Great Falls Tribune

Great Falls Tribune
Karen Ogden
January 23, 2004

Area ranchers called on lawmakers Thursday to use common sense in reacting to mad cow disease and to protect them from footing the entire bill for safeguards. About 15 ranchers and others from the ag community gathered at Elmers Pancake and Steak House in Great Falls with staff of U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. The meeting was one of 10 "listening sessions" on the issue scheduled around the state.

Several praised the federal government's response to the discovery of the fatal disease in a Washington state dairy cow in December. Big Sandy rancher Rich Roth said he's especially pleased with the ban keeping downer cattle, those that are too sick or injured to walk, out of the human food chain. "I think it's a good thing that was put in place and it should have been done a long time ago," he said. Ranchers shared similar sentiments at listening sessions across the state, said Sara Andrews, of Baucus' Washington, D.C., office. Many want the ban expanded to keep downer meat out of the animal-feed chain as well, Andrews said.

David Cameron, who runs Angus south of Cascade, shared his experience grilling hamburgers for 120 kids at a church dinner the previous night. "Several mothers were concerned about that menu and whether we should be feeding it to those kids or not," Cameron said. Consumer confidence, he said, is "the only thing that counts ... if we screw around with that it's crazy."

But several ranchers Thursday said the new mad cow safeguards need fine-tuning to protect ranchers. Injured animals are a top concern. One rancher raised the example of a cow that slips leaving the auction ring and "does the splits," breaking a leg. Although her meat poses no health threat, it's unfairly destined for the rendering market he noted, as others nodded in agreement. Roth said losses of the injured animals are insignificant compared to the gained consumer confidence.

But he shared his colleagues' fears of getting gouged by mad cow. Calls for testing all cattle at the slaughterhouse must be weighed against sound science and common sense, the ranchers told Baucus' staff. Increased mad cow screening could create business opportunities for some at the expense of ranchers, Roth said. "If I was one of those testing companies I'd be looking at this thinking 'ka-ching, ka-ching'" Roth said. "Ultimately they're going to pass it (the cost) clear down to me and I'm going to be the one who's paying for all the testing." Andrews said Baucus will work to protect ranchers from bearing the entire cost of new testing or labeling systems. "He wants to make sure that if something like that goes through the cost doesn't burn the producer," she said.

U.S.-Canadian relations were another hot topic. One rancher complained that he has to wait up to two months and run several tests on his cattle to ship them to Canada, but he can import them with considerably less paperwork. Wade Crouch, Cascade County Extension agent, said ranchers need to pressure the USDA and Canadian officials to level the trade playing field for U.S. producers. "If the gate's going to be open it has to swing both ways," he said.

A couple of participants said they want to see more regulation of the feed industry. Scott Settle has a Ph.D. in immunology and ranches in the Canyon Creek area near Helena. He said cattle should be fed strictly vegetarian diets, free of blood or other animal proteins. "If we don't get cows back to eating plant material strictly we're just going to visit another issue down the road," he said.

Settle said he was encouraged by the mad cow discovery in Washington. "Up to that point I never knew if our government testing program worked," he said. "Strictly as a scientist that was a positive thing."