[Jonas Grumby]

Would you care if you had beef that was infected with mad cow disease? Would you suddenly have an interest in finding the source and isolated?

[axes_of_weezles]

Most of the small producers would care. It would mean the end of their existence as farmers.

Farmers do not make money from sick animals.

[Clock King]

From what I've heard (take everything with a tablespoon of salt), the "program" isn't doing that job, at least not the way you think it could be. The database is years behind and inspection of beef and cattle is way behind. There is a sizeable percentage of cattle (for conversion to beef) that comes from outside the US. Are they demanding that our foreign suppiers tag and database their animals, too? I haven't heard of any rules being put in place for that yet. So what does this program really give us? The devil's in the details.

This battle really seems to be between the cattle farmers (those who raise and breed cattle) and the beef producers (those who turn the cattle into meat). Both groups are pressuring the government to use its power to get their way.