I know I am a little behind on this one but life sometimes gets in the way of things. The
USDA has approved the import of Canadian cattle over 30 months of age into the US. This is, to say the least, a very controversial decision in Cattle producer circles which is why I say I should have commented on this sooner.
Why is this so controversial? It has to do with
BSE and trade issues. The Internationally accepted age of cattle where you don't have to worry about
BSE, is 30 months of age. As long as a critter is under 30 months of age you don't have to worry about
BSE and over 30 months of age, you worry about it. This
USDA rule recognizes Canada as a "minimal risk" country which is eligible to import cattle into the US over 30 months of age since they are at "minimal risk" of having
BSE.
That's the basis of the controversy in producer circles. According to the
NCBA and the meat packers, Canada is at "minimal risk" and should be allowed to import cattle and groups such as R-Calf and
USCA think that Canada has a higher risk for
BSE than "minimal" and don't want them importing cattle over 30 months of age into the country.
Some more information. (I lost the rest of this the first time around so I am trying to recreate it) As I said, this whole thing has to do with
BSE. It is generally accepted that
BSE is spread form cow to cow via feed. Use of cattle by products in the slaughter process being fed back to other cows starts and spreads
BSE. Both Canad and the US instituted a feed ban a number of years ago that does not allow cattle to be fed back to cattle to prevent the start and spread of
BSE, we won't go into my personal theory that there is a naturally occurring form of
BSE. The US has had two domestic cases of
BSE and Canada has had approximately 10 cases of
BSE. Both cases in the US were in cows that were born after the feed ban was instituted. This is not the case with some of the Canadian cases. Some of these cattle were born after the feed ban was put in place. This leads producers in the US to question the effectiveness of the Canadian feed ban and question whether Canada is actually a "minimal risk" country or not.
This is the whole situation that has led
USCA to
ask the USDA to change the rule calling Canada a "minimal risk" country for
BSE and allow them to import cattle into the US. They claim that the importation of Canadian cattle will hurt our export markets since other countries don't want Canadian cattle.
So far I have just laid out the facts. Let me give you my take on the situation. Most people in the greater world stage aren't going to understand or want to know all the facts I have laid out here. They are going to see two things that don't make sense to them. They are going to see that the US wants countries around the world to accept beef from cattle that are over 30 months of age even though they have had
BSE found in the country while stopping Canada from importing cattle over 30 months of age into the US because they have had cases of
BSE in Canada. This appears to be sheer hypocrisy. They aren't going to care about when the feed ban was instituted and when the cattle were born in which country. They are just going to see the hypocrisy of the US position if the
USCA were to prevail and Canada was not allowed to ship cattle over 30 months of age into the US.
Anybody that has read this site very long knows that I almost never defend the governments position on things and NEVER agree with the
USDA on things. This time though I am going to have to give the
USDA credit, I won't go so far as to defend them but give them credit. I truly believe they have done this with the thought in mind that if we want other countries to take our beef from cattle over 30 months of age, we have to bite the bullet and accept cattle from Canada and show the world that this is the right thing to do.
This is the thought I have had in mind all along with this situation and why you have never heard me ranting about this rule when it was proposed. We can try to explain away the differences in the US and Canadian
BSE situation all we want, the perception of the situation is going to rule the day though. If we don't allow Canadian beef in over 30 months of age we will be seen as hypocritical when we try to get other countries to accept US beef over 30 months of age. Perception in this case trumps facts and we have to suck it up. Sorry if you don't like to hear that but that's the way it goes sometimes. We have to do things we don't like to move forward in life and this is one of those cases.
The adjustment of reality to the masses and of the masses to reality is a process of unlimited scope, as much for thinking as for perception. Walter Benjamin