FDA Proposes Barring Certain Cattle Material From Medical Products As BSE Safeguard
US - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is proposing to limit the materials used in some medical products in order to keep them free of the agent thought to cause mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE.

USDA proposed to allow additional imports from BSE minimal-risk countries
US - The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service today announced a proposal to expand the list of allowable imports from countries recognized as presenting a minimal risk of introducing bovine spongiform encephalopathy...

BSE Announcement May Have Hurt Domestic Beef Sales
US - A USDA Economic Research service study released Friday provides evidence that the U.S. government announcement of finding cows in Washington State infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy in 2003 resulted in a dip in beef purchases.

Saudi man is third US mad cow case, CDC says
US - A Saudi-born man living in Virginia has been identified as the third reported U.S. case of a human form of mad cow disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

BSE inconclusive not expected to disrupt progress with Japan
US - USDA yesterday announced it had an "inconclusive" result on a rapid test for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) for a cow at an undisclosed location. Tissue samples have been sent to USDA for confirmatory testing. Results of those tests are not...

Comment Period for BSE Rule Extended
US - The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection has reopened the comment period for a proposed bovine spongiform encephalopathy rule. Source: WisconsinAgConnection.com

US Pushing Japan to Change Beef Rules
US - U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said the United States will press Japan to remove the age limit on imports of U.S. beef, hardening its demand from an earlier call for raising the limit to 30 months from the current 20 months. Source:...

Creekstone answers USDA in court over mad cow testing
US - Creekstone Farms Premium Beef has answered the U.S. Department of Agriculture's court documents opposing the company's motion for summary judgment in its lawsuit againstUSDA. Creekstone sued the USDA in March for refusing to allow the Arkansas...

BSE testing: What does the customer want?
US - Last week we looked at the arguments that have been put forward by the USDA, the National Cattleman's Beef Association, and others in support of the USDA action denying Creekstone Farms the right to conduct BSE tests on all of the cattle that are...

End of cheap corn? Sharpen your pencils
US - Dan Childs, ag economist with the Noble Foundation at Ardmore, Okla., says stocker operators have to look harder at supplemental feeding strategies and put a pencil to cost of gains in light of rising corn prices. Childs said United States has...

Vegetables of Mass Destruction - No Chicken Left Behind
US - The government recognizes the need to keep bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), better known as Mad Cow, out of the food chain, and we all expect it to. This involves (among other things) testing animals to make sure none of them carry BSE -...

US Loses Steam In Regaining Asian Beef Markets
US - The latest deal struck by U.S. negotiators to resume beef exports to Asia has so far yielded no new business, and trade has even taken a small step backward, with new restrictions now that more mad-cow concerns have surfaced regarding neighboring...

USDA rule change speaks to need for COOL
USDA - On October 3rd, USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service changed the rules governing U.S. beef exports to Taiwan, prohibiting shipment to Taiwan of beef derived from Canadian slaughter cattle. USDA opened the U.S. border to Canadian slaughter...

Despite easing of beef bans, restrictions still hamper U.S. exports
US - From Taiwan stopping importing Canadian beef products from the United States to South Korea's strict rules about bone fragments, it continues to be a rough ride for the U.S. beef industry even though more countries have begun lifting their bans...

Mexico Opens Markets to U.S. Dairy Heifers
US - Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today announced that Mexico will resume trade in U.S. dairy heifers under 24 months of age. "I am pleased with this first step in reestablishing cattle trade with Mexico, but I remain committed to a broader...

Taiwan to Stop Importing Canadian Beef Products from U.S.
US - The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued on Tuesday updated export requirements for Taiwan regarding fresh/frozen boneless beef derived from Canadian cattle under 30 months of age....

Japan accepts US beef imports
US - The California Cattlemen’s Association has announced that Japan will be once again accepting imports of U.S. beef. The opening of the Japanese market came after a month-long audit of 35 meat processing facilities in the U.S. to ensure that...

Reception In Japan To U.S. Beef Pleases USMEF Leaders
US - Although there is still a lot of work to do, leaders of the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) say they are “extremely pleased by the reception” to the reintroduction of U.S. beef in Japan. In a telephone press conference from Osaka...

Show cattle remain BSE casualties
US - Carleton Place area Hereford producer Mack James remembers the good old days before BSE, before stringent border regulations, when a man could haul his best animals unimpeded into the U.S. for showing at the Great New York State Fair. That was...

US Feed Ban May Be Too Costly To Industry
US - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration may have underestimated the cost to industry of the government's plan to improve the way mad-cow disease contamination is kept out of livestock feed, Steve Sundlof, director of the FDA Center for Veterinary...