cowsense said:
Randy: Providing a way was found around the liability insurance issues and a smaller packer started testing.......who could better afford the financing of testing .......a high thru-put plant with a higher margin or a smaller higher slaughter cost plant? My whole concern is that any testing beyond surveillance needs will plunge our entire industry into a totally unnecessary and unrecquired expense that will be there for ever. Margins are already too tight in our industry and the cow-calf producer to whom any extra costs are pushed down to will lose that much more value out of their product!
To erradicate a problem like BSE, you first have to understand the transferrance mechanisms. After that you might have to spend a little money up front for erradication efforts over a time period, but then you can go on surveillance afterwards. Sometimes these up front costs are a lot less than the future costs of not dealing with the problem honestly.
When I get a splinter, I like to hurry up and dig it out. This problem has been festering long enough. It is time to get the splinter out, no matter how much it hurts in the short run. This industry will be better off in the long run.