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USDA Coverup?

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Mike

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http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18124400.300

I cannot help but think that the USDA has perpretrated a grand scheme to brush BSE under the table and out of the limelight by controlling the information and the media. Tam and other Canadian's have pointed out on several occasions that testing in the USA has been less than adequate at best with an obvious lack of testing 4-D's and CNS cases. But once beef gets to the table it can't be tested. It's gone.

The link above shows that the USDA approved the Bio-Rad test KNOWING full well the false positives that occur using them - thus creating a numbing effect that will come in handy when we have a positive case in the future. There is no such thing as an "inconclusive" using the Prionics tests along with IHC. So why the Bio-Rad?

Along with the FDA's report on the feed ban inconsistencies, the Texas cow, the Washington cow fiasco, and the last "inconclusive" which by all measures could have been wrong in only 1 out of 2000 chances I fear we have been set up for a big fall. I pray I am wrong.

Did they keep Creekstone from testing so they could control all aspects of BSE testing and keep the results secret? Did they fall from 30 months to 20 on Japan beef because they were right? Why weren't we testing more 4-D's?

It's obvious Japan don't trust us and I can see why.
 
mike,

I think you are right about being set up for a big fall. Was talking to a bull customer and fellow breeder from Minnesota tonight. He was concerned over the same issues. I hope the USA never has that confirmed positive BSE, but i have my doubts.... :cry:
 
I agree, Mike. I'll save someone else the need to post and demand that you prove your baseless allegation, you USDA blaming victim. :wink:
 
But once beef gets to the table it can't be tested. Wrong :::: anyone can test at the table with a BSE testing kit brought in illegallyfrom another country or lab from out of the country.The BSE test kits can be bought under the table just like Canadian meds overseas.
 
t said:
But once beef gets to the table it can't be tested. Wrong :::: anyone can test at the table with a BSE testing kit brought in illegallyfrom another country or lab from out of the country.The BSE test kits can be bought under the table just like Canadian meds overseas.

Unless you are in a habit of serving brain for dinner you are wrong.
 
Sandhusker: "you USDA blaming victim"

There are plenty of instances (UK & Japan especially) where the guvments in those respective countries dropped the ball on BSE and attempted the "cover-up" mode and made it worse for the cattlemen.
UK's cattle business is a complete disaster as is most of Europe.
I understand it's easy to second guess wrong decisions but when you have examples like those in front of you there IS no excuse.

1-If I were the USDA I would take ALL relevant theories pertaining to BSE and use them jointly in surveillance and step up research.
2- I would test so many cattle that the test kit companies would be scrambling to keep up and put an end to BSE ASAP.
3-I would make M'ID mandatory immediately.
4-And I would just tell the damn truth period. (Unlike the circus after the Washington cow.)
5-I would allow my export markets and consumers dictate the terms and charge accordingly. Winning confidence would be my #1 goal.

Pork and poultry have enough advantage now, they don't need Oprah spouting off again.
 
I don't think USDA knows yet if its coming or going-- This morning I get an e-mail from USDA announcing a new Communication Director- then an hour later I get the following e-mail telling me to disregard the first as this is not for publication---How do you unrelease something??

Definitely think this is a good step forward-- Looks like they truly need a Communication Director................... :)

PLEASE DISREGARD SEND: THIS IS NOT FOR PUBLICATION AT THIS TIME.




Release No. 0063.05 ---PLEASE DISREGARD SEND: THIS IS NOT FOR PUBLICATION -- NOT FOR PUBLICATION -- AT THIS TIME.


Contact:
Ed Loyd (202) 720-4623


Johanns Announces Communications Director

WASHINGTON, Feb. 24, 2005-Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today announced the selection of Terri Teuber as Director of Communications.

"Terri Teuber will bring valuable experience and leadership to the President's team at USDA," said Johanns. "She will excel at formulating and directing our communications strategies on our programs and services, while providing timely and reliable information to the citizens we serve."

Prior to coming to USDA, Teuber served as the Communications Director for then Governor Mike Johanns since 2003 and as the Public Information Officer for the Nebraska State Patrol from 1999 to 2003. She also brings years of experience from broadcast journalism, serving as the main news anchor for KLKN TV from 1996 to 1999 and as a reporter for KOLN TV from 1991-1996, both of Lincoln, Nebraska. Teuber also served as news director and announcer at KDWA Radio in Hastings, Minnesota.

A native of Hastings, Minnesota, Teuber is a cum laude graduate of the University of St. Thomas with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and has received a number of awards, including the 2002 Business Communicator of the Year from the Lincoln Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators.

Teuber will assume her new role at USDA on March 21. She will fill a void left by outgoing Communications Director Alisa Harrison, who had earlier announced her departure from USDA. Harrison served since November 2001 as the Deputy Director of Communications and Press Secretary and later as Director of Communications and Press Secretary since March 2003.

"Alisa Harrison earned the respect of reporters and USDA employees through her diligence and hard work," said Johanns. "Her departure is a loss for American agriculture and we wish her the best in all her new endeavors."


PLEASE DISREGARD SEND: THIS IS NOT FOR PUBLICATION
 
reader (the Second) said:
Anonymous said:
t said:
But once beef gets to the table it can't be tested. Wrong :::: anyone can test at the table with a BSE testing kit brought in illegallyfrom another country or lab from out of the country.The BSE test kits can be bought under the table just like Canadian meds overseas.

Unless you are in a habit of serving brain for dinner you are wrong.

The new test recently announced by researchers from UCSF (similar test developed by the Swiss) is There are clearly some tests that can detect prions in non-CNS since it has been detected in muscle, speen, tonsil, appendix.

I stand by my comment. It has not even been proven that BSE prions are dfound in muscle cuts and "hoped to be sensitive enough to test non-Central Nervous System at some future point" shows the technology is not perfected.

Testing meat at the table as you suggest is similar to all the hoopla surrounding the live animal test last year which still isn't approved. It will be great when it happens but it ain't there yet.
 
Alabama said:
Why would a BSE test kit be controled?

Dunno, there is a law (1921? or 1929?) on the books that says the USDA has control over serums for livestock.

Creekstone built a lab to guvment specs, was set to hire USDA approved contract lab technicians, lobbied for Canadian cattle to cross the border and got shot down because the USDA would not release any test kits.

This was a year ago and we're still not shipping to Japan.
 
MIKE: 2- I would test so many cattle that the test kit companies would be scrambling to keep up and put an end to BSE ASAP.

Just a thought
The US ranchers have control of the catagory of cattle that were recommended to be tested
why don't the US ranchers call a USDA vet every time they have a dieing or dead cow and request they come out and take a sample. Then you will know that the right animals are being tested and not just some random cow from a slaughter plant. Just how many US rancher will take the same steps that the Canadian ranchers have to prove that BSE is not an issue in our herd. I dare all US ranchers to make the USDA test the animals that are at the highest risk, the ones that die on your ranchers. It is up to the US ranchers to prove that BSE is not in they herd and by not turning over your dead cattle you are playing right into the USDA's hand and helping with the coverup.
 
Tam...why don't the US ranchers call a USDA vet every time they have a dieing or dead cow and request they come out and take a sample.

Because we have not had a native born cow with BSE. Simple as that Tam. You have had four so far.
 
How do you know Tommy the USDA doesn't test to find it. Mike said he wanted to test and I suggested one sure way the US ranchers can find out if they have BSE and not have to quess what the USDA is doing. I don't think anyone but R-CALF cares if it was native or not you had one case in the US which made it to your food chain and put US consumers at risk not Canadian. If Canadian cattle are as infected as you seem to want everyone to believe then there are probably others, just why hasn't your BSE surveillance picked up on these other cases. Maybe because they are dieing on the farms and not being tested along with the US cases. The OIE said their were probably others from the UK too that were rendered and fed back to the US herd. And don't forget the millions of tons of Canadian feed that has been eaten by US cattle. Our cases came from contaminated feed so why couldn't a few US cattle been infected too. We have had this discussion before about who tested more and I think you can remember who has done a better job in the pass, and will in the future. Just because you don't find it in the healthy slaughter cows that the USDA is testing doesn't mean it's not there.
 
R-Calf said:
Tam said:
How do you know Tommy the USDA doesn't test to find it. Mike said he wanted to test and I suggested one sure way the US ranchers can find out if they have BSE and not have to quess what the USDA is doing. I don't think anyone but R-CALF cares if it was native or not you had one case in the US which made it to your food chain and put US consumers at risk not Canadian. If Canadian cattle are as infected as you seem to want everyone to believe then there are probably others, just why hasn't your BSE surveillance picked up on these other cases. Maybe because they are dieing on the farms and not being tested along with the US cases. The OIE said their were probably others from the UK too that were rendered and fed back to the US herd. And don't forget the millions of tons of Canadian feed that has been eaten by US cattle. Our cases came from contaminated feed so why couldn't a few US cattle been infected too. We have had this discussion before about who tested more and I think you can remember who has done a better job in the pass, and will in the future. Just because you don't find it in the healthy slaughter cows that the USDA is testing doesn't mean it's not there.



Hey Tam, if we have so many problems here in the US like you claim, I suggest you don't bring any of your Canadian Cattle down to avoid exposure to all our problems.

No **** .


Have noticed on here that alot of these people who are Bitching loudest hav 30 -60 cows by the numbers they talk about. Well there is not one person in the US that can make a living off a handful of cows.3 years ago I lost 25 out a 100 calves to a scour bug how much money did I make that year?


If you show no respect why should we have any for you one thing for sure is YOU Canadians ALL have the ANTI USA attitude.If we are so damn bad dont ship anything here sure we need these products but not as bad as you need to sell them.An old saying "Dont bite the hand that feeds you"
 
There is no one up here who can make a living off of 30-60 cows either! If that's all the cows someone has, they are either grain farming also with the wife working in town, or both spouses working off the farm. My husband and I penciled it out with the 53 cows we have, that we're losing money. We'd be better off selling the cows and selling the hay we put up every year. One sale of feed alone this past year netted us more cash than what we received for our calves when we sold them. And BTW, we're not ALL anti-American. I like the U.S., it has alot going for it compared to Saskatchewan where you get dictated to by the gov't on how you live your life. It's just about to the point where the gov't tells you to jump and you automatically ask how high for fear of a fine if you don't!
 
Shelly said:
My husband and I penciled it out with the 53 cows we have, that we're losing money. We'd be better off selling the cows and selling the hay we put up every year. One sale of feed alone this past year netted us more cash than what we received for our calves when we sold them.

Not to be a smart alec, but why don't you sell them? Or is this just under the current situation you are losing?

I do agree that people have the right to hobby ranch (which is what it is if you like it and lose money) but it makes it tough on those who make their living off cows if the hobby people wind up making descisions that affect all of us. (Not saying it happens often, but it could).

The only thing I like to see is anyone, hobby or other wise engaged in cattle, do a good job with them.
 
Denny Blowers said:
R-Calf said:
Tam said:
How do you know Tommy the USDA doesn't test to find it. Mike said he wanted to test and I suggested one sure way the US ranchers can find out if they have BSE and not have to quess what the USDA is doing. I don't think anyone but R-CALF cares if it was native or not you had one case in the US which made it to your food chain and put US consumers at risk not Canadian. If Canadian cattle are as infected as you seem to want everyone to believe then there are probably others, just why hasn't your BSE surveillance picked up on these other cases. Maybe because they are dieing on the farms and not being tested along with the US cases. The OIE said their were probably others from the UK too that were rendered and fed back to the US herd. And don't forget the millions of tons of Canadian feed that has been eaten by US cattle. Our cases came from contaminated feed so why couldn't a few US cattle been infected too. We have had this discussion before about who tested more and I think you can remember who has done a better job in the pass, and will in the future. Just because you don't find it in the healthy slaughter cows that the USDA is testing doesn't mean it's not there.



Hey Tam, if we have so many problems here in the US like you claim, I suggest you don't bring any of your Canadian Cattle down to avoid exposure to all our problems.

No s*** .


Have noticed on here that alot of these people who are Bitching loudest hav 30 -60 cows by the numbers they talk about. Well there is not one person in the US that can make a living off a handful of cows.3 years ago I lost 25 out a 100 calves to a scour bug how much money did I make that year?


If you show no respect why should we have any for you one thing for sure is YOU Canadians ALL have the ANTI USA attitude.If we are so damn bad dont ship anything here sure we need these products but not as bad as you need to sell them.An old saying "Dont bite the hand that feeds you"

I think both of you have forgotten that our cattle coming down will not add any risk as they will be healthy UTM coming for slaughter and when the older cattle are allowed in they will, by the US rules, have the SRM's removed in your slaughter plants. The Testing is not for food safety it is to prove your credibility to the rest of the world, when you say that there isn't BSE in the US. Do you think we are just to take you word for it because you are Americans? Look at the facts the US imported more of the same cattle from the UK as Canada did. More than one UK cow had BSE in Canada as we found one but at least one must have made it into our feed system before the banns were put on. There have been millions of cattle imported from Canada over the years to the US not to mention millions of tons of feed. At least one of those had BSE. The OIE said the US couldn't consider this an isolated cases because of the trade between our two countries but you seem to think you have nothing to prove and your word should be good enough. The really problem I see is that USDA's credibility is going down hill fast with their handling of the BSE testing. Testing a small amount of healthy slaughter cattle when it was recommended to test On farm dead and dieing will not prove anything. And with they credibility goes your industry's credibility. Most Canadian ranchers have taken the testing to be the best way to save our industry. By testing our on farm dead and dieing proves to the trading parnters that BSE is not a big problem. By cheating that testing it makes it look as if you are hiding something.

And Denny I was raised by my American Father and Mother to believe that RESPECT IS EARNED not givin and if I see someone cheating it doesn't matter if they are American or Canadian I loose respect really fast. Canada is doing the testing and has jumped through the hoops to prove that our herd is not a threat and our feed bans are complied to. So maybe it is time you start earning that respect back and a good start would be test the dead and dieing not slaughter cattle.
By the way We make our living off cattle and we have far more than 30 -60 cows.
 
I read or heard that 98% of cattle owners in North America have 50 head or LESS !!
 
Jason, we are NOT hobby farmers, by any means! Hell, I remember calving out close to 200 cows many years back. But we do grain farm, and between that and cattle, 53 cows is lots for us now. We aren't as young as we used to be. And the reason we don't make money is NOT from poor management but from the situation we're all in now. Sure, if we were getting the $800- $900 a calf like we did two and three years ago, how could you not make money? We just don't like the thought of putting all our eggs in one basket. So we grain farm and we sell feed. Income from one will always cover the losses from the other two.
 

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