03/07/07 Concerns at northern border

Concerns at Northern Border We all hear of the problems at our southern border, but there are also concerns involving our Northern Border. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back to explain. The concern at our northern border is cattle  Canadian cattle. Canadian cattle thirty months of age or younger are allowed into the U.S. for slaughter or placement in feedlots to be finished for processing. The problem seems to be improperly documented cattle sent to the United States plus a failure to be able to back tract these cattle to their Canadian origins. I thought Canada had an animal ID program in place something like our government would like U.S. producers to use. Maybe these systems aren't all they are supposed to be. I think one of the bigger problems facing U.S. cattle producers today is the insistence of the United States Department of Agriculture to import Canadian cattle over thirty months of age. These would primarily be older cows and bulls no longer functional in breeding herds to be used for hamburger and processed meats. First, this would negatively affect our cow and bull market. Secondly, it was a Canadian cow imported to the U.S. that tested positive for BSE and effectively shut down our multi-billion dollar beef export markets. Canada still records BSE positive cattle in this age group with regularity. I cannot figure out why the USDA is so willing to help Canadian producers and a very few U.S. cow-beef packers at the expense of thousands of U.S. cattlemen. I'm Jeff Keane.