>>If you’re raising cows and mad cow disease is traced to your herd, you could be forced to kill them all, so wouldn’t it be in a producer’s interest to run a test himself?<<
As I understand it, producers are not allowed to test non-downer cows since it supposedly implies that untested cows may not be safe.
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Meatpacker Sparks Mad Cow Testing Fight
WASHINGTON, Mar. 22, 2006
(AP) A Kansas meatpacker has sparked an industry fight by proposing testing all the company's cattle for mad cow disease.
Creekstone Farms Premium Beef wants to look for the disease in every animal it processes. The Agriculture Department has said no. Creekstone says it intends to sue the department.
They should. It only adds about 5 cents to the cost of beef, certainly worth the protection.
But the Cattlemans lobby is a powerful force, they don’t want the real facts exposed, which is stupid if you ask me. Japan demands testing on every cow, or else they will not accept any beef from north America.