NFU to Congress: Reject Rule on Canadian Border
WASHINGTON – National Farmers Union President Tom Buis, in a letter to members of Congress today, urged support for legislation to disapprove the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) final rule to expand cattle and beef trade from minimal risk reg...

R-Calf Rallies Against Canadian Cattle
WASHINGTON, D.C. – R-CALF USA recently sent a formal letter to each Member of Congress to ask that they co-sponsor and support Resolutions of Disapproval against the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) plan to allow Canadian cattle over-30-months...

Senators Propose Resolution of Disapproval To Minimal Risk Rule For Cattle and Beef
US - Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) introduced a Resolution of Disapproval in the United States Senate that, if passed, would express the U.S. Senate’s dissatisfaction with the USDA’s decision to expand the list of allowable beef and cattle imports from...

Money Coming To Great Falls Mad Cow Disease Centre
US - The McLaughlin Research Institute has secured some additional funding to be used in researching degenerative brain diseases.

South Korea's Suspension of US Beef Imports Concerns MCA
US - South Korea’s recent suspension of U.S. beef imports is disturbing news for cattle producers. The concern is not the lost market, but how the Cargill plant could miss such a large piece of BSE specific risk material (SRM) in a box of boneless beef....

Report Suggests Canada May Be Noncompliant With Minimal Risk Rule
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a formal letter sent today, R-CALF USA has asked Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns to determine if Canada is in violation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Minimal Risk Region Rule (Final Rule) and explain to Canada...

Publishes Final Rule Prohibiting Processing of "Downer" Cattle
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) today announced a permanent prohibition on the slaughter of cattle that are unable to stand or walk ("downer" cattle) when presented for pre-slaughter inspection....

Top-flight BSE Surveillance Keeps Borders Open for Trade
ALBERTA - The Food Safety Division’s (FSD) animal surveillance system for detecting bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in Alberta cattle is helping to keep the borders open for trade with other countries, says Dr. Gerald Ollis, Alberta’s chief provincial...

Prometric Announces Positive Development For Mad Cow Disease Detection
MONTREAL – BSafE Innovations Inc. (BSafE), a joint venture company owned by ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. (TSX - PLI) and Top Meadow Farms, dedicated to veterinary applications of prion research, is delighted to announce preliminary findings from its most...

Identifying Variation In U.S. Bovine Prion Gene
US - Do genes affect bovine spongiform encephalopathy - also known as BSE, or “mad cow” disease? Are some cattle more susceptible than others?

Canada’s 11th Native BSE Case Shows USDA Ignoring Real Risks
US - R-CALF USA claims the U.S. Department of Agriculture has failed its responsibility to adequately protect the U.S. cattle herd, the U.S. beef supply, U.S. export markets and U.S. consumers from Canada’s widespread problem with bovine spongiform e...

US Promotes Importance Of International Beef-Safety Ruling
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is making a hard sell to beef-importing countries: Listen to an organization most know only by its French acronym - the OIE - and accept that mad-cow worries should be a thing of the past when buying U.S. beef.

BSE In Rodents - Boost For Research
US — For the first time, a new study demonstrates that certain rodents can be directly infected with CWD and therefore serve as animal models for further study of the disease.

WSU's BSE Surveillance Program To Continue
US - The bovine spongiform encephalopathy surveillance program at Washington State University isn't ceasing operation after all. It will continue for at least another six months and perhaps many more.

U.S. Packers Mull Attempts To Re-Enter South Korean Beef Market
US - U.S. companies are seriously considering trying again to sell beef to South Korea - a country that has rejected every shipment since September 2006 - now that it has relaxed a particularly stringent regulation that scared off U.S. exporters for months,...

GeneThera Developing Marketing Plan for Mad Cow Testing
US - GeneThera, Inc. announced today it is developing a comprehensive marketing program for its Mad Cow testing kit for use within the United States.

Birth Cohort Of Canadian Mad Cow Exported To U.S.
US - A heifer born from an animal in the same herd as a Canadian bull diagnosed in February with mad cow disease was exported to the United States in 2002, but a U.S. official said on Tuesday there is no evidence the animal had the brain-wasting dise...

Mad Cow: Is America Next?
US - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced in March it was reducing its national Mad Cow testing and tracking programs by 90 percent. The USDA will reduce its cattle-testing level to 40,000 cattle per year down from an average of about 360,000...

USDA Extends Mad Cow Testing At WSU Veterinary College
US - The only mad cow testing laboratory in the Pacific Northwest will remain open for another six months, but officials insisted Wednesday it isn't because of increased fears of the chronic brain-wasting disease in the region.

RMFU Board Opposes Further Opening Border To Canadian Cattle Im
US - Meeting in Denver recently, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union Board of Directors expressed strong opposition to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's pending rule to expand imports of beef and live cattle from Canada.