05/07/07 Canadian BSE & Immigration Trouble

Canadian BSE & Immigration troubles plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. A mature British Columbia dairy cow is Canada's 12 case of BSE. The announcement was made late last week. The animal's carcass is under the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's control, and no part of it entered the human food or animal feed systems. Executive Vice-President of the Washington Cattlemen's Association, Jack Field says this will raise some big questions. FIELD: It certainly points out and raises the question on the effectiveness of their implementation of their ruminant to ruminant feed ban and definitely will raise some questions I think as the USDA begins to sort through the questions and comments regarding their minimal risk rule number 2 that would allow the import of OTM, over thirty month cattle and beef products derived from those cattle. Last weeks immigration marches were smaller than those in 2006 but one rally in Los Angeles turned violent when police tried to disband the march. Video of the event shows police firing rubber bullets and striking people including women and newspeople. Officials have ordered investigations of the incident. The lower turn out seems to be due to the fear that involvement would result in becoming targets for deportation. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Susan Allen. Back when I was in college at ASU many moons ago, there was nothing deemed "cooler" then carting a can of Foster's beer. Something about its massive size and Australian connection resonated with the baseball and rugby set. It's a new generation of college kids much more environmentally astute than we ever were, so it goes to reason that the beer they opt to consume should be as well. Thus the Australian beer maker, Foster's, has teamed up with scientists at the University of Queensland to develop a method in which brewery waste can be transformed into a fuel cell that not only produces electricity but also clean water. While the battery will not light the world on fire it will be able to generate enough power to light a household. Both the University and Fosters are hoping to illuminate the fact that other breweries and distilleries can produce energy from waste. The waste produced from these outfits is highly concentrated mix of sugar, starch and alcohol, nearly the same concoction that has been "fueling" wild times on campuses' for generations! Thanks Susan. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.