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Are Imports Endangering the US Cattle Herd?

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Anonymous

Guest
4/17/2007 2:52:00 PM


R-CALF: Group Asks USDA About Adequacy Of Bovine TB Mitigation Measures



Billings, Mont. – On Monday, R-CALF USA sent a formal letter to Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns requesting an explanation from the agency on three items related to bovine tuberculosis: 1) why the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has not taken more decisive action to protect our U.S. cattle herds from a known source of Bovine TB; 2) whether USDA is following even minimal international standards established by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) for preventing the spread of Bovine TB; and, 3) whether USDA has specific plans to begin providing the U.S. cattle industry with needed protection against this disease.



USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) administers USDA’s Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication Program. Bovine TB is a contagious disease that can affect most mammals, including humans. The detection of this disease in the U.S. results in significant financial losses to affected U.S. cattle herds, as well as to all cattle herds residing in an affected state, principally due to the imposition of animal-movement restrictions. Several states – including Texas, California, New Mexico, Michigan, Minnesota, South Dakota and Colorado – have detected Bovine TB within their borders in recent years.



“R-CALF’s Animal Health Committee was recently informed about testimony presented to Congress by USDA’s Inspector General Phyllis Fong in March, in which Inspector General Fong indicated that APHIS is hampered by weaknesses in the oversight of the program that make it difficult for the agency to timely detect and eradicate this disease,” said R-CALF USA President/Region VI Director Max Thornsberry, a Missouri veterinarian who chairs the organization’s animal health committee.



“In fact, she stated that APHIS’ status system did not capture most Bovine TB cases, and that approximately 75 percent of the TB-infected cattle detected through slaughter surveillance originate in Mexico, and that these animals spent months at U.S. farms and feedlots with no restrictions to prevent commingling with domestic cattle,” Thornsberry continued.



In a September 2006 Audit Report, Fong states that “although the majority of TB-infected cattle found by slaughter surveillance are from Mexico, APHIS has not developed controls to restrict the movement of cattle, or require additional testing to compensate for the disease’s incubation period. Until additional controls are added, APHIS cannot reasonably expect to achieve its goal and eradicate TB when it is being imported into the United States each year.”


R-CALF USA believes this information suggests that APHIS has not adequately protected the U.S. cattle herd from the introduction of Bovine TB from Mexico. This is particularly disturbing given the knowledge that the incidence of Bovine TB in Mexico is significantly higher than in the United States. For example, the Inspector General stated that Mexico reported over 2,000 TB-infected cattle herds in 2004, while the U.S. reported only 10 positive herds.



“R-CALF was pleased to learn from news reports that APHIS will now suspend imports from the Mexico state of Coahuila beginning today, April 17, as a result of ongoing Bovine TB concerns,” Thornsberry said.



“However, we do not understand why APHIS has delayed taking swift and decisive action to protect the U.S. cattle industry from the continual reintroduction of Bovine TB from Mexico – a condition that’s detrimental to the health and welfare of the U.S. cattle industry,” he emphasized. “We are also concerned that this action against only the state of Coahuila may not be sufficient to achieve a necessary level of protection.”
 

Econ101

Well-known member
Aphis is a joke and Secretary Johanns should be fired for allowing it to be so.

Regular workers in the U.S. get fired for not performing. It is only the upper echelon that do not have the same scrutiny.
 

RobertMac

Well-known member
the Inspector General stated that Mexico reported over 2,000 TB-infected cattle herds in 2004, while the U.S. reported only 10 positive herds.

Using the Canadian standard, there is no need for restrictions...we already have TB!!!! :? :???: :roll:
 

Mike

Well-known member
RobertMac said:
the Inspector General stated that Mexico reported over 2,000 TB-infected cattle herds in 2004, while the U.S. reported only 10 positive herds.

Using the Canadian standard, there is no need for restrictions...we already have TB!!!! :? :???: :roll:

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 

Bill

Well-known member
It sure didn't take you R-Klowns long to include Canada though did it.

Almost a record.

:roll:

Must be time for a group R-Hug now huh?
 

Sandhusker

Well-known member
Bill said:
It sure didn't take you R-Klowns long to include Canada though did it.

Almost a record.

:roll:

Must be time for a group R-Hug now huh?

If you don't want us laughing, don't provide the material!
 

RobertMac

Well-known member
Sorry if I hurt your feelings, Bill, but for a joke to be truly funny, it has to have a grain of truth!!!!

Isn't the "Canadian standard"...the USA has BSE, so there should be no restrictions on Canadian beef???????????????? :p 8)
 

rainie

Well-known member
RobertMac: You disappoint me. I enjoyed your other postings about marketing your own beef and I figured this guy knows what he is talking about. I actually started to look forward to your postings. Didn't expect you to get involved in something as petty as this. Guess I was wrong about you.
 

Econ101

Well-known member
Mike said:
RobertMac said:
the Inspector General stated that Mexico reported over 2,000 TB-infected cattle herds in 2004, while the U.S. reported only 10 positive herds.

Using the Canadian standard, there is no need for restrictions...we already have TB!!!! :? :???: :roll:

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

This argument is one the packers are continually providing. When it comes to antibiotic resistance, they say that since there are already antibiotic resistant strains out there, the cat is out of the bag, we can't put it back in and there is no reason they can't use those antibiotics in production.

Meanwhile, the discovery of new antibiotic classes of drugs has drastically decreased. We are putting human health at risk more and more for the profit of these greedy largely private people who own and control big agribusiness.
 

Bill

Well-known member
RobertMac said:
Sorry if I hurt your feelings, Bill, but for a joke to be truly funny, it has to have a grain of truth!!!!

Isn't the "Canadian standard"...the USA has BSE, so there should be no restrictions on Canadian beef???????????????? :p 8)

Hurt feelings? Hardly.

Jokes? I realize that for many of you BSE is one big joke because it never really has negatively affected you. For some of you it is simply a reason to turn on the computer and check Rancher's in the morning and click your heels if there is something negative against Canada to comment on.

You R-Klowns don't seem to understand the impact BSE and R-Klans lies and BS has had on Canadian producers. Unlike the loudest of the anti-Canadian pom-pommers on this site, most of the Canadians actually make a living raising cattle and beef. We have become pretty thick skinned through all of this and aren't prepared to take any crap from you or anyone else.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
rainie said:
RobertMac: You disappoint me. I enjoyed your other postings about marketing your own beef and I figured this guy knows what he is talking about. I actually started to look forward to your postings. Didn't expect you to get involved in something as petty as this. Guess I was wrong about you.

Protecting the countries herd health is a "petty" issue to you :???: Come on Rainie........
 

Northern Rancher

Well-known member
Well when I took my last bulls to Wyoming-they were from a TB free herd in a TB free province and had a negative TB test-most of the people commenting on how easy it is to cross cattle have never imported or exported any. I guess it's easy to be an armchair quarterback in the cattle business too. I wonder if those R-Calf group hugs look much like the snake clusters you see in the spring.
 

don

Well-known member
ot: Protecting the countries herd health is a "petty" issue to you Come on Rainie

seems pretty trivial to you ot. why don't you campaign for across the board testing of otm's in your country (which has bse) like you do for canada? seems to me you could help assure the future of your industry by taking care of the consumer instead of the 3s strategy you're advocating. the hypocricy of r-calf is taking its toll on your organization. let us know how the downsizing of your bunch is giving you more influence.
 

Sandhusker

Well-known member
Bill said:
RobertMac said:
Sorry if I hurt your feelings, Bill, but for a joke to be truly funny, it has to have a grain of truth!!!!

Isn't the "Canadian standard"...the USA has BSE, so there should be no restrictions on Canadian beef???????????????? :p 8)

Hurt feelings? Hardly.

Jokes? I realize that for many of you BSE is one big joke because it never really has negatively affected you. For some of you it is simply a reason to turn on the computer and check Rancher's in the morning and click your heels if there is something negative against Canada to comment on.

You R-Klowns don't seem to understand the impact BSE and R-Klans lies and BS has had on Canadian producers. Unlike the loudest of the anti-Canadian pom-pommers on this site, most of the Canadians actually make a living raising cattle and beef. We have become pretty thick skinned through all of this and aren't prepared to take any crap from you or anyone else.

BSE has never negetively affect us? :shock: That doesn't even merit a comment. It hasn't affected us as much as Canada, but then we didn't sell our soul so we would be dependent on one market to take our overproduction, either.

None of us R-CALF members are anti-Canadian, you're confusing that with being pro-American because you like playing the part of the victim - your industry's problems have to be somebody else's fault.

And please don't whine about relying on cattle to make your living - all of us here do.
 

Econ101

Well-known member
What is amazing to me is that packers magnified this problem by selling MBM as cattle feed to get a comparative advantage on their competition and win the competition game.

What do we have now? Producers blaming producers.

The people who are really responsible just get to skate free.

Producers like MRJ are quick to support the packers over the producers in this instance and NCBA was too stupid to see this as a potential problem because of their bias towards packers.
 

Bill

Well-known member
Mike said:
Jokes? I realize that for many of you BSE is one big joke because it never really has negatively affected you.

Losing $175 per head is a joke? :mad:

In one breath R-Klan is taking credit for record US prices and in the next whining and crying about losing $175/head??????????????

Which is it?
 

Judith

Well-known member
Wow Mike,
Is it seriously 175.00 per head? I can only imagine what the price of beef in the supermarket will be this spring. Sheesh
 

Mike

Well-known member
Judith said:
Wow Mike,
Is it seriously 175.00 per head? I can only imagine what the price of beef in the supermarket will be this spring. Sheesh

According to a NCBA analysis, when Japan and others stopped importing, every calf in the US was discounted $175 per head because of downward pressure in the markets.
 
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