Breckenridge – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns told a group of Western governors and Canadian premiers Monday that a possible new case of mad cow disease should have no impact on public health or trade.
“The fact is that the safeguards did work. The fact is that the animal in question ran into those safeguards and it never entered the feed or food supply. And there is no public-health threat,” Johanns told the Western Governors’ Association’s annual meeting here.
Johanns announced last week that an animal tested for the brain-wasting disease produced a “weak positive” and a sample would be sent to an English lab for more conclusive testing.
Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), is spread by eating contaminated meat and is fatal to cattle. BSE’s human variant also is fatal.
Johanns said trade should not be impacted by the new case, if trading partners rely on fact.
Industry representatives and Colorado Gov. Bill Owens, however, said the fallout from a case of mad cow in Canada two years ago has had a huge impact in both countries.
And Bill Bullard, chief executive of RCALF, an 18,000-member cattle producers’ association, said the U.S. Department of Agriculture does not have strict enough standards to prevent the spread of mad cow disease.
His group convinced a federal judge to prevent some Canadian beef from entering the country until the Rancher-Cattlemen’s Action Legal Fund complaints with USDA policy could go to trial.
“The plan lacks the specificity that has been determined necessary to effectively reduce the spread of BSE,” Bullard said.
Alberta Premier Ralph Klein said BSE is not a health issue, but a “protectionism issue.”
Owens said the closed borders are hurting the state because plants that used to process Canadian beef are cutting jobs.
Owens and two Canadian premiers plan to barbecue Canadian and American beef at the governor’s mansion today to “promote better trade and understanding” between the two countries, according to Owens’ office.
George Gillett, chairman of Greeley-based Swift & Co., said the closure has hurt the company, the world’s second-largest protein provider.
At its Greeley plant, the company has lost 1,500 jobs, he said. The industry as a whole has lost billions of dollars.
And those losses will likely become permanent because Canadian companies have started beefing up their processing capacity to compensate for the loss, Gillett said.
“The consequences of it are substantial but I think that it’s unfortunate because I don’t think there’s any doubt that the food supply on both sides of the border is safe,” he said.
As beef prices have risen, Gillett said, consumers have turned to cheaper protein-rich foods such as fish.
But Bullard said increased profits will drive increases in herd size, processing and jobs that will benefit the country.
“We think the USDA is going overboard in trying to represent the interest of the packing industry at the expense of the farmers and ranchers that raise cattle in the United States.”
R-CALF’s case against the USDA is expected to begin next month.
Staff writer Chris Frates can be reached at cfrates@denverpost.com or 303-820-1633.
