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Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman today announced additional safeguards to bolster the U.S. protection systems against Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or BSE, and further protect public health.

Veneman said the policies announced today have been under consideration for many months, especially since the finding of a case of BSE in Canada in May 2003. The policies will further strengthen protections against BSE by removing certain animals and specified risk material and tissues from the human food chain; requiring additional process controls for establishments using advanced meat recovery (AMR); holding meat from cattle that have been tested for BSE until the test has confirmed negative; and prohibiting the air-injection stunning of cattle.

While many cattle in the United States can be identified through a variety of systems, the Secretary also announced that USDA will begin immediate implementation of a verifiable system of national animal identification. The development of such a system has been underway for more than a year and a half to achieve uniformity, consistency and efficiency across this national system.

Source: USDA/ News Release, Dec. 30, 2003
Source URL: http://www.usda.gov/news/releases/2003/12/0449.htm

Don't worry about milk from the Washington state dairy cow infected with mad cow disease, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

BSE is transmitted through infected brain, spinal cord or nervous system tissue, and not through milk, according to the FDA. Milk from BSE cows does not transmit BSE.

Source: New York Ag Connection, Dec. 30, 2003
Source URL: http://www.newyorkagconnection.com/story-state.cfm?Id=103&yr=2003

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A national animal tracking system could become reality by mid-2004, according to Reuters news service.

The voluntary program aims to identify within 48 hours of a disease outbreak the animals involved, plus the place they were raised. A unified system would be an improvement over the hodgepodge of systems producers currently use.

A spokesman for the identification project said the program was already on a speeded-up schedule for implementation, so the current mad cow case will have little additional effect on the project's pace.

Source: Reuters/ Charles Abbott, Dec. 29, 2003
Source URL: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N29338568.htm

In a letter to President George W. Bush today, National Farmers Union requested additional steps be taken to stabilize domestic and export beef markets following the country's first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

"In addition to measures recently initiated by the Agriculture Department and the Food and Drug Administration, we believe other steps are necessary to maintain consumer confidence in the U.S. beef supply and minimize any economic damage resulting from this unfortunate incident," said NFU President Dave Frederickson.

Source: National Farmers Union/ News Release, Dec. 30, 2003
Source URL: http://www.nfu.org/newsroom_news_release.cfm?id=1145

Corporate bonds for Tyson Foods were once again battered after Moody's joined Standard & Poor's in issuing a downgrade warning in the wake of mad cow disease.

The gap between corporate bonds and Treasuries-called spreads-were 0.01 to 0.02 percentage points tighter across the corporate market. However, Tyson bonds slid under selling pressure, widening 0.26 percentage points at a 1.43 spread over Treasuries.

Source: Reuters/ Nancy Leinfuss, Dec. 30, 2003
Source URL: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4059125

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The U.S. government and beef industry let out a collective sigh of relief when officials said the Washington state dairy cow infected with mad cow disease was probably from Canada. But for U.S. consumers, the news may not be so great.

If the beef industry and the government can blame Canada, it will be easier to resist the necessary changes in food safety standards and testing that would bring U.S. standards up to those of other nations.

Source: Wall Street Journal/ Tara Parker-Pope, Dec. 30, 2003

Cases of bovine brucellosis in Wyoming have prompted the Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) to issue an importation order to help prevent the spread of the disease into Nebraska.

The NDA order states that cattle and bison originating from Wyoming and exposed to a herd quarantined for brucellosis are not eligible for importation unless going for immediate slaughter, among other rules.

Source: Nebraska Department of Agriculture/ News Release, Dec. 23, 2003
Source URL: http://www.agr.state.ne.us/newsrel/bai/12wyoming.htm

This study examines a national survey of professional custom heifer growers.

Sixty-five respondents from 23 states provided information on operation size and characteristics, management practices, and contract terms. Responding operation current heifer inventories ranged from 30 to 20,000 heifers and the average operation had more than 1200 heifers on-farm.

Many operations entered business to utilize excess facilities, labor, or feed. A majority of the operations had two to five dairy farm clients.

Explaining price charges as a function of characteristics and contract terms revealed that size and number of clients were negatively related to price while specialization in heifer growing was positively related to price charged.

Source: Custom dairy heifer grower industry characteristics and contract terms. Journal of Dairy Science 86 (9): 3016-3022, 2003. Wolf, C.A.

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Italian magistrates believe that a web of systematic fraud has been ongoing at Parmalat for more than a decade, with company founder Calisto Tanzi squarely in the center.

According to Reuters, U.S. regulators-who after Enron are familiar with corporate fraud-are calling the Parmalat findings one of the "most brazen corporate financial frauds in history."

Source: Reuters/ Crispian Balmer, Dec. 30, 2003
Source URL: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=reutersEdge&storyID=4057833

The race has begun to see which company will find itself in the winner's circle draped with the garland of Parmalat's Australian assets. So far, the front-runner is said to be Dairy Farmers, the New South Wales co-operative.

The co-op may unload its stake in National Foods to fund the expected purchase in order to become Australia's top milk processor.

However, some analysts are laying their bets on National Foods, especially after looking at Dairy Farmers' $300 million in debt.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald/ Scott Rochfort, Dec. 31, 2003
Source URL: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/12/30/1072546531267.html