Get ready for USDA bureaucrats and legislators to start yelling louder than ever about the need for National Animal ID after the discovery BSE (mad-cow disease) in a cow in Alabama this week. As if this draconian policy will have any effect whatsoever on preventing disease. The solution for ending this disease is simple: get the cattle out of the feedlots and on grass!!! Don't expect to hear this simple bit of wisdom from anybody in government or big agribusiness, though. They would never say anything that might give away the blatant stupidity of U.S. farm policy.
If you read any news stories about this, you are likely to read that the USDA began prohibiting the feeding of ground-up ruminant animals to other ruminant animals in 1997. This is true, however it is legal to feed ground-up ruminant parts to chickens and then feed the ground-up chicken parts to ruminants. Furthermore, the primary ingredient in the milk replacer that is fed to dairy calves is cattle blood protein. Are you disgusted yet? [source]
On a related note, the March issue of the Stockman Grass Farmer reports that "Tyson Foods Inc and Certified Angus Beef have teamed up...[in] a new line of Certified Angus Brand natural beef." The black Angus cattle will be fed in "special 'natural' feedlots." Folks, there is nothing natural whatsoever about feedlots! To give credit where credit is due, however, the cattle will never have received antibiotics or hormones and will eat "a 100 percent diet of 'grass and grain'". This far exceeds the USDA regs for "natural beef." But, again, there is nothing natural about ruminant animals eating grain. The entire concept stems from the American push for bigger, faster and more profitable.
I realize there is a lot of negativity in this post and even a few exclamation points. I'll try to make my next post about something positive.
weather today: 28°F/33°F cloudy, windy, snow flurries
tags: USDA, animal ID, BSE, mad cow, cattle, feedlot, grass, agribusiness, farm policy
No comments:
Post a Comment