Optimism Remains

Cattle producers remain optimistic despite the first detected case of BSE, so-called mad cow disease, in the United States last year.

“The good news was that consumers continued eating beef,” writes Chris Anderson of pantagraph.com, a central Illinois online newspaper. “They learned risks were minimal. Consumers also knew that bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, was not contagious among cattle. It's contracted by cattle eating bovine brain and spinal cord tissue.”

And while cattle prices took a hit last year because of BSE, cattle producers still enjoy an advantage from last year.

"We're $10 higher than a year ago. If we can open the markets to Mexico and Japan, cattle could go to 80 cents," says Les Reel, owner of Reel Livestock Center in Congerville.

Posted by Jim Langcuster at March 1, 2004 09:14 AM | TrackBack