Senator John Cauthorn says Missourians have no need to fear the Mad Cow

March 15, 2006
By: Amy Becker
State Capital Bureau

A Missouri Senator says Missourians have nothing to worry about when it comes to mad cow disease.

Amy Becker has more from Jefferson City.

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Authorities discovered mad cow disease in Alabama earlier this week.

But Senator John Cauthorn says Missouri is doing all in its power to prevent any cases in cattle herds.

Between constant testing of older cattle and bans on certain feeds, Cauthorn says the beef market is in excellent shape.

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Contents: "I think they say they're testing older animals because that's where it shows up. So the younger in production that would be in a feed lot would probably never be affected by it. So it would be older animals that might be suspect would be coming out of the cow herd."

Cauthorn says other measures are in place to monitor cattle. Herds will get a number ID and will be tagged to ensure they can be traced back to their producer.

From the State Capitol, I'm Amy Becker.

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After the mad cow scare in 2003, beef sales dropped drastically but a Missouri senator says the beef industry is in excellent shape.

Reporting from the State Capitol is Amy Becker.

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Senator John Cauthorn says the beef industry takes extra steps to preserve the food supply.

The Missouri Cattlemen's Association targets older cattle while testing for the disease.

A move Cauthorn says, international meat buyers are noticing.

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Contents: "Probably when Canada had the serious problem, we actually benefited in the United States because we'd been doing a better job of preenting any type of disease any type of disease. SO we were ahead of the game in the U.S.

Cauthorn says Missouri will implement a new computer chip tracing system to aid in tracking cattle from herd to herd. The system, he says, should be available within a year.

From Jefferson City, I'm Amy Becker.

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