AR-News: (US-mo) Dairy industry rides out mad cow scare

[Animalconcerns]

[from Kansas City Star]

BILLINGS, Mo. – Mad cow disease has struck twice in North America. Both
confirmed cases hit Canadian-born dairy cattle.

That two of Bobbi and Mike Rauch's cows were born in Canada — they'll
begin milking a third after a calf is born this spring — hardly matters to
the couple.

Times aren't great. The Rauch family is overwhelmed by health insurance
bills, discouraged at the price paid for their milk and glum about their
chances of competing with factory-scale dairies.
...
In the United States, without limits on dairy production, farmers feel
pressure to get bigger or get out. Two decades ago, dairies of more than
1,000 cows were rare. Today they dominate the industry. Using growth
hormones and so-called “hot feed” to boost milk production, large-scale
American dairies also tend to use up their cows more quickly.

In southwest Missouri, the so-called Springfield herd is made up of almost
anachronistically small dairy farms that rarely milk more than 150 cows at
a time. Most are born locally, but a significant minority — estimates are
elusive — come from Canada.
...
Canadian-born cattle — Missourians tend to buy from eastern Canada,
coincidentally far away from where the mad cow scare broke — are always
heavy favorites. (It's an article of faith among some circles that
Canadian breeders fudge on the age of their cattle. So like a teenager
snuck onto a little league team, deceptively older heifers tower over the
competition.)

full story:
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/7795976.htm

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