01/11/05 Canadian feed

Canadian Feed A lot of cattle industry leaders and officials are pushing to open the Canadian border for live cattle imports, but maybe we need to take a closer look. I'm Jeff Keane and I'll tell you why in one minute. There are many in the U.S. cattle industry that want the Canadian border opened to live cattle imports, but a report out of Canada itself might make some industry leaders look a little harder at a border re-opening. Canadian feed inspectors who found bone fragments and other animal material in vegetable-based feed and protein supplements conducted the report I'm talking about. Forty-one out of seventy samples tested contained animal materials not listed on feed ingredient labels. Sergio Tolusso, feed grain coordinator for the Canadian food inspection agency is concerned, and wonders if 1997 rules banning the feeding of rendered ruminant products to cattle are being violated. Ruminant material fed to other ruminants is the main avenue mad cow disease or BSE is spread. Only a very small amount of BSE infected ruminant material will spread the disease to another ruminant. The U.S. definitely needs to know if this animal material is ruminant and if Canadian cattle have routinely been fed feeds containing banned materials. I personally think including any type of animal protein in a feed grain mix or using that mix in a feeding operation given the animal diseases that we are combating world-wide today is just asking for trouble. I'm Jeff Keane. Western Livestock Reporter 12/22/04