Second Canadian mad cow case could keep beef exports closed

The discovery of an apparent second case of Mad Cow Disease in a Canadian cow could halt plans to reopen U.S. borders to cattle from the north. The plan’s to resume imports March seventh but whether or not the case of B-S-E in a 10-year-old dairy cow affects that plan, it won’t happen without some protests. One group opposed to reopening imports is the United Stockgrowers of America lobbying arm, R-CALF…an acronym for Ranchers – Cattlemen Legal Action Fund. R-CALF’s executive director Bill Bullard says the final rule U-S-D-A is sending to the federal register lacks the scientific protections necessary to protect the U.S. cattle industry. Bullard says they’ll look at the proposal to see if it provides “adequate protections for the U.S. cattle industry, which is does not appear to,” and will work with congressmembers asking them to review the scientific information, and if not successful there, may wind up in court for the protection of the U.S. cattle industry. Bullard says going to court to block the reopening is a strong possibility. He says the stockmen’s group has provided U-S-D-A with supplemental comments, more than 450 pages of scientific research he says “undercuts the very assumptions U-S-D-A has made in its proposed rule.” He says the evidence does not support the new rule reopening Canadian imports. The final rule is set to be published in the January 4th Federal Register, and will be effective on March 7th. R-CALF claims ten-thousand members among Iowa’s feedlot operators and cow-calf producers, and has backed initiatives like Country of Origin Labeling for all meat animals and a ban on packer ownership of livestock on farms. See the group’s information at http://www.r-calfusa.com/