Block and Bridle holds Cattlemen’s Forum with NFU
By Katie Allen, Corner Post staff

Dave Fredrickson, National Farmer’s Union President, and Dr. Max Thornsberry of the Missouri Stockgrowers Association gave a presentation on current U.S. agricultural issues concerning the National Farmers Union to University of Missouri - Columbia agricultural students March 29 in the Animal Sciences Research Center. Fredrickson and Thornsberry addressed current concerns about U.S. independent cattle farmers, particularly Bovine Spongiform Encelpalapathy (BSE), during the presentation.

Fredrickson, a former Minnesota state senator and 12th president of the National Farmer’s Union, began the presentation by congratulating Block and Bridle on their outstanding group size. He continued with some history of the National Farmer’s Union and issues the union is currently facing.
The National Farmer’s Union, a 103-year-old organization, focuses on the rural sociology of America. According to Fredrickson, the union sets out to assure “all issues are on the table.” Such rural issues addressed include currency manipulation, environmental regulation and trade related issues.

One particular hot topic in the National Farmer’s Union today involving such rural issues is the continuous closure of the U.S. live cattle import border with Canada. Fredrickson said the National Farmer’s Union would like to continue to see this border closed until the BSE problem in Canada is fixed.

Nearly 20 cases of cattle infected with BSE have surfaced recently in Canada. BSE, commonly known as “Mad Cow Disease,” is a fatal disease, caused by prion entry in the bovine’s nervous system. The prions are nearly indestructible.

According to Thornsberry, docile cattle infected with BSE cannot walk or see and begin “acting like a bull.” These signs of BSE cannot be seen for months or years after oral contact with the disease, and the onset of the disease indicates death to the animal.

Thornsberry said that because the disease is undetectable for so long, infected cattle would seem normal for years, shedding prions of the disease into the environment. Currently, BSE is extremely hard to study because the animal dies soon after onset symptoms of the disease. Additionally, there is no treatment for BSE to date.

Thornsberry said he is certain that BSE is the most “complex disease ever seen in veterinary medicine.”

Thornsberry said that each week, approximately 14 to 21 papers are compiled on discoveries of new information on BSE. This information is getting the United States closer to a live blood test for cattle that would show whether or not the cow is infected with BSE.

The National Farmer’s Union is certain this new technology will develop soon. They would like to see the live beef imports from Canada remain closed until the live blood test can prove the imported cattle negative for BSE.

Despite the closure of the live cattle border, Thornsberry assured that the United States is not shutting out Canada completely. He said that Canada is still submitting the same amount of packaged meat across the U.S. border, as they have in the past few years.

The main focus is to keep BSE out of the United States completely, especially since a single case of BSE surfaced in the United States in December 2003. Humans can contract the disease if they consume a fairly large amount of material connected with the infected bovine’s nervous system, including T-bone steaks that include a portion of the animal’s spinal column.

Thornsberry said that the USDA is considering taking the risk of opening the live cattle border with Canada, addressing the BSE situation as a small issue.

Thornsberry, who has sit through daylong lectures and watched videos of animals with BSE, tends to disagree with the USDA.

“ I’m here to tell you there is a risk,” Thornsberry said. “All I’m asking is to not open the border until (Canadian) cows are tested and are negative for it (BSE).”

The issue with Canada is not that their methods of farming are any lower than those in the United States. Thornsberry said Canadian cattle farmers are very hard working and similar to U.S. cattle farmers.

The United States has an advantage in that the FDA enforces laws to keep ruminant meat and bone meal out of the diets of other ruminants and swine. The meat and bone meal, fed years ago to cattle as an easy feed back of essential amino acids in the animal’s diet, has been proven to spread BSE to large herds when infected animals were ground into the feed product. England, Canada and the United States have banned the use of ruminant by-product in feeds for all or most of their country’s livestock.

According to Thornsberry, Canada does not have an administrative regulation like the FDA to enforce such a ruling.

Despite this, Thornsberry is certain that over time, the risk of BSE will diminish. He believes a live BSE test for cattle may even surface as early as July 2005. The live test could be the key to unlocking the United States and Canadian live cattle border.

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