Mad-Cow-Prevention Rule Poses Its Own Dangers

LITITZ, Pa. — A federal regulation aimed at preventing mad cow disease from getting into the food supply could create health risks of its own: many thousands of cattle carcasses rotting on farms, spreading germs, attracting vermin and polluting the water.

At issue is a Food and Drug Administration rule, set to take effect in April, that will prohibit the use of the brains and spinal cords of older cattle as ingredients in livestock feed and pet food.

Some of the rendering plants that grind up carcasses for use in feed have already announced they will stop accepting dead cattle from farms because it would be too costly to remove the banned organs. Other renderers are likely to raise the prices they charge farmers.

In Manitowoc County, the two most common ways dairy farmers handle dead cattle is by having them rendered or sent to processors for alternative uses, said Scott Gunderson, Manitowoc County University of Wisconsin-Extension dairy agent.

But more local farmers might opt to compost cow carcasses for fertilizer if rendering costs rise, Gunderson said.

"There is a tipping point where farmers can afford only so much for the disposal dead animals," he said.

Phil Endries, owner of Hidden Acres Fur Farm, said the new rule would result in "a lot of extra work and time" for his St. Nazianz business. Endries picks up dead cattle from local farms to be processed for pet food.

"Somebody somewhere is going to have to eat up the cost," Endries said.

Industry officials and regulators say many farmers — especially now, with the economy in crisis — may simply bury dead cattle on their property or let them rot in the open.

Source: The Associated Press