The U-S Department of Agriculture took action this week to assure consumers the food supply is safe, saying “downer” animals will no longer be accepted at meatpacking plants in the U-S. Iowa State University Extension Market News Director Doug Cooper doesn’t see it making a big difference in the industry. He says you have to differentiate between an animal that’s sick and one that’s down for some other reason like a leg injury. Cooper says farmers don’t want to send sick animals to the meat supply and adds there already were probably enough rules to avoid that type of thing. Cooper says scientists “in the know” have told consumers there’s little or no risk, so it’s more a problem for the industry than any threat to public health. While the Chicago Mercantile Exchange limits how much any commodity can go up or down in price to avoid a panic upsetting the market, Cooper says the CME made a good move in expanding those limits. If the limits had stayed at the original $1.50 up or down in price, he says you’d have seen the limit-down trading go on for more days in a row, leaving uncertainty, so by letting the market go as low as it’s going to, then it can stabilize. He says the steady business continuing on the exchange proves the move was the right thing to do. While trading is light over the winter holidays, work’s continuing to determine whether the cow in question came from Canada. They’re trading today, though prices are lower, and Cooper says it’s a good sign that both sellers and buyers are active in the market. While some importers of American beef immediately declared they’d quit buying, Cooper says it’s not a disaster for producers here. Only 10-percent of US beef is exported, a big difference from Canada which exports more than 50-percent of its beef, and Cooper jokes it just means we have to eat more beef here. Cooper says even if researchers confirm the cow was not raised in the U-S, it’ll still take a while to reassure our international trading partners that American beef is compeltely safe.

The Iowa Hawkeyes bid for their first January Bowl victory since 1959 when they play Florida in the Outback Bowl in Tampa. The Hawkeyes rode a stingy defense and outstanding special teams to a 9-3 regular season record and the defense will be tested by a Gator offense led by true freshman quarterback Chris Leak. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz says his biggest attribute is his passing, but “he can certainly pull it down and run with it. He’s certainly not a stiff,” according to Ferentz. Like any game against a team from a warmer climate, the Hawks need to offset Florida’s speed advantage. Ferentz says if Iowa can grind out a ground game on offense, that would help keep the ball out of Leak’s hands, but he says that’s easier said than done. Defensive lineman Howard Hodges feels the Hawks have enough speed to keep up. “We’ve got Florida guys on this defense, guys from Texas, and Iowa guys, I mean, aren’t that slow,” Hodges says “we’ve got speed..and we should be fine as long as we execute the game plan.” Safety Bob Sanders says the Hawks have been successful with a punishing style of play and that is how they must approach the matchup with the Gators. Sanders says they want to intimidate the receivers from the start and “be physical and put some hits on ‘em.” Iowa is concerned about Florida’s speed, the Gators are concerned about the matchup in the trenches. Florida center Mike DeGory says Iowa’s a classic Big Ten team, real physical up front and “have just as much speed as we do…We’re lookin’ forward to the fight.” Florida guard Lance Butler says this will be a different style than the Gators face during the regular season. Butler expects some “smash-mouth” football from Iowa, and he says it’ll be fun to play against a different type of team compared to conference foes like Florida State and Miami. This will be the final game for a number of seniors including quarterback Nathan Chandler, who looks to end his only season as the starter with a victory. “Every young kid dreams of growing up and getting to play on a team like this,” Chandler says. “I’m excited about this opportunity and thankful for what I’ve been able to do so far.” Kickoff tomorrow in James Raymond Stadium is ten o’clock, Iowa time.

The UNI Panthers won their fourth consecutive game with an 82-70 cruise past Siena, their first game after a 10-day holiday layoff. Siena jumped out to score the first five points of the game, but Northern Iowa sank three consecutive three pointers to grab the lead for good. UNI went on a scoring binge at the end of the first half — scoring 10 points to Siena’s 1 during the final four minutes — to lead 42-26 at the break. UNI pulled ahead by 25 points early in the second half. Four Panthers scored in double figures. UNI is now 6-3.

A late flurry by sophomore guard Jeff Horner allowed the Iowa Hawkeyes to avoid an upset at the hands of Eastern Illinois. Horner’s free throw with just over two and a half minutes remaining snapped a 60-all tie and 30 seconds later, he buried a three pointer from the left wing as the Hawkeyes claimed a 71-62 win in Iowa City. Iowa coach Steve Alford says it wasn’t his team’s best game, but “the guys really played hard, they gave good effort — it wasn’t always intelligent effort.” Alford says given some of the other results from Tuesday night (Michigan and Missouri were each upset), he’s just happy to get the win. Alford held three Hawkeyes out, Eric Hansen, Nick Dewitz and Mike Henderson, amid questions saurrondeing their academic status for the second semester. Alford says he’s “not pleased with what they’ve done through the first semester” and he held them out of the game to show them he’s not happy with their effort. Alford says none, at this point, is technically ineligible due to grades, but they have failed to live up to the “locker room standard” Alford says he’s established. Iowa returns to action Saturday at Missouri.