada's is somewhere between Looney Tunes and Daffy Duck for success........

Read the article about the restrictions Barbados is putting on your dairy heifers they want-- lifetime tracking, quarantines and regular checking, never can enter the food chain (must be buried), no offspring can enter the food chain...

Now tell me those folks have confidence in your feedban or your cattle...LMAO

[jensend]

you can't have positives if you aren't testing. c'mon little willow, express your great concern for the consumer by urging usda to trace out the feedban violations and quarantine the herds at risk and run an effective testing program on 4d animals. What fools you must think the rest of the world is! I guess you think hillbilly logic is going to get past everybody. show me where r-calf is actually urging usda to find bse. you can't do it. you're a silly little man.

[coppertop]

of course the US isn't showing cases of BSE, or additives in feed, they don't check for anything . Head in the sand mentality seems to work for them, but one day it will come back to bite them in the butt, they will have a major wreck they won't be able to blame on Canada.

[farmers_son]

Willowcreek could have posted this news release from the CFIA however chose instead to use a story from NEWS TALK 980. Speaking as someone from Alberta, I did not think there were 8000 cattle in Saskatchewan. LOL.

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/corpaffr/newcom/2007/20070302e.shtml

OTTAWA, March 2, 2007 - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has placed precautionary movement restrictions on cattle from nine farms in Saskatchewan because they received feed that did not meet Canada’s current feed ban requirements. There is no food safety risk associated with meat and other products from the exposed animals.

The contamination occurred when misidentified ruminant meat and bone meal was distributed from a processor to feed mills. The meat and bone meal was subsequently included as an ingredient in certain ruminant animal feeds, which is not permitted under Canada’s feed ban. The CFIA was notified by the processor and mills once the error was detected and immediately initiated an investigation.

All of the contaminated feed has been recalled and the CFIA has verified that all receiving farms have been properly cleaned. Preliminary findings of a science-based assessment indicate that the risk to animal health is, at most, very low. No exposed animals or their products were exported.

All affected producers acted in full accordance with the feed ban, believing they were using feed intended for cattle and other ruminant animals. All involved stakeholders, including producers, continue to be very cooperative with the CFIA.

End of Paste.

Willowcreek mentioned Barbados. This news item might be of interest:

March 2, 2007

Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl says he's pleased Egypt has agreed to lift its ban on the import of Canadian breeding cattle.

Egypt imposed the ban after several cases of B-S-E were found in Canadian cattle.

Strahl says lifting the ban will create new opportunities for Canada's livestock industry.

Egypt has also lifted restrictions on sheep and goats from Canada.

[Willowcreek]

Lets see-- 5-7 years has been the normal incubation period-- that would put another major outbreak in about 2013-2014...

And as long as Canada and the US are deadset at not testing all, and shipping these live cattle all over- the spread will continue....

[mb_rancher]

Willowcreek,

You like to have negative futurre thoughts on Canada so I will say that you guys down there are sitting on a landmine that is about to explode. no testing no finding, something the US is very known for.

[Ron]

Willowkreek, are you in favour of 100% testing for BSE? Canada and US?
Just curious, I think it would be a great idea (not saying economical or easy) and would shut up a lot of people. My vegetarian in-laws are horrified that I feed their grandchildren meat. Weirdo's

[Willowcreek]

Mb_rancher-- You better hope things don't blow up- because remember the only market Canada has is with the US..You sold your souls to get on the US's shirttails...And you're already taking everything from the US- so you're tied to anything that happens here...

With the publicity on Canada's problem- if things do blow up in the states, it will all be blamed on all thosed diseased Canadian cows/beef we took...

Ron- I don't know if you addressed this to me or to Willow-Kreek-- but my feelings are that neither country should be exporting live cattle OTM age, or breeding stock- still too many unknowns on BSE- and evidence now appearing that the atypical type may be transmitted by live contact- the same as CWD...If so we just keep spreading the disease..
I think the US should maintain the testing they have had in place the last few years and allow private companies to test...But with the much higer rate of disease, high number of Post feedban positives, and higher risk Canada has I think they should be required to test all OTM- especially any they want to export...

[cowman]

Willowcreek: There is a rumor going around...and it so far is just a rumor...that the "feed" in question came out of the USA! Would sure be interesting if that rumor proves true?
Still I will agree with you that someone screwed up and should answer for it.
As you might know new feed restrictions are supposed to go into place in Canada on July 12th? Apparently no one has been doing much despite the federal government committing $80 million to implement this! The various packers have not stepped up to the plate!
This new feed ban will romove all SRMs from ever being used in anyway...they must be destroyed. Our federal Ag minister gave the packers a good blast and told them come hell or high water this ban will go into effect, one way or the other, on July 12, 2007!
Now I wonder...is the US doing anything similar? Do you think our country would be justified in insisting you do if you intend to export meat(not just beef) into Canada? I would assume your markets for processed feed/supplements/dogfood into Canada will end July 12...and rightly so, I think you would agree?
I wouldn't get all bent out of shape about Canadian exports of live cattle! We are into liquidation up here in a fairly significant way and if this ethanol/biodeisel thing turns out to be the real meal deal...we well might find ourselves in a "beef deficit" in a couple of years! Times change, situations change, everyone moves on.

[sagewood]

I enjoyed all the replies to Willow Creek and was going to join in on the sand-box fight, but felt that replying to someone like that is a waste of time..one has to consider the source when worrying about his comments.

Cowman, I do believe you are right that we could well be short of beef in the near future if the ethanol thing takes off--lots of big farmers wanting more and more land for canola and/or **** and a few weeds won't matter to the final processed product, so the grain boys and girls might just make a little profit for a change.

As to the labour intensive cattle industry--this past week at the Calgary Bull Sale, I heard lots and lots of talk about the 'older' generation being ready to hang up the spurs and have their last cattle drive to the auction mart..and the next generation are not interested because they are all making good cash in other industries and have no desire to be in debt all their life and subsidize the consumers of our meat products. As I am still trying to have a positive outlook on the cattle industry, I bought a new bull at the sale--still fun to bring a new one home and wait for next year's calves..onwards

[coppertop]

good for you sagewood. We need some folks still believing there is a future in our business, difficult as that may seem at times.

I am looking forward to the first calves of the bull I bought last year, hope I made the right choice when I picked him at the sale. Calving time and spring is the season of renewal, and hopefully some optimism for everyone in the agricultural industry.

Hope calving is going well for everyone.