03/03/05 Cattle ruling; water deal clears House

A federal judge has granted R-CALF's request to postpone next Monday's reopening of the border to Canadian cattle and beef imports. Because of concerns over two reported BSE cases in Canada, R-CALF sued USDA and asked Judge Richard Cebull to stop the imports. The judge did so temporarily while telling the government and R-CALF lawyers to prepare for a trial. The Idaho Cattle Association is still watching developments in this case. ICA did support Canadian beef imports if certain conditions were met. One of those conditions, opening Japan, Korea and Mexico to US exports has not been met. The Nez Perce water deal is a step closer to passing. The Idaho House got the ball rolling yesterday with a 55-14 vote in favor of the first of three bills that will ratify the 193 million-dollar agreement. The legislation still needs approval from the Idaho Senate and the Nez Perce tribal council. The US Congress and President Bush have already given it their approval. And Idaho Biorefinery says its aggressively seeking eastern Idaho farmers who would be interested in contracting straw to a Canadian based company looking to build an ethanol production plant. That eastern Idaho biorefinery would be a joint project between IOGEN Corporation and Shell Oil. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott