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Bad Feed Came from Sask

Mike

Well-known member
3/2/2007 11:42:00 AM Email this article • Print this article
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Nine Canadian farms quarantined

Peggy Steward
Capital Press Staff Writer

Nine Saskatchewan farms have been quarantined after receiving shipments of tainted feed from a Saskatoon feed mill, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said today.

The feed included meat and bone meal, banned since 1997 as part of safeguards to protect against the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE.

Seven of the farms are located in the Saskatoon area, while two are in the Swift Current area in the southwest part of the province, Dr. George Luterbach, the chief veterinarian for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency , said in a conference call with reporters.

Two of the farms are dairies, two are deer farms and five are beef cattle ranches, Luterbach said. About 8,000 animals were on the quarantined farms.

The feed mill purchased feather meal, a poultry product that is allowed in cattle feed, but a mix-up at the supplier resulted in meat and bone meal being provided, Luterbach said. The feed mill notified the Canadian Food Inspection Agency as soon as the mix-up was discovered.

The agency moved to recall the tainted feed and investigated all farms that received it, Luterbach said. They discovered nine farms that unknowingly fed the feed and placed them under quarantine. Animals exposed to the feed have been identified and placed under control and restricted to the farms while a risk assessment is conducted.

The tainted feed has been recovered and feed bins and storage units have been cleaned, he said.

He said it was premature to speculate if animals that received the feed would be slaughtered. The risk assessment will determine the age of the animals, the amounts of feed they may have consumed and the source of the meat and bone meal, he said.

It was unclear how long the quarantine will be in place.

"The animals are in a holding pattern until we complete the investigation," Luterbach said.

Luterbach said the feed mill and farms cooperated with Canadian Food Inspection Agency. He characterized the mix-up as a "mistake." He said the farmers and mill operators did nothing wrong.

The announcement came less than a month after Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed a new BSE case on Feb. 9 in a mature bull, likely born after the feed ban was implemented, in Alberta.

It was the 10th confirmed case of BSE to have originated in Canada, including a Canadian-born cow at a Mabton, Wash., dairy that tested positive in December 2003. The Mabton case resulted in the loss of U.S. export markets and huge economic losses to the U.S. beef industry.

The quarantine announcement also came just days after a U.S. cattle organization called for U.S Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns to extend a public comment period on a proposed rule that would allow Canadian cattle over 30 months of age into the United States. The deadline for comments is March 12.

R-CALF USA said the report of the February BSE case, if it was born after the feed ban, raises questions about the proposed rule.

The United States banned live cattle imports from Canada in May 2003, with Canada's first confirmed BSE case. The border was later reopened to beef with high-risk materials removed. In July 2005, live Canadian cattle were allowed into the United States, as long as they were under 30 months of age and were going directly to a feedlot or directly to slaughter.

The proposed rule would allow cattle born after March 1999 to be imported from Canada for any purpose. The USDA said that date provided 18 months for the 1997 feed bans to be fully implemented.
 

Kato

Well-known member
Mike said:
The feed mill purchased feather meal, a poultry product that is allowed in cattle feed, but a mix-up at the supplier resulted in meat and bone meal being provided, Luterbach said. The feed mill notified the Canadian Food Inspection Agency as soon as the mix-up was discovered.

They don't yet say who the supplier is, so the jury's still out on this one. :!: Last time I looked, feedmills weren't doing their own rendering.
 

Sandhusker

Well-known member
Maple Leaf Angus said:
Sandhusker said:
It was probably an R-CALF conspiracy to replace the feather meal to just make Canada look bad....


You finally caught on!!!


Just when I thought you are incapable of being educated! :lol: :lol: :lol:

You know what they say; Even a blind hog finds an acorn every now and then. :wink:
 

PORKER

Well-known member
http://www.rothsay.ca/r_prod.html .The big boys have to sell this stuff somewhere.

Don't guess this was a resale of feather protien.
 

Mike

Well-known member
Kato said:
Mike said:
The feed mill purchased feather meal, a poultry product that is allowed in cattle feed, but a mix-up at the supplier resulted in meat and bone meal being provided, Luterbach said. The feed mill notified the Canadian Food Inspection Agency as soon as the mix-up was discovered.

They don't yet say who the supplier is, so the jury's still out on this one. :!: Last time I looked, feedmills weren't doing their own rendering.

I was merely making a point that the feed came from Sask, as opposed to Alberta.

Boy you folks are sensitive. :???:
 

Kato

Well-known member
:???: Did someone say it was from Alberta? I only heard of a Saskatchewan feedmill. The unknown factor was where the feedmill got it.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
CattleNetwork_Today 3/5/2007 2:28:00 PM


Canada Investigating Feed Mix-Up Following Farm Quarantines



The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said it is premature to speculate whether Canadian cattle and deer from nine farms that received shipments of tainted meat and bone meal will be destroyed or remain eligible for slaughter.

The animals, about 8,000 in all, may have been exposed to feed containing specified risk materials for bovine spongiform encephalopathy as a result of a mix-up at the supplier level. The mill supplying the farms purchased feather meal, a poultry product used in cattle feed, but instead received meat and bone meal.

The mill made the discovery within two to three days of receiving and shipping the feed, Dr. George Luterbach, chief veterinarian for CFIA, told Meatingplace.com. The nine farms, all located in the province of Saskatchewan, subsequently were quarantined due to concerns that animals at those locations may have consumed some of the feed, he said.

Seven of the farms are located in the Saskatoon area. The remaining two are in the Swift Current area in the southwest region of the province. Two of the farms are dairies, two deer farms and five beef cattle ranches.

Luterbach said that CFIA will need to perform a complete risk assessment of each of the nine farms before determining its next course of action. Among other variables, investigators will consider the age of the animals, their species and the original source of the meat and bone meal.

Luterbach pointed out that, starting in July, CFIA will ban specified risk materials from all animals, pet foods and fertilizers rather than just those products destined for cattle, the intent being to avoid the risk of inadvertent contamination of feed on farms and ranches, as apparently was the case here.
 

Mike

Well-known member
Kato said:
:???: Did someone say it was from Alberta? I only heard of a Saskatchewan feedmill. The unknown factor was where the feedmill got it.

No. Someone said, cowsense I believe, said it MIGHT have originated from the USA.

I then said, might be better if it came from the US, rather than "Alberta".

I posted the above article to clarify that it was NOT from Alberta.
 

canadian angus

Well-known member
I work in the feed industry in this area and I am a competitor to the feed mill that had this happen. Competitor or not, this is bad for the entire industry. Watch for stricter regulations on feed ingredients in the near future.
 

PORKER

Well-known member
Watch for stricter regulations on feed ingredients in the near future.

Yup they can PM me. I can sell them some honest to good legal software for traceback of feed and ingredients. Heck ,I will do all of Canada for a price!
 

flounder

Well-known member
canadian angus said:
I work in the feed industry in this area and I am a competitor to the feed mill that had this happen. Competitor or not, this is bad for the entire industry. Watch for stricter regulations on feed ingredients in the near future.


i agree, bad deal either way, but are you saying the source of origin is canada, or does anyone really know for sure ???

tss
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
I guess the thing that strikes me in that last story- if these cattle or any Canadian BSE cattle pose no risk as Canadians, CFIA, USDA alleges why are they (the Chief CFIA Vet) talking about the option of destroying all/some of the animals and not allowing them to go to slaughter :???:
 

Kato

Well-known member
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said it is premature to speculate whether Canadian cattle and deer from nine farms that received shipments of tainted meat and bone meal will be destroyed or remain eligible for slaughter. :roll: :roll: :roll:
 

loomixguy

Well-known member
IMHO, if there is the least shadow of a doubt, the animals in question should be destroyed, no questions asked. Science cannot ease the fears in the human mind. Plus, it would go a long way to show the Canadian Government's obsession to stamp out BSE, or anything remotely associated with BSE. The owners should be fairly compensated for their loss, too.

Look at it this way, if Pam Anderson, Beyonce, Halle Berry, or whoever trips your trigger was reported to have AIDS, even if their test turned out negative, would you really want to have unprotected sex with her, after hearing the rumor?
 
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